美国国家公共电台 NPR House Farm Bill Fails As Conservatives Revolt Over Immigration

 

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:

House Republican leaders suffered an embarrassing loss today with the failure of the $867 billion farm bill. The policy behind the bill was widely supported by Republicans, and it had the backing of President Trump¹. But conservatives like Ohio Republican Jim Jordan voted against the bill. The no votes stemmed from a spat² with party leaders over promising³ a vote on immigration. Here's Congressman⁴ Jordan.

JIM JORDAN: Some members have concerns with the farm bill. But that wasn't my main focus. My main focus is making sure we do immigration policy right.

SHAPIRO: NPR congressional reporter Kelsey Snell is here to explain how the farm bill got tangled⁵ up in this immigration fight. Hi, Kelsey.

KELSEY SNELL, BYLINE⁶: Hi, Ari.

SHAPIRO: So we just heard Congressman Jordan say his vote did not have anything to do with the farm bill. Explain how an immigration fight caused the farm bill to fail?

SNELL: Honestly, this was kind of a terrible day for House Speaker Paul Ryan and his entire leadership team. This vote showed how weak their control is over members and of their own party. Jordan and the Freedom Caucus⁷ have been asking for a vote on immigration for some time. They want this hardline bill that would crack down on illegal immigration and add limitations for legal immigration, too. Leaders say that bill does not have the votes to pass, but they still promised anyway that the Freedom Caucus could have that vote. But Freedom Caucus doesn't care - part 'cause they want to prove to leaders that the leaders are out of touch and that they, you know, are not following what they promised voters. So that's how we wound up here. (Laughter) We are in this situation where the Freedom Caucus thinks that they can prove to leadership that they are more in touch with the base than leaders are.

SHAPIRO: Explain how this group of 30 people could have this much sway in a House of Representatives that includes 435 members.

SNELL: Yeah, that all comes down to a different fight over food stamp provisions in the bill. So there is this part of the bill called the Supplemental Nutrition Program. It's commonly known as food stamps. And Democrats⁹ didn't want to vote for the bill because Republicans were trying to put in these big, strict requirements for people who received the benefits. Now, Democrats not voting for the bill left it so that Republicans had a really narrow margin¹⁰ for getting something passed. And this gives Democrats more leverage¹¹ down the line. And Collin Peterson, the top Democrat⁸ on the Agriculture Committee, knows it.

COLLIN PETERSON: If they will listen to me, I can deliver a lot of Democrats for this bill - if they'll listen. And that's up to them. The ball is in their court.

SHAPIRO: So Kelsey, it sounds like the political dynamics¹² here are really changing...

SNELL: Yeah.

SHAPIRO: ...If the next version of the farm bill is going to have a lot of democratic input¹³. What are the political repercussions¹⁴ here?

SNELL: So leaders could have pulled this bill, but they didn't. And that's because they wanted to embarrass the people who voted against it, these Republicans who come from largely agricultural districts. And they want - leaders want them to have to go home and answer for their vote. And they were really frustrated¹⁵. Leaders are just mad.

I caught up with Congressman Patrick McHenry after the vote. He's on the leadership team in charge of counting votes and getting people in line behind legislation. He was clearly frustrated because leaders had already promised the Freedom Caucus that vote, like I already said. Here's what he said.

PATRICK MCHENRY: We had enough members that were willing to vote yes on the farm bill, that had a commitment on when we'd vote on immigration but wanted to hijack¹⁶ the process to get a immigration vote before they actually fulfilled their pledge that they made to their constituents¹⁷ on the farm bill.

SNELL: And leaders just don't have a lot of influence over these guys. But rank-and-file Republicans might be mad, which further muddies an already tense leadership race where Freedom Caucus people would like to get one of their own into future leadership after House Speaker Ryan leaves.

SHAPIRO: Just briefly¹⁸, Kelsey, you've reported on how much is at stake for farmers. The bill expires in September. What are the chances of a new one getting passed?

SNELL: Well, this shifts all of leverage over to the Senate, where they are working on their own bipartisan bill. And as we heard Collin Peterson say, he thinks he can deliver Democratic votes if they do something bipartisan.

SHAPIRO: NPR congressional reporter Kelsey Snell - thank you, Kelsey.

SNELL: Thank you.

1 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。

2 spat   

n.口角，掌击；v.发出呼噜呼噜声

参考例句：

• Her parents always have spats.她的父母经常有些小的口角。
• There is only a spat between the brother and sister.那只是兄妹间的小吵小闹。

3 promising   

adj.有希望的，有前途的

参考例句：

• The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
• We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。

4 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。

5 tangled   

adj. 纠缠的，紊乱的 动词tangle的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• Your hair's so tangled that I can't comb it. 你的头发太乱了，我梳不动。
• A movement caught his eye in the tangled undergrowth. 乱灌木丛里的晃动引起了他的注意。

6 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。

7 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。

8 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。

9 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》

10 margin   

n.页边空白；差额；余地，余裕；边，边缘

参考例句：

• We allowed a margin of 20 minutes in catching the train.我们有20分钟的余地赶火车。
• The village is situated at the margin of a forest.村子位于森林的边缘。

11 leverage   

n.力量，影响；杠杆作用，杠杆的力量

参考例句：

• We'll have to use leverage to move this huge rock.我们不得不借助杠杆之力来移动这块巨石。
• He failed in the project because he could gain no leverage. 因为他没有影响力，他的计划失败了。

12 dynamics   

n.力学，动力学，动力，原动力；动态

参考例句：

• In order to succeed,you must master complicated knowledge of dynamics.要取得胜利，你必须掌握很复杂的动力学知识。
• Dynamics is a discipline that cannot be mastered without extensive practice.动力学是一门不做大量习题就不能掌握的学科。

13 input   

n.输入(物)；投入；vt.把(数据等)输入计算机

参考例句：

• I will forever be grateful for his considerable input.我将永远感激他的大量投入。
• All this information had to be input onto the computer.所有这些信息都必须输入计算机。

14 repercussions   

n.后果，反响( repercussion的名词复数 )；余波

参考例句：

• The collapse of the company will have repercussions for the whole industry. 这家公司的垮台将会给整个行业造成间接的负面影响。
• Human acts have repercussions far beyond the frontiers of the human world. 人类行为所产生的影响远远超出人类世界的范围。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 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》

16 hijack   

v.劫持，劫机，拦路抢劫

参考例句：

• Most countries refuse to give sanctuary to people who hijack aeroplanes.大多数国家拒绝对劫机者提供庇护。
• The hijack take place just after the plane take off.劫持是飞机刚起飞后发生的。

17 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》

18 briefly   

adv.简单地，简短地

参考例句：

• I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。