2006年VOA标准英语-Veteran US Senator Plays Key Foreign Policy Rol
时间:2019-01-11 作者:英语课 分类:2006年VOA标准英语(九月)
By Deborah Tate
Washington, DC
01 September 2006
watch Profile Senator Lugar
The U.S. Congress is returning from its month-long August recess 1 to face an ambitious legislative 2 agenda and midterm elections in November. Several major issues such as the Iraq war and the Israel-Hezbollah conflict will likely dominate the remaining months of this congressional session. One lawmaker who will play a key role in the process is Senator Richard Lugar, the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee.
-----
Senator Richard Lugar
RepubicanSenator Richard Lugar is one of Capitol Hill's most influential 3 voices in foreign policy.
Whether he's talking about Iraq.... "The people of Iraq desperately 4 need their government to deliver tangible 5 benefits".
....or China... "Beijing must reassess its regional priorities."
.... his words have impact.
"The world has many dangers and many possibilities, and I have cherished the chairmanship of the Foreign Relations Committee because it offers opportunities to learn more, not only for my own curiosity, to satisfy that, but likewise for other members and through television, a broad audience in our country," said the senator.
Lugar has been chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee since 2003. It is the second time he has chaired the panel. He also served from 1985 to 1987.
In a VOA interview he talks about the demands of the job, which he has to balance with his responsibilities as a member of the Agriculture Committee.
"I am constantly trying to stay in touch with all of the committee work of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the Senate Agriculture Committee. That includes meetings with other members, memos 6 that they produce, staff-generated materials, and a long stream of visitors."
That long stream of visitors includes his constituents 7 from Indiana and, on this day, actress Angelina Jolie, Goodwill 8 Ambassador for the United Nations High Commissioner 9 for Refugees. It also includes a large number of foreign dignitaries.
"I suspect the value of having these conversations is not only to indicate that our country takes seriously the thoughts of people of other countries and as a courteous 10 gesture," he says, "but to interrogate 11 these visitors as to what is really occurring in their countries."
The senator deals with top administration officials -- including the president. But some lawmakers, including those in President Bush's Republican Party, have expressed frustration 12 that Congress is not consulted more often about foreign policy. Asked about this, Lugar is characteristically diplomatic.
"I can understand that members of the administration feel they have to keep fairly close counsel. Perhaps they have not reached out on all occasions as widely and ideally as they should. On the other hand, we have a responsibility in the checks and balances to hold hearings, to raise questions, whether they are reaching out or not."
Richard Lugar began his public career as a member of the Indianapolis school board in the Midwestern U.S. state of Indiana from 1964 to 1967. It was during the civil rights struggle in the United States.
"It was a time of great turmoil 13 in public education," he recalls. "It was a time of great turmoil in the cities of America. I rapidly found how the civil rights revolution was coming upon the schools as well as the civil government of our city, and these were very, very controversial, and sometimes even dangerous times."
Lugar worked to promote voluntary public school desegregation. His efforts were noticed by Republican Party officials, who urged him to run for mayor.
Lugar served two terms as Indianapolis mayor and went on to be elected to the U.S. Senate in 1976. He is running for his sixth term this year, and he is unopposed.
Of all the achievements of his Senate career, he is most proud of the Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction Program. The 1991 bill was sponsored by Senator Lugar and then-Senator Sam Nunn. It provides funding to former Soviet 14 states to dismantle 15 their nuclear, chemical and biological weapons.
"That was the beginning of what has led to the dismantling 16 of well over 60 percent of the warheads literally 17 taken off the missiles pointed 18 at the United States, the destruction of well over 60 percent of all the missiles, of the silos in which the missiles are based, of all the ground work."
He keeps track of the effort with a wall chart in his Capitol Hill office. "Over at the left," he shows us, "we have identified 13,300 warheads that the former Soviet Union had aimed at the United States of America, any one of which could have destroyed my hometown of Indianapolis. Now, as of last year, 1628 of those warheads have been deactivated 19, that is taken off of missiles."
With an ambitious committee and Senate agenda expected in the coming months, the 74-year-old Lugar shows no sign of slowing down, or giving up his role as one of the Senate's most influential voices on foreign policy.
- The chairman of the meeting announced a ten-minute recess.会议主席宣布休会10分钟。
- Parliament was hastily recalled from recess.休会的议员被匆匆召回开会。
- Congress is the legislative branch of the U.S. government.国会是美国政府的立法部门。
- Today's hearing was just the first step in the legislative process.今天的听证会只是展开立法程序的第一步。
- He always tries to get in with the most influential people.他总是试图巴结最有影响的人物。
- He is a very influential man in the government.他在政府中是个很有影响的人物。
- He was desperately seeking a way to see her again.他正拼命想办法再见她一面。
- He longed desperately to be back at home.他非常渴望回家。
- The policy has not yet brought any tangible benefits.这项政策还没有带来任何实质性的好处。
- There is no tangible proof.没有确凿的证据。
- Big shots get their dander up and memos start flying. 大人物们怒火中烧,备忘录四下乱飞。 来自辞典例句
- There was a pile of mail, memos and telephone messages on his desk. 他的办公桌上堆满着信件、备忘录和电话通知。 来自辞典例句
- 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》
- His heart is full of goodwill to all men.他心里对所有人都充满着爱心。
- We paid £10,000 for the shop,and £2000 for its goodwill.我们用一万英镑买下了这家商店,两千英镑买下了它的信誉。
- The commissioner has issued a warrant for her arrest.专员发出了对她的逮捕令。
- He was tapped for police commissioner.他被任命为警务处长。
- Although she often disagreed with me,she was always courteous.尽管她常常和我意见不一,但她总是很谦恭有礼。
- He was a kind and courteous man.他为人友善,而且彬彬有礼。
- The lawyer took a long time to interrogate the witness fully.律师花了很长时间仔细询问目击者。
- We will interrogate the two suspects separately.我们要对这两个嫌疑人单独进行审讯。
- 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。
- His mind was in such a turmoil that he couldn't get to sleep.内心的纷扰使他无法入睡。
- The robbery put the village in a turmoil.抢劫使全村陷入混乱。
- Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
- Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。
- He asked for immediate help from the United States to dismantle the warheads.他请求美国立即提供援助,拆除这批弹头。
- The mower firmly refused to mow,so I decided to dismantle it.修完后割草机还是纹丝不动,于是,我决定把它拆开。
- The new government set about dismantling their predecessors' legislation. 新政府正着手废除其前任所制定的法律。
- The dismantling of a nuclear reprocessing plant caused a leak of radioactivity yesterday. 昨天拆除核后处理工厂引起了放射物泄漏。
- He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
- Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候,她不走到真正要昏厥了,决不肯坐下来。
- 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。
- \"The brain can be deactivated. It can be yours to command.\" “大脑计算机可以被停止。如果你下达命令的话。” 来自互联网
- He successfully deactivated a nuclear reactor in a laboratory before meltdown. 他成功停用一个核反应堆在实验室之前崩溃。 来自互联网