2006年VOA标准英语-Former Republican US House Leader Steps As

By Dan Robinson
Washington
07 January 2006

The former Republican majority leader in the House of Representatives, Tom DeLay, has announced he is stepping aside, paving the way for a new leadership election in that chamber 1 of Congress. Mr. DeLay is fighting criminal charges in his home state of Texas, and has also been implicated 3 in a widening probe of corruption 4 involving a former top Washington lobbyist and members of Congress.

-------------------------------------------------

 
Embattled Rep. Tom DeLay speaks during a news conference after announcing his decision to abandoned his bid to remain as House majority leader
  

Mr. DeLay was forced to temporarily relinquish 5 his post last year, after he was indicted 6 in Texas on charges of violating campaign finance laws.

House Republicans initially 7 rallied around him, predicting that he would be cleared of wrongdoing, and be able to return to his position.

Congressman 8 DeLay continued to maintain is innocence 9, accusing a Texas state prosecutor 10, who is also a Democrat 11, of waging a politically-motivated campaign to destroy him.

However, as the legal process in Texas dragged on, and with the prospect 12 of Mr. DeLay's trial early in the new year, support weakened.

At the same time, Mr. DeLay is a key figure in the federal corruption probe into the activities of former Washington lobbyist Jack 13 Abramoff, who pleaded guilty to conspiracy 14, mail fraud and tax evasion 15 charges. The federal investigation 16 could implicate 2 high-ranking Congressional leaders from both the Republican and Democratic parties.

House Republicans are increasingly nervous about the impact of Mr. DeLay's problems and the lobbying scandal on public attitudes ahead of legislative 17 elections in November, and they circulated a petition calling for a new leadership election.

In recent days, a growing number of House Republicans had begun to call for Mr. DeLay to step down permanently 18, citing potential damage to Republican efforts to maintain control of Congress.

In a letter to House colleagues Saturday, Mr. DeLay acknowledged their concerns, saying the job of majority leader and the mandate 19 of the Republican majority are too important to be "hamstrung" (paralyzed), and that a new leader should be elected as soon as possible.

In a separate letter to the Republican House Speaker, Dennis Hastert, Mr. DeLay says he will run for re-election to his House seat in Texas, although he faces challenges from other Republicans, as well as one Democrat, and vows 20 to continue to work to clear his name of what he calls baseless charges.

Charges against Mr. DeLay in Texas involve the question of corporate 21 financial donations to candidates for the state legislature in 2002, and allegations the lawmaker took part in a scheme to funnel 22 money through the Republican National Committee back to Texas. House Republican rules required Mr. DeLay to temporarily give up his leadership post when he was indicted.

As majority leader, Congressman DeLay was key to President Bush's efforts to push through his legislative agenda in the House of Representatives. He was often referred to as "The Hammer."

A brief White House statement Saturday said President Bush respects Congressman DeLay's decision to put the interests of the American people and the House of Representatives and the Republican Party first.

However, Mr. DeLay was also a primary target of allegations from opposition 23 Democrats 24 that Republicans have allowed what they call a "culture of corruption" in Congress.

The House Democratic leader, Nancy Pelosi, said Mr. DeLay's departure from the leadership picture would not be sufficient to address what she called pervasive 25 corruption he had helped to engineer.

Congressman DeLay had also been admonished 26 on three separate occasions by the bipartisan House Ethics 27 Committee. In his letter to House Republicans, he says he always acted in "an ethical 28 manner."

Mr. DeLay's departure from the leadership scenario 29 opens the way for what is likely to be an intense competition among House Republicans to take his place.

Congressman Roy Blunt, a Missouri Republican, who has acted as temporary leader, has given strong indications he will seek the leadership position.

But he is likely to face strong challenges from conservative Republicans increasingly dissatisfied with the way things have been going in the House, and worried about public opinion polls indicating damage from the DeLay and Abramoff issues.

The House is due to reconvene after a long holiday break at the end of January, and the Republican leadership election is expected to take place very soon after.