2007年VOA标准英语-US Senators Question Attorney General Gonzales

By Deborah Tate
Capitol Hill
24 July 2007

U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales Tuesday faced sharp questioning from lawmakers of both political parties over his handling of the firing of federal prosecutors², as a constitutional showdown looms³ between Congress and the Bush administration over the issue.   VOA's Deborah Tate reports from Capitol Hill.

Alberto Gonzales testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington before Senate Judiciary Committee, 24 July 2007

Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee took aim at Attorney General Gonzales' handling of last year's firing of nine federal prosecutors, and questioned his ability to lead the Department of Justice.

"The attorney general has lost the confidence of the Congress and the American people," said Senator Patrick Leahy, a Vermont Democrat⁴ and chairman of the panel.

The top Republican on the committee, Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, said controversy⁵ over the prosecutors' dismissals has left "a heavy cloud" over the Justice Department.

"There is evidence of low morale⁶, very low morale, lack of credibility, candidly⁷, your personal credibility," he said.  "The department is dysfunctional."

Congress is investigating the Justice Department's firing last year of nine federal prosecutors.   Democrats⁸ believe partisan⁹ politics were behind the dismissals, but the White House argues they were performance-related.

Gonzales again defended his decision to approve the dismissals.

"I did not accept the recommendations with the understanding that this was to punish or interfere¹⁰ with an investigation¹¹ for purely¹² partisan reasons," he said.

Senator Specter urged the administration to consider appointing a special prosecutor¹ to investigate.

The Bush administration has denied lawmakers access to documents and witnesses relating to the firings, claiming executive privilege.

The House Judiciary Committee is to vote Wednesday on contempt citations¹³ for White House chief of staff Josh Bolton and former White House counsel Harriet Miers, both of whom refused congressional demands for information on the dismissals.

The issue could ultimately be resolved in the court system.

Besides the prosecutor firings, Congress is also investigating the administration's warrantless wiretapping program, which critics argue is illegal.

The program, established after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States, allowed the National Security Agency to monitor, without court warrants, phone calls and e-mails between suspected terrorists overseas and people in the United States.  The administration earlier this year agreed to have the program subject to review by a special court.

Gonzales testified earlier this year that there had not been any serious disagreement over the program, but the Deputy Attorney General, James Comey, testified in May that a number of top Justice Department officials threatened to quit over the matter.

Gonzales Tuesday sought to explain the discrepancy¹⁴, saying there had been disagreement, but it was over other intelligence activities, not the wiretap program.

Lawmakers found the explanation hard to believe.

"Sir, how can you say you can stay on as attorney general when you go through exercises like this, where you are bobbing and weaving and ducking to avoid admitting that you deceived the committee," asked Senator Charles Schumer is a New York Democrat.

Schumer and other lawmakers have called for Gonzales' resignation.

But despite such calls, the attorney general Tuesday reiterated¹⁵ that he has no plans to leave office.

1 prosecutor   

n.起诉人；检察官，公诉人

参考例句：

• The defender argued down the prosecutor at the court.辩护人在法庭上驳倒了起诉人。
• The prosecutor would tear your testimony to pieces.检查官会把你的证言驳得体无完肤。

2 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。

3 looms   

n.织布机( loom的名词复数 )v.隐约出现，阴森地逼近( loom的第三人称单数 )；隐约出现，阴森地逼近

参考例句：

• All were busily engaged,men at their ploughs,women at their looms. 大家都很忙，男的耕田，女的织布。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The factory has twenty-five looms. 那家工厂有25台织布机。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 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。

5 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。

6 morale   

n.道德准则，士气，斗志

参考例句：

• The morale of the enemy troops is sinking lower every day.敌军的士气日益低落。
• He tried to bolster up their morale.他尽力鼓舞他们的士气。

7 candidly   

adv.坦率地，直率而诚恳地

参考例句：

• He has stopped taking heroin now,but admits candidly that he will always be a drug addict.他眼下已经不再吸食海洛因了,不过他坦言自己永远都是个瘾君子。
• Candidly,David,I think you're being unreasonable.大卫，说实话我认为你不讲道理。

8 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》

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 interfere   

v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰

参考例句：

• If we interfere, it may do more harm than good.如果我们干预的话，可能弊多利少。
• When others interfere in the affair,it always makes troubles. 别人一卷入这一事件，棘手的事情就来了。

11 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

12 purely   

adv.纯粹地，完全地

参考例句：

• I helped him purely and simply out of friendship.我帮他纯粹是出于友情。
• This disproves the theory that children are purely imitative.这证明认为儿童只会单纯地模仿的理论是站不住脚的。

13 citations   

n.引用( citation的名词复数 )；引证；引文；表扬

参考例句：

• The apt citations and poetic gems have adorned his speeches. 贴切的引语和珠玑般的诗句为他的演说词增添文采。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Some dictionary writers use citations to show what words mean. 有些辞典的编纂者用引文作例证以解释词义。 来自辞典例句

14 discrepancy   

n.不同；不符；差异；矛盾

参考例句：

• The discrepancy in their ages seemed not to matter.他们之间年龄的差异似乎没有多大关系。
• There was a discrepancy in the two reports of the accident.关于那次事故的两则报道有不一致之处。

15 reiterated   

反复地说，重申( reiterate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• "Well, I want to know about it,'she reiterated. “嗯，我一定要知道你的休假日期，"她重复说。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
• Some twenty-two years later President Polk reiterated and elaborated upon these principles. 大约二十二年之后，波尔克总统重申这些原则并且刻意阐释一番。