美国国家公共电台 NPR Hostile Town Hall For Congressman Who Helped Save GOP Health Care Bill

 

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Voters and activists¹ have been lashing² out at members of Congress over health care for months now. Add the anger, particularly on the left, over the president's firing of FBI Director James Comey, and you get this scene that unfolded last night in the town of Willingboro, N.J.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

RUTH GAGE³: I must say, I have a great deal of admiration⁴ for your tolerance⁵ for masochism.

MARTIN: That was Democrat⁶ Ruth Gage, who was at the town hall last night. For more than four hours, Republican Congressman⁷ Tom MacArthur was the one standing⁸ in the middle of that hostile town hall. The crowd went back and forth⁹ asking questions about Comey and health care, then Comey, then health care because MacArthur authored the key amendment¹⁰ that led to a House vote last week repealing¹² parts of the Affordable¹³ Care Act. Derek Reichenbecher said he's worried he'll lose his insurance.

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DEREK REICHENBECHER: This is your health care bill. It was dead in the water. It could have stayed dead in the water, and now, it's the MacArthur amendment that brought this thing forward.

MARTIN: NPR's Scott Detrow was in the back of the room for the town hall. He's on the line now. Good morning, Scott.

SCOTT DETROW, BYLINE¹⁴: Hey, Rachel.

MARTIN: What happened? What did you note last night during that scene?

DETROW: You know, there were about 300 people in the room, and the vast majority were angry about the health care repeal¹¹, angry about this Comey situation and the Russia investigation¹⁵. And you got a sense that things were going to be really contentious¹⁶ early on in the night. And I want to walk you through that for a few minutes.

MARTIN: Yeah.

DETROW: Let's start when MacArthur talked about his daughter, Grace, who died at age 11. And the crowd responded by jeering¹⁷ and heckling him.

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TOM MACARTHUR: I will say shame on you right now, actually.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN #1: Let him speak.

MACARTHUR: Don't - don't tell me what I'm using.

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN #2: Shame on you.

MACARTHUR: I'm going to tell you...

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN #3: Shame on you.

MACARTHUR: ...Because this affects my perspective.

DETROW: Many in the crowd had their own perspectives, too.

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JOANNA ROBINSON: Without this Medicaid, I wouldn't be where I'm at today. I came back from the depths of hell.

DETROW: Joanna Robinson was one of many people who shared personal stories about how she depends on treatment protected by the Affordable Care Act. In her case, it's dealing¹⁸ with drug addiction¹⁹ that requires medicine, treatment and constant vigilance.

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ROBINSON: It's not easy to stay clean, and with the help that I received and Medicaid, it kept me clean for this long. What's going to happen to us if you cut this bill? What's going to happen with our recovery without it? It's jail, institution or death.

MACARTHUR: Look, I hear the fear. I know it's real. And as I said, I think it's tremendous courage for you to come out and share that. I am trying to save a system so it continues to help you. That's all I can tell you. I'm trying - I'm trying to make sure that Medicaid is strong enough to continue to help you.

DETROW: The night was dominated by two topics - health care and Russia. In fact, no one asked about anything else for more than two hours.

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KIMBERLY STEWART: We seem to have a pattern that most people who are investigating it seem to be getting fired.

(LAUGHTER)

STEWART: Do you support an independent group investigating Russia's ties into the 2016 election?

(APPLAUSE)

DETROW: Kimberly Stewart was referencing the firing of James Comey.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

MACARTHUR: No, not yet, not yet.

(BOOING)

DETROW: MacArthur said he wants the House, Senate and FBI investigations²⁰ to keep going, one of many answers over the course of the long night that didn't satisfy constituents²¹.

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UNIDENTIFIED MAN: (Shouting) You, Mitch McConnell, how long? Open your eyes.

DETROW: At times, MacArthur ignored the heckles. Other times, he responded directly.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

MACARTHUR: You don't - you don't like what somebody says. Is this what you want in your country? You don't like what somebody says, and they're an idiot, and they're dishonest, and they're a fraud. I hear you, and I'm giving you my honest opinion, my honest opinion.

MARTIN: Oh, Scott, that is intense. And...

DETROW: Think about that for five hours.

MARTIN: Yeah. So was MacArthur just kind of standing there on his own? Was anyone in the room defending him?

DETROW: You know, not too many people. This is one of the more Democratic parts of his district, and that's something he pointed²² out. He pointed out he only got 12 percent of the vote in Willingboro. But he did have some backers in the room, including Loretta Hentz, who - she was pretty frustrated²³ about the whole scene.

LORETTA HENTZ: We're constituents of, you know, Mr. MacArthur, and we've supported him in the past. And I wanted to come out and see him in a town hall meeting. I have to say that I've been a little bit taken back. It's such a hostile crowd. And I get irritated with some of the people because they wouldn't give him a chance to talk.

