2007年VOA标准英语-Gonzales to Make Crucial Appearance Before Sena

By Jim Malone
Washington
13 April 2007

U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales is scheduled to testify before Congress on April 17 about his involvement in last year's firing of eight U.S. attorneys.  Gonzales' testimony¹ is seen as crucial to keeping his job since several Democrats³ and even a few Republicans have called for his resignation over the controversy⁴ involving the replacement⁵ of the federal prosecutors⁶ and suspicions they were fired for political reasons.  VOA National correspondent Jim Malone has more from Washington.

Attorney General Gonzales will be in the hot seat when he faces the Senate Judiciary Committee, including Democrat² Charles Schumer of New York.

"More than any other cabinet official, the attorney general must tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but, and the more the facts come out, the more it seems the attorney general is not coming clean with what went on in the Justice Department in regard to the firing of the eight U.S. attorneys," he said.

Democrats are expected to press Gonzales about the extent of his involvement in the firing of the prosecutors and the Justice Department's shifting explanations for their dismissal.

US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales takes a question during a news conference in Washington (file photo)

"What I know is that there began a process of evaluating strong performers, not as strong performers and weak performers. And, so as far as I knew, my chief of staff was involved in the process of determining who were the weak performers," said Mr. Gonzales.

But the attorney general's former chief of staff told Congress that Gonzales signed off on the firings and that the federal prosecutors were dismissed because they did not sufficiently⁷ support President Bush's priorities.

Democrats say mixing politics with law enforcement is highly improper⁸.  Democrat Patrick Leahy of Vermont chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee.

"I want the American people to have a Justice Department and U.S. attorneys' offices to enforce the law without regard to political influence and partisanship," he said.  "It does not work unless you can be assured of that."

Gonzales has so far withstood calls to resign from both Democrats and Republicans.

President Bush is known for his loyalty¹⁰ to staff, especially those who have been with him since his days as governor of Texas.

But Rutgers University political analyst¹¹ Ross Baker¹² says there is another reason why the president may be reluctant to force Gonzales to leave.

"And particularly at a time when his [the president's] popularity ratings are very low in the public, I think he may fear that firing the attorney general would simply give his enemies more ammunition," he said.

Legal experts say the president has the right to hire and fire federal prosecutors, but he may have to answer to the public if it appears that politics is behind their dismissals.

Peter Smith is a professor at George Washington University Law School.

"The president has authority to fire them, has authority then, in theory, to dictate¹³ what sorts of prosecutions¹⁴ they should bring and, in theory, could fire them for political reasons," said Mr. Smith.  "But we have a long tradition in this country of viewing prosecutors as being somehow above politics."

Democrats are demanding documents from the Bush administration about the firings and they want testimony under oath from former White House counsel Harriet Miers and the president's top political adviser¹⁵, Karl Rove.

Mr. Bush has so far resisted that demand. He says that forcing his aides to testify about private conversations would make it more difficult for a president to get candid¹⁶ advice from associates.

"We will not go along with a partisan⁹ fishing expedition aimed at honorable public servants," said Mr. Bush.

This clash between the president and Congress over the testimony of White House aides could theoretically wind up in the courts as a constitutional issue unless a compromise is reached.

But legal expert Peter Smith doubts that will happen.

"The way that most of these constitutional conflicts are resolved is through the operation of ordinary politics," he added.  "One side, Congress or the president, is likely to back down, and that judgment¹⁷ is likely to be driven not by the law, that is the entitlement of Congress to require them to show up and of the president's authority to resist, but by the popularity of the respective positions."

Gonzales has served as attorney general since 2005 and was a White House counsel during the president's first term.

1 testimony   

n.证词；见证，证明

参考例句：

• The testimony given by him is dubious.他所作的证据是可疑的。
• He was called in to bear testimony to what the police officer said.他被传入为警官所说的话作证。

2 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

3 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。

5 replacement   

n.取代，替换，交换；替代品，代用品

参考例句：

• We are hard put to find a replacement for our assistant.我们很难找到一个人来代替我们的助手。
• They put all the students through the replacement examination.他们让所有的学生参加分班考试。

6 prosecutors   

检举人( prosecutor的名词复数 )； 告发人； 起诉人； 公诉人

参考例句：

• In some places,public prosecutors are elected rather than appointed. 在有些地方，检察官是经选举而非任命产生的。 来自口语例句
• You've been summoned to the Prosecutors' Office, 2 days later. 你在两天以后被宣到了检察官的办公室。

7 sufficiently   

adv.足够地，充分地

参考例句：

• It turned out he had not insured the house sufficiently.原来他没有给房屋投足保险。
• The new policy was sufficiently elastic to accommodate both views.新政策充分灵活地适用两种观点。

8 improper   

adj.不适当的，不合适的，不正确的，不合礼仪的

参考例句：

• Short trousers are improper at a dance.舞会上穿短裤不成体统。
• Laughing and joking are improper at a funeral.葬礼时大笑和开玩笑是不合适的。

9 partisan   

adj.党派性的；游击队的；n.游击队员；党徒

参考例句：

• In their anger they forget all the partisan quarrels.愤怒之中，他们忘掉一切党派之争。
• The numerous newly created partisan detachments began working slowly towards that region.许多新建的游击队都开始慢慢地向那里移动。

10 loyalty   

n.忠诚，忠心

参考例句：

• She told him the truth from a sense of loyalty.她告诉他真相是出于忠诚。
• His loyalty to his friends was never in doubt.他对朋友的一片忠心从来没受到怀疑。

11 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

12 baker   

n.面包师

参考例句：

• The baker bakes his bread in the bakery.面包师在面包房内烤面包。
• The baker frosted the cake with a mixture of sugar and whites of eggs.面包师在蛋糕上撒了一层白糖和蛋清的混合料。

13 dictate   

v.口授；(使)听写；指令，指示，命令

参考例句：

• It took him a long time to dictate this letter.口述这封信花了他很长时间。
• What right have you to dictate to others?你有什么资格向别人发号施令？

14 prosecutions   

起诉( prosecution的名词复数 )； 原告； 实施； 从事

参考例句：

• It is the duty of the Attorney-General to institute prosecutions. 检察总长负责提起公诉。
• Since World War II, the government has been active in its antitrust prosecutions. 第二次世界大战以来，政府积极地进行着反对托拉斯的检举活动。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件

15 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

16 candid   

adj.公正的，正直的；坦率的

参考例句：

• I cannot but hope the candid reader will give some allowance for it.我只有希望公正的读者多少包涵一些。
• He is quite candid with his friends.他对朋友相当坦诚。

17 judgment   

n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见

参考例句：

• The chairman flatters himself on his judgment of people.主席自认为他审视人比别人高明。
• He's a man of excellent judgment.他眼力过人。