美国国家公共电台 NPR Trump Postpones Pelosi Trip To War Zone After She Postpones State Of The Union

Trump¹ Postpones³ Pelosi Trip To War Zone After She Postpones State Of The Union

MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:

Fly commercial. That, in essence, was President Trump's recommendation to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi as she was preparing to depart on a congressional trip to a war zone. Pelosi and other lawmakers and aides were about to leave for a trip to Afghanistan, also to Brussels. The president's recommendation came in a letter to the House speaker one day after she wrote to him asking that he delay his January 29 State of the Union address because of security concerns around the government shutdown. NPR congressional correspondent Susan Davis joins us now from Capitol Hill.

Hey there, Sue.

SUSAN DAVIS, BYLINE⁴: Hey, there.

KELLY: Start with the scene there on Capitol Hill. I mean, walk me through quite how this unfolded today.

DAVIS: So Congress had already wrapped up its business for the week, and the lawmakers and aides that were scheduled to go on this CODEL were literally⁵ getting on...

KELLY: CODEL, meaning...

DAVIS: CODEL - code for congressional delegation⁶ - it's the shorthand that is used up here for when lawmakers take trips abroad. Staff can also take them sometimes, too.

KELLY: Right.

DAVIS: They're very common, and they're often bipartisan. And so lawmakers and aides were literally getting on the bus. The military and the State Department are the support staff for these trips. Lawmakers were boarding a U.S. Air Force bus. They were on their way to the airport when the White House released a letter essentially⁷ pulling the plug on the trip and saying - characterized it as a public relations visit and said...

KELLY: Wow. They were literally, bags packed, ready to go.

DAVIS: Yes. And they essentially canceled the trip. The bus turned around. Many of us chased after that bus. It pulled back up to the Capitol, and they got off the bus.

KELLY: Wow. That's quite a scene. What was the purpose of this trip? To Afghanistan - so they were going to go to the war zone.

DAVIS: These are very common trips.

KELLY: Yeah.

DAVIS: They happen all the time. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was leading the CODEL. They were scheduled to take a weekend trip to meet with NATO commanders in Brussels and then to meet with troops in Afghanistan. They were scheduled to be back in time for the congressional session next week.

I would say that these trips are probably one of the last things that are known as being nonpartisan or bipartisan and also a way in which the executive branch and the legislative⁸ branch work together. These trips can't happen without military support, without State Department support. There were already support staff on the ground in Belgium awaiting lawmakers to get there on this trip. And I talked to a lot of staffers and members that are kind of stunned⁹ because this has just simply never happened before. The president has never pulled the plug on a CODEL for political reasons.

KELLY: As the president knows because of his own recent visit to a war zone, it is unusual for these trips to ever be announced in advance. And we didn't know this was going to happen - right? - until he announced - you know what? - maybe you should postpone².

DAVIS: He did. And he announced it as they were on their way there. That certainly breaks with norms and precedents¹⁰. These kind of trips into war zones are almost never announced before they're on the ground and often not announced until they've left the war zone.

So for the president to sort of announce that, I think, has also ruffled¹¹ some feathers up here. Steny Hoyer is the majority leader. He called it small and vindictive¹² and said unbecoming of the president of the United States. Even Senator Lindsey Graham - he's a Republican from South Carolina and an ally of the president - was also critical of the move, saying that one sophomoric¹³ response does not deserve another.

KELLY: Can the president do this? I guess the bus turning around indicates the answer is yes. But why does he have control over congressional leaders' travel?

DAVIS: You know, he has the legal authority to do it. I've already asked this question. I'm told he's the commander in chief of the military, and he controls military aircraft. I think there has also been a lot of deference¹⁴ given to the speaker of the House. Remember; the speaker of the House is a constitutional officer. They're in the line of succession. So for them to do this and under these circumstances, it really just is all about politics. There isn't a really good policy reason for this. It's just a bit of a tit for tat.

KELLY: Susan, just briefly¹⁵ - this comes on Day 27 of the shutdown and, I guess, gives us some window into that these negotiations¹⁶ are not exactly becoming a warm and friendly conversation anytime soon.

DAVIS: They're not. And if it's told us anything, I think the two parties are moving further apart and that we have some time to go in the government shutdown.

KELLY: Thank you very much, Susan.

DAVIS: You're welcome.

KELLY: That's NPR's congressional correspondent Susan Davis.

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 postpone   

v.延期，推迟

参考例句：

• I shall postpone making a decision till I learn full particulars.在未获悉详情之前我得从缓作出决定。
• She decided to postpone the converastion for that evening.她决定当天晚上把谈话搁一搁。

3 postpones   

v.延期，推迟( postpone的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• So it at least postpones the amount of taxes on due. 因此它至少推延了税金的交纳。 来自互联网
• Even if it does, this just postpones the day of reckoning. 但即便如此，也只是推迟了不得不解决根本问题的日子而已。 来自互联网

4 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。

5 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• 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。

6 delegation   

n.代表团；派遣

参考例句：

• The statement of our delegation was singularly appropriate to the occasion.我们代表团的声明非常适合时宜。
• We shall inform you of the date of the delegation's arrival.我们将把代表团到达的日期通知你。

7 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

8 legislative   

n.立法机构，立法权；adj.立法的，有立法权的

参考例句：

• 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。

9 stunned   

adj. 震惊的，惊讶的 动词stun的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• The fall stunned me for a moment. 那一下摔得我昏迷了片刻。
• The leaders of the Kopper Company were then stunned speechless. 科伯公司的领导们当时被惊得目瞪口呆。

10 precedents   

引用单元； 范例( precedent的名词复数 )； 先前出现的事例； 前例； 先例

参考例句：

• There is no lack of precedents in this connection. 不乏先例。
• He copied after bad precedents. 他仿效恶例。

11 ruffled   

adj. 有褶饰边的, 起皱的 动词ruffle的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• She ruffled