美国国家公共电台 NPR At Town Hall Meeting, Republican Lawmakers Get An Earful Over Health Care

 

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

So a moderate House Republican from upstate New York is the latest lawmaker to be heckled at a town hall meeting. Congresswoman Elise Stefanik was one of a handful of last-minute yes votes on the House bill to repeal¹ and replace major parts of the Affordable² Care Act. Last night, Stefanik got an earful about that from her constituents³, as North Country Public Radio's Zach Hirsch reports.

ZACH HIRSCH, BYLINE⁴: The town hall was at a small public television station in Plattsburgh, N.Y. Because of limits on space, a hundred people chosen by lottery⁵ were allowed in for the live taping. Many of those who weren't selected protested outside.

UNIDENTIFIED PEOPLE: (Chanting) Shame, shame, shame.

HIRSCH: Shame, they chanted, referring to Stefanik's vote in favor of the health care bill. The protesters got there early to greet Stefanik, but the congresswoman arrived even earlier. She welcomed the audience in the studio saying she looks forward to a respectful give and take.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

ELISE STEFANIK: I know there's a lot of questions on people's minds. And I know that many people particularly want to hear about health care. So I'm looking forward to answering those questions.

HIRSCH: It quickly got rowdy, though never out of control. When Stefanik answered one question about, quote, "why the rich are getting tax breaks under the House Republicans' health care bill."

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

STEFANIK: It is true Obamacare increased taxes on Americans across the board on cost of health care.

HIRSCH: Some in the crowd detected a dodge⁶, and they started heckling. Moderator Thom Hallock tried to rein⁷ them in.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

THOM HALLOCK: OK, folks. Let's...

STEFANIK: So our legislation...

HALLOCK: Let's keep this in check, OK?

HIRSCH: No one other than Stefanik had anything good to say about the bill. Nina Matteau is a breast cancer survivor⁸. She said the GOP plan includes loopholes that threaten people with pre-existing conditions.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

NINA MATTEAU: Can you explain how this constitutes better health care at lower premiums⁹ as promised?

(APPLAUSE)

STEFANIK: There is language in the American Health Care Act that explicitly¹⁰ prohibits insurers from not accepting patients that have pre-existing conditions. You can go to passthebill.gop and read the actual text because that was an important provision.

HIRSCH: The Republican plan does give insurance companies more flexibility¹¹ when dealing¹² with customers with pre-existing conditions. It also rolls back federal support for the Obamacare Medicaid expansion, something else that prompted jeers¹³ from the crowd. The audience wasn't all critical. Some applauded Stefanik for taking climate change seriously, but she didn't win over the room. Several people on their way out said Stefanik wasn't really listening, and her answers seemed canned. Stefanik said she heard the frustration¹⁴.

She also said repealing¹⁵ Obamacare was one of her earliest campaign promises. And there are some areas where she's going to disagree with her constituents. For NPR News, I'm Zach Hirsch in Plattsburgh, N.Y.

1 repeal   

n.废止，撤消；v.废止，撤消

参考例句：

• He plans to repeal a number of current policies.他计划废除一些当前的政策。
• He has made out a strong case for the repeal of the law.他提出强有力的理由，赞成废除该法令。

2 affordable   

adj.支付得起的，不太昂贵的

参考例句：

• The rent for the four-roomed house is affordable.四居室房屋的房租付得起。
• There are few affordable apartments in big cities.在大城市中没有几所公寓是便宜的。

3 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》

4 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。

5 lottery   

n.抽彩；碰运气的事，难于算计的事

参考例句：

• He won no less than ￡5000 in the lottery.他居然中了5000英镑的奖券。
• They thought themselves lucky in the lottery of life.他们认为自己是变幻莫测的人生中的幸运者。

6 dodge   

v.闪开，躲开，避开；n.妙计，诡计

参考例句：

• A dodge behind a tree kept her from being run over.她向树后一闪，才没被车从身上辗过。
• The dodge was coopered by the police.诡计被警察粉碎了。

7 rein   

n.疆绳，统治，支配；vt.以僵绳控制，统治

参考例句：

• The horse answered to the slightest pull on the rein.只要缰绳轻轻一拉,马就作出反应。
• He never drew rein for a moment till he reached the river.他一刻不停地一直跑到河边。

8 survivor   

n.生存者，残存者，幸存者

参考例句：

• The sole survivor of the crash was an infant.这次撞车的惟一幸存者是一个婴儿。
• There was only one survivor of the plane crash.这次飞机失事中只有一名幸存者。

9 premiums   

n.费用( premium的名词复数 )；保险费；额外费用；（商品定价、贷款利息等以外的）加价

参考例句：

• He paid premiums on his life insurance last year. 他去年付了人寿保险费。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Moves are afoot to increase car insurance premiums. 现正在酝酿提高汽车的保险费。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 explicitly   

ad.明确地，显然地

参考例句：

• The plan does not explicitly endorse the private ownership of land. 该计划没有明确地支持土地私有制。
• SARA amended section 113 to provide explicitly for a right to contribution. 《最高基金修正与再授权法案》修正了第123条，清楚地规定了分配权。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

11 flexibility   

n.柔韧性，弹性，（光的）折射性，灵活性

参考例句：

• Her great strength lies in her flexibility.她的优势在于她灵活变通。
• The flexibility of a man's muscles will lessen as he becomes old.人老了肌肉的柔韧性将降低。

12 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

13 jeers   

n.操纵帆桁下部（使其上下的）索具；嘲讽( jeer的名词复数 )v.嘲笑( jeer的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• They shouted jeers at him. 他们大声地嘲讽他。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The jeers from the crowd caused the speaker to leave the platform. 群众的哄笑使讲演者离开讲台。 来自辞典例句

14 frustration   

n.挫折，失败，失效，落空

参考例句：

• He had to fight back tears of frustration.他不得不强忍住失意的泪水。
• He beat his hands on the steering wheel in frustration.他沮丧地用手打了几下方向盘。

15 repealing   

撤销，废除( repeal的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• In addition, repealing the alternative minimum tax would also help. 此外，废除替代性最低税也会有所帮助。
• Repealing the investment tax credit. 取消投资税款扣除。