DETROW: You know, she wanted to hear what Congressman MacArthur had to say. She came to the meeting, and she felt like the people in the room didn't want to hear what he had to say. They just wanted to yell at him, and I can tell you that that did seem to be the case from a lot of people in the room. It was more about getting in his face and pushing back than having a conversation. And that's why MacArthur, I think, got frustrated at points.

MARTIN: So, as you mentioned, it was this pingponging between health care and the Russian investigation because that was top of mind for so many people. This had happened - the town hall happened right after James Comey was fired. Besides just venting²⁴, were they asking MacArthur to do anything specific on the Russian investigation?

DETROW: Yeah, they were. They wanted - many people there wanted what Democrats²⁵ in Congress want - a special prosecutor²⁶ to take over the FBI investigation and a special commission to take over these congressional investigations. MacArthur said he's skeptical²⁷ of a special prosecutor. He said it's just not a silver bullet. He pointed out this is someone who would still need to be picked by the Justice Department, which, of course, Trump²⁸ is in charge of. Macarthur said he wants to keep the House and Senate intelligence committee investigations going, see what they find. But, you know, that did not cut it with the crowd. Many people kept coming back to this. They said if James Comey being fired, if Michael Flynn being fired, if every other twist and turn hasn't convinced you that this needs to be taken more seriously, then what will?

MARTIN: NPR congressional correspondent Scott Detrow. Hey, Scott, thanks so much.

DETROW: Thanks, Rachel.

1 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》

2 lashing   

n.鞭打；痛斥；大量；许多v.鞭打( lash的现在分词 )；煽动；紧系；怒斥

参考例句：

• The speaker was lashing the crowd. 演讲人正在煽动人群。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The rain was lashing the windows. 雨急打着窗子。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 gage   

n.标准尺寸，规格；量规，量表 [=gauge]

参考例句：

• Can you gage what her reaction is likely to be?你能揣测她的反应可能是什么吗？
• It's difficult to gage one's character.要判断一个人的品格是很困难的。

4 admiration   

n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕

参考例句：

• He was lost in admiration of the beauty of the scene.他对风景之美赞不绝口。
• We have a great admiration for the gold medalists.我们对金牌获得者极为敬佩。

5 tolerance   

n.宽容；容忍，忍受；耐药力；公差

参考例句：

• Tolerance is one of his strengths.宽容是他的一个优点。
• Human beings have limited tolerance of noise.人类对噪音的忍耐力有限。

6 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。

7 Congressman   

n.（美）国会议员

参考例句：

• He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman.他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。
• The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics.这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。

8 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

9 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

10 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。

11 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。

12 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。

13 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。

14 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。

15 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。

16 contentious   

adj.好辩的，善争吵的

参考例句：

• She was really not of the contentious fighting sort.她委实不是好吵好闹的人。
• Since then they have tended to steer clear of contentious issues.从那时起，他们总想方设法避开有争议的问题。

17 jeering   

adj.嘲弄的，揶揄的v.嘲笑( jeer的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Hecklers interrupted her speech with jeering. 捣乱分子以嘲笑打断了她的讲话。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He interrupted my speech with jeering. 他以嘲笑打断了我的讲话。 来自《简明英汉词典》

18 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。

19 addiction   

n.上瘾入迷，嗜好

参考例句：

• He stole money from his parents to feed his addiction.他从父母那儿偷钱以满足自己的嗜好。
• Areas of drug dealing are hellholes of addiction,poverty and murder.贩卖毒品的地区往往是吸毒上瘾、贫困和发生谋杀的地方。

20 investigations   

（正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究

参考例句：

• His investigations were intensive and thorough but revealed nothing. 他进行了深入彻底的调查，但没有发现什么。
• He often sent them out to make investigations. 他常常派他们出去作调查。

21 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》

22 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

23 frustrated   

adj.挫败的，失意的，泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的过去式和过去分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's very easy to get frustrated in this job. 这个工作很容易令人懊恼。
• The bad weather frustrated all our hopes of going out. 恶劣的天气破坏了我们出行的愿望。 来自《简明英汉词典》

24 venting   

消除； 泄去； 排去； 通风

参考例句：

• But, unexpectedly, he started venting his spleen on her. 哪知道，老头子说着说着绕到她身上来。 来自汉英文学 - 骆驼祥子
• So now he's venting his anger on me. 哦，我这才知道原来还是怄我的气。

25 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》

26 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。

27 skeptical   

adj.怀疑的，多疑的

参考例句：

• Others here are more skeptical about the chances for justice being done.这里的其他人更为怀疑正义能否得到伸张。
• Her look was skeptical and resigned.她的表情是将信将疑而又无可奈何。

28 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。