VOA常速英语2008年-Democrats Vow Focus on Economic Woes

By Dan Robinson
Capitol Hill
01 April 2008

Majority Democrats² in Congress returned to work from a two-week recess³, vowing⁴ to focus on the state of the U.S. economy, including the housing mortgage crisis.   VOA's Dan Robinson reports from Capitol Hill, where Republicans voiced opposition⁵ to Democratic proposals.

Although they worked with President Bush on an economic stimulus⁶ package earlier this year, Democratic leaders are now seeking to portray⁷ him as being out of touch with the economic realities facing Americans.

Pointing to recent statements by the president, Democratic Caucus⁸ Chairman Rahm Emanuel voices his party's argument that the current economic downturn is much worse than described by President Bush:

"[From] energy costs, the housing issue, college costs, health care costs, you cannot take a hands-off approach when it comes to the wrenching⁹ consequences to the middle class families of this country and an economy that is clearly not working for the middle class," he said.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says constituents¹⁰ raised these concerns to lawmakers during the recent two week break, and she issued this challenge to the president.

"I am now calling upon the president to once again join together with us in a bipartisan way and have a bipartisan, bicameral¹¹ House and Senate, Democrats and Republicans, meeting a summit on the economy so that we can address the kitchen table concerns of America's working families," she said.

Pelosi also asserts that the war in Iraq has contributed to economic woes¹², and could drive the U.S. deeply into a recession and hamper¹³ new investments in the economy.

Earlier, House Republican leaders voiced opposition to Democratic proposals in the House and Senate aimed at easing the mortgage and housing foreclosure crisis.

Roy Blunt is the House Republican whip:

"We are very concerned that we not do anything in the Congress that creates more future problems than it solves current problems," he said.

That was in part a response to a proposal by Democrat¹ Barney Frank of Massachusetts aimed at reducing the number of new foreclosures in the United States:

"You have to deal in an effective way with the cascade¹⁴ of foreclosure that we continue to face," he said.

Representative Frank insists proposals he is working on would not constitute a bailout of speculators in the housing market, something the White House says President Bush would oppose.

Meanwhile, top executives of the five largest U.S. oil companies came under pressure from lawmakers regarding record profits made by the oil industry amid rapidly rising prices.

In this heated exchange, J. Stephen Simon of Exxon Mobile was pressed by Democrat Edward Markey about the level of his company's investments in renewable energy:

SIMON:  "[An investment] which is about $100 million invested over two years."

MARKEY:   "[Exxon invested] $100 million, but you made $40 billion last year.

SIMON:  "Mr. chairman, putting more money into something does not necessarily equal progress."

While the House of Representatives under Democratic control has twice approved legislation to end tax benefits for large oil companies and divert money to solar, wind and other renewable methods, such a measure has not passed the Senate.

Republicans for their part blame high gas prices on legislation enacted¹⁵ by Democrats since they won control of Congress in 2006, while Democrats point to a 125 percent increase in gas prices since President Bush took office eight years ago.

1 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。

2 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》

3 recess   

n.短期休息，壁凹（墙上装架子，柜子等凹处）

参考例句：

• The chairman of the meeting announced a ten-minute recess.会议主席宣布休会10分钟。
• Parliament was hastily recalled from recess.休会的议员被匆匆召回开会。

4 vowing   

起誓，发誓（vow的现在分词形式）

参考例句：

• President Bush is vowing to help Minneapolis rebuild its collapsed bridge. 布什总统承诺将帮助明尼阿波利斯重建坍塌的大桥。
• President Bush is vowing to help Minneapolis rebuild this collapse bridge. 布什总统发誓要帮助明尼阿波利斯重建起这座坍塌的桥梁。

5 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

6 stimulus   

n.刺激，刺激物，促进因素，引起兴奋的事物

参考例句：

• Regard each failure as a stimulus to further efforts.把每次失利看成对进一步努力的激励。
• Light is a stimulus to growth in plants.光是促进植物生长的一个因素。

7 portray   

v.描写，描述；画(人物、景象等)

参考例句：

• It is difficult to portray feelings in words.感情很难用言语来描写。
• Can you portray the best and worst aspects of this job?您能描述一下这份工作最好与最坏的方面吗？

8 caucus   

n.秘密会议；干部会议；v.（参加）干部开会议

参考例句：

• This multi-staged caucus takes several months.这个多级会议常常历时好几个月。
• It kept the Democratic caucus from fragmenting.它也使得民主党的核心小组避免了土崩瓦解的危险。

9 wrenching   

n.修截苗根，苗木铲根（铲根时苗木不起土或部分起土）v.（猛力地）扭( wrench的现在分词 )；扭伤；使感到痛苦；使悲痛

参考例句：

• China has been through a wrenching series of changes and experiments. 中国经历了一系列艰苦的变革和试验。 来自辞典例句
• A cold gust swept across her exposed breast, wrenching her back to reality. 一股寒气打击她的敞开的胸膛，把她从梦幻的境地中带了回来。 来自汉英文学 - 家（1-26） - 家（1-26）

10 constituents   

n.选民( constituent的名词复数 )；成分；构成部分；要素

参考例句：

• She has the full support of her constituents. 她得到本区选民的全力支持。
• Hydrogen and oxygen are the constituents of water. 氢和氧是水的主要成分。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 bicameral   

adj.两院制的

参考例句：

• The United States Congress is a bicameral body.美国国会由两个议院组成。
• The Upper House is usually the smaller branch of a bicameral legislature.上议院通常是两院制议会中较小的一个。

12 woes   

困境( woe的名词复数 )； 悲伤； 我好苦哇； 某人就要倒霉

参考例句：

• Thanks for listening to my woes. 谢谢您听我诉说不幸的遭遇。
• She has cried the blues about its financial woes. 对于经济的困难她叫苦不迭。

13 hamper   

vt.妨碍，束缚，限制；n.(有盖的)大篮子

参考例句：

• There are some apples in a picnic hamper.在野餐用的大篮子里有许多苹果。
• The emergence of such problems seriously hamper the development of enterprises.这些问题的出现严重阻碍了企业的发展。

14 cascade   

n.小瀑布，喷流；层叠；vi.成瀑布落下

参考例句：

• She watched the magnificent waterfall cascade down the mountainside.她看着壮观的瀑布从山坡上倾泻而下。
• Her hair fell over her shoulders in a cascade of curls.她的卷发像瀑布一样垂在肩上。

15 enacted   

制定（法律），通过（法案）( enact的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• legislation enacted by parliament 由议会通过的法律
• Outside in the little lobby another scene was begin enacted. 外面的小休息室里又是另一番景象。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