美国国家公共电台 NPR Is Cuomo Threatening NRA's Existence? He Says: 'I'd Like To Believe It's True'

 

DON GONYEA, HOST:

The National Rifle Association says it's facing financial trouble and that New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is to blame. In a lawsuit¹, the NRA claims Governor Cuomo discouraged insurance companies and other financial institutions from doing business with the NRA, violating First Amendment² rights. The NRA is asking for an immediate³ injunction that would prevent New York state officials from, quote, interfering⁴ with, terminating or diminishing any of the NRA's contracts and/or business relationships with any organizations. Governor Andrew Cuomo is on the line now from New York.

Governor, welcome.

ANDREW CUOMO: Thank you for having me. My pleasure.

GONYEA: So, first, can I get your response to the lawsuit?

CUOMO: Well, the lawsuit is frivolous⁵, but I do plead guilty to stopping the NRA from conducting illegal activity in the state of New York. That I will plead guilty to proudly. The situation is, states, as you know, license⁶ insurance companies. And there was an insurance product that was being sold through the NRA called Carry Guard. It was an insurance policy designed for people who carry guns. And the insurance policy would have actually covered the policyholder for intentional⁷ wrongdoing. In New York state, it is illegal to insure someone for intentional wrongdoing - in many other states, also. And the state brought an action against the insurance company. The insurance company was fined, agreed to stop selling the product.

And that was a major line of business for the NRA, was selling this insurance product. So they are now saying that they are incurring⁸ financial hardship. And I say, frankly⁹, too bad. This was an illegal product. It was illegal to sell the product, and, to the extent the NRA was profiting from it, they were profiting from illegal activities.

GONYEA: The NRA is a very wealthy organization - millions - tens of millions spent on lobbying, even more spent on campaigns. But they argue that your actions are such that they threaten the NRA's very existence. Do you buy that?

CUOMO: I would like to believe it's true (laughter). To tell you the truth, we have stopped them from selling this illegal insurance policy. I'm sure they were making money from that. But they need the money to survive is what they're saying. Because the way they bully¹⁰ and browbeat¹¹ is, they say to these politicians, if you don't support the NRA position, they will campaign against you. I know they do that because they've done it to me.

Tell you what, Don - I'm going to be speaking with the other governors and the attorneys general across the country. This insurance product is sold in other states. And I believe it violates the law of many other states, and I'm hoping to expand this all across the country. And if they think New York hurt their pocketbook, well, let's see what happens when the other states also join in. I think we could make a serious dent¹² on their coffers, and that would be good for everyone.

GONYEA: Let me just turn this on its head for a moment. If a Republican governor of a red state did something using regulatory power to pressure insurance companies and banks to stop doing business with some group - what if it were planned parenthood or the ACLU, and they suddenly couldn't get insurance or banking¹³ services? Would that be a legitimate¹⁴ use of government power?

CUOMO: Well, the - it's not a hypothetical, Don, when you're posing it with Planned Parenthood, right? We know what the federal government has done to them. Take the NRA out of it for a moment. The actual insurer, the company that sold the product, paid a fine and agreed to stop selling it because it violated the law. So the NRA's (unintelligible) their revenue from selling an illegal product. And I don't think that's an especially sympathetic claim.

GONYEA: You have tangled¹⁵ with the NRA before. In 2013, you pushed through what was one of the toughest gun laws in the country. And, in some of the rural counties in upstate New York, your popularity dropped sharply at about that point. Any regrets about that? Not the way you angered the NRA, but the way you've angered some of your own constituents¹⁶ who own firearms?

CUOMO: Any regrets? No. As a matter of fact, Don, it's one of the proudest things that I did. You're right. My entanglement¹⁷ with the NRA goes back. I passed the toughest gun control law in the country. It did hurt me politically to this day. But I believe it's set a model for the nation. I believe the law is the right thing to do. I believe, as time goes on, it's even shown itself to be more and more correct.

But there is a political price here, Don, and that's what people have to understand. When you take action, there are going to be people who are annoyed and who believe the Second Amendment is sacrosanct¹⁸ and slippery slope, etc. And politicians don't want to pay that price. I understand that it hurts when you look at those polls, and you see (laughter) your numbers have gone down. But if you are in this business only to keep your polls high, then you are in the wrong business.

GONYEA: New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, thank you for being with us.

CUOMO: Thank you for having me, Don.

1 lawsuit   

n.诉讼，控诉

参考例句：

• They threatened him with a lawsuit.他们以诉讼威逼他。
• He was perpetually involving himself in this long lawsuit.他使自己无休止地卷入这场长时间的诉讼。

2 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。

3 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

4 interfering   

adj. 妨碍的 动词interfere的现在分词

参考例句：

• He's an interfering old busybody! 他老爱管闲事！
• I wish my mother would stop interfering and let me make my own decisions. 我希望我母亲不再干预，让我自己拿主意。

5 frivolous   

adj.轻薄的；轻率的

参考例句：

• This is a frivolous way of attacking the problem.这是一种轻率敷衍的处理问题的方式。
• He spent a lot of his money on frivolous things.他在一些无聊的事上花了好多钱。

6 license   

n.执照，许可证，特许；v.许可，特许

参考例句：

• The foreign guest has a license on the person.这个外国客人随身携带执照。
• The driver was arrested for having false license plates on his car.司机由于使用假车牌而被捕。

7 intentional   

adj.故意的，有意（识）的

参考例句：

• Let me assure you that it was not intentional.我向你保证那不是故意的。
• His insult was intentional.他的侮辱是有意的。

8 incurring   

遭受，招致，引起( incur的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Many of the world's farmers are also incurring economic deficits. 世界上许多农民还在遭受经济上的亏损。
• He spoke to the Don directly, taking a chance on incurring Michael's ill will. 他直接向老头子谈自己的意见，这显然要冒引起迈克尔反感的风险。 来自教父部分

9 frankly   

adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说

参考例句：

• To speak frankly, I don't like the idea at all.老实说，我一点也不赞成这个主意。
• Frankly speaking, I'm not opposed to reform.坦率地说，我不反对改革。

10 bully   

n.恃强欺弱者，小流氓；vt.威胁，欺侮

参考例句：

• A bully is always a coward.暴汉常是懦夫。
• The boy gave the bully a pelt on the back with a pebble.那男孩用石子掷击小流氓的背脊。

11 browbeat   

v.欺侮；吓唬

参考例句：

• They browbeat him into signing the document.他们威逼他签署了文件。
• The judge browbeat the witness.那法官威吓证人。

12 dent   

n.凹痕，凹坑；初步进展

参考例句：

• I don't know how it came about but I've got a dent in the rear of my car.我不知道是怎么回事，但我的汽车后部有了一个凹痕。
• That dent is not big enough to be worth hammering out.那个凹陷不大，用不着把它锤平。

13 banking   

n.银行业，银行学，金融业

参考例句：

• John is launching his son on a career in banking.约翰打算让儿子在银行界谋一个新职位。
• He possesses an extensive knowledge of banking.他具有广博的银行业务知识。

14 legitimate   

adj.合法的，合理的，合乎逻辑的；v.使合法

参考例句：

• Sickness is a legitimate reason for asking for leave.生病是请假的一个正当的理由。
• That's a perfectly legitimate fear.怀有这种恐惧完全在情理之中。

15 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。

16 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》

17 entanglement   

n.纠缠，牵累

参考例句：

• This entanglement made Carrie anxious for a change of some sort.这种纠葛弄得嘉莉急于改变一下。
• There is some uncertainty about this entanglement with the city treasurer which you say exists.对于你所说的与市财政局长之间的纠葛,大家有些疑惑。

18 sacrosanct   

adj.神圣不可侵犯的

参考例句：

• In India,the cow is a sacrosanct animal.牛在印度是神圣的动物。
• Philip Glass is ignorant of establishing an immutable, sacrosanct urtext.菲利普·格拉斯不屑于创立不变的、神圣的原始文本。