美国国家公共电台 NPR Nevada On Cusp Of Ratifying Equal Rights Amendment 35 Years After Deadline

 

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

Forty-five years ago today, Congress passed the Equal Rights Amendment¹ to the Constitution. That amendment would have insured women have equal rights to men, but it was never adopted. It fell three states short of the 38 needed within a 10-year window, which makes it noteworthy that today Nevada is set to become the 36th state to adopt the ERA. Carrie Kaufman from Nevada Public Radio has more.

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PAT SPEARMAN: The Equal Rights Amendment is about equality, period. We as Nevadans lead when it comes to equality for all.

CARRIE KAUFMAN, BYLINE²: Nevada State Senator Pat Spearman introduced the Equal Rights Amendment on the Senate floor earlier this month. The former Army lieutenant³ colonel and pastor⁴ says it's time. Even though the deadline Congress gave states to ratify⁵ the ERA has long passed, Spearman argues that it doesn't matter.

SPEARMAN: It wasn't a part of the amendment that was proposed by Congress. So that's why the time limit is irrelevant⁶.

KAUFMAN: Constitutional Scholar Erwin Chemerinsky at the University of California, Irvine thinks there may be an argument that the Equal Rights Amendment would come into force if two more states ratify it. He points out that it took 203 years for the 27th Amendment to pass.

ERWIN CHEMERINSKY: The bottom line is we don't know what it will mean if Nevada and two other states ratified⁷ the Equal Rights Amendment. We don't know whether that will be sufficient or not. I think there's a strong argument it'd be sufficient. There's also arguments on the other side.

KAUFMAN: Critics in the legislature say this is just symbolism. Spearman says it may well be.

SPEARMAN: Passage may not make it perfect. But what passage does is it gives us a pathway towards a more perfected union.

KAUFMAN: The National Organization for Women says they plan to mobilize activists⁸ to ratify the amendment in at least two more states.

For NPR News, I'm Carrie Kaufman in Las Vegas.

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1 amendment   

n.改正，修正，改善，修正案

参考例句：

• The amendment was rejected by 207 voters to 143.这项修正案以207票对143票被否决。
• The Opposition has tabled an amendment to the bill.反对党已经就该议案提交了一项修正条款。

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 lieutenant   

n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员

参考例句：

• He was promoted to be a lieutenant in the army.他被提升为陆军中尉。
• He prevailed on the lieutenant to send in a short note.他说动那个副官，递上了一张简短的便条进去。

4 pastor   

n.牧师，牧人

参考例句：

• He was the son of a poor pastor.他是一个穷牧师的儿子。
• We have no pastor at present:the church is run by five deacons.我们目前没有牧师：教会的事是由五位执事管理的。

5 ratify   

v.批准，认可，追认

参考例句：

• The heads of two governments met to ratify the peace treaty.两国政府首脑会晤批准和平条约。
• The agreement have to be ratify by the board.该协议必须由董事会批准。

6 irrelevant   

adj.不恰当的，无关系的，不相干的

参考例句：

• That is completely irrelevant to the subject under discussion.这跟讨论的主题完全不相关。
• A question about arithmetic is irrelevant in a music lesson.在音乐课上，一个数学的问题是风马牛不相及的。

7 ratified   

v.批准，签认（合约等）( ratify的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The treaty was declared invalid because it had not been ratified. 条约没有得到批准，因此被宣布无效。
• The treaty was ratified by all the member states. 这个条约得到了所有成员国的批准。

8 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》