VOA标准英语2013--Democrats Change US Senate Rules on Obama Nominees
时间：2019-01-31 作者：英语课 分类：VOA常速英语2013年(十一月)
Democrats 1 Change US Senate Rules on Obama Nominees 2
CAPITOL HILL — The Democratic-led U.S. Senate has voted to change the rules for confirming presidential nominees and strip the ability of minority Republicans to block them. The move is designed to reduce gridlock on Capitol Hill and smooth the functioning of government, but, it could further scuttle 3 bipartisanship and open the door to a reshaping of America’s legislative 5 process.
Filibusters 7 allow the Senate’s minority party to set a 60-vote threshold to advance almost any business before the 100-member body. As a blocking maneuver 8, it is highly effective.
Majority Democrats say Republicans have overused the filibuster 6 when it comes to confirming executive branch and judicial 9 nominees. Senate Majority Leader Harry 10 Reid:
“Republican obstruction 11 has become endemic in the Senate over the last five years, grinding the work of this institution to a halt, threatening the integrity of this institution, and damaging our country," said Reid.
Thursday, Democrats forced a series of mostly party line votes to change the rules governing the chamber 12. Now, simple majority votes will suffice to confirm federal nominees other than Supreme 13 Court justices. Republicans like Chuck Grassley objected.
“This is about a naked power grab, and nothing more than a power grab. This is about the other side not getting everything they want, when they want it," said Grassley.
Not so, according to President Barack Obama.
“All too often we have seen a single senator or a handful of senators choose to abuse arcane 14 procedural tactics to unilaterally block bipartisan compromises, or to prevent well-qualified patriotic 15 Americans from filling critical positions in public service in our system of government," said President Obama.
Republicans warn that Democrats will regret Thursday’s vote the next time they are in the minority. Curbing the filibuster through a partisan 4 vote had been called the “nuclear option,” given its potential to rile Republicans and further poison bipartisanship.
Analyst 16 John Fortier sees long-term implications:
“The House [of Representatives] you can get something done if you have a one vote majority. The Senate, because of the filibuster rule and some other features, has usually been a place where you had to have a more bipartisan coalition 17. I think this is the beginning of changes to make the Senate much more like the House, to make it much more a majoritarian institution," said Fortier.
Those changes can be seen as a needed curtailment 18 of legislative abuse - or as an ill-advised alteration 19 of the very fabric 20 of American democracy.
- 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》
- She's one of the nominees. 她是被提名者之一。 来自超越目标英语 第2册
- A startling number of his nominees for senior positions have imploded. 他所提名的高级官员被否决的数目令人震惊。 来自互联网
- There was a general scuttle for shelter when the rain began to fall heavily.下大雨了，人们都飞跑着寻找躲雨的地方。
- The scuttle was open,and the good daylight shone in.明朗的亮光从敞开的小窗中照了进来。
- In their anger they forget all the partisan quarrels.愤怒之中，他们忘掉一切党派之争。
- The numerous newly created partisan detachments began working slowly towards that region.许多新建的游击队都开始慢慢地向那里移动。
- 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。
- A senator dragged the subject in as a filibuster.一个参议员硬把这个题目拉扯进来，作为一种阻碍议事的手法。
- The democrats organized a filibuster in the senate.民主党党员在参议院上组织了阻挠议事。
- This Republican leadership has waged 78 filibusters and we still have six months to go. 而这届参议院上台才一年半，共和党领导层已经应用了78次。 来自互联网
- Yes, there were filibusters in the past-most notably by segregationists trying to block civil rights legislation. 没错，过去也有使用阻挠立法手段的——尤其是种族隔离分子阻止民权法案使用过。 来自互联网
- All the fighters landed safely on the airport after the military maneuver.在军事演习后，所有战斗机都安全降落在机场上。
- I did get her attention with this maneuver.我用这个策略确实引起了她的注意。
- He is a man with a judicial mind.他是个公正的人。
- Tom takes judicial proceedings against his father.汤姆对他的父亲正式提出诉讼。
- Today,people feel more hurried and harried.今天，人们感到更加忙碌和苦恼。
- Obama harried business by Healthcare Reform plan.奥巴马用医改掠夺了商界。
- She was charged with obstruction of a police officer in the execution of his duty.她被指控妨碍警察执行任务。
- The road was cleared from obstruction.那条路已被清除了障碍。
- For many,the dentist's surgery remains a torture chamber.对许多人来说，牙医的治疗室一直是间受刑室。
- The chamber was ablaze with light.会议厅里灯火辉煌。
- It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
- He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。
- The technique at one time was arcane in the minds of most chemists.这种技术在大多数化学家心目中一度是神秘的。
- Until a few months ago few people outside the arcane world of contemporary music had heard of Gorecki.直至几个月前，在现代音乐神秘殿堂之外很少有人听说了戈莱斯基。
- His speech was full of patriotic sentiments.他的演说充满了爱国之情。
- The old man is a patriotic overseas Chinese.这位老人是一位爱国华侨。
- What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
- The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。
- The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
- Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。
- The usage based allocation method and the curtailment based allocation method are discuss. 在责任分摊法中，阐述了使用程度分摊法和裁减量分摊法。 来自互联网
- In transaction curtailment study, different transaction curtailment models using different types of curtailment objectives. 在交易裁减的研究中，不同的交易裁减模型采用了不同类型的裁减目标。 来自互联网
- The shirt needs alteration.这件衬衣需要改一改。
- He easily perceived there was an alteration in my countenance.他立刻看出我的脸色和往常有些不同。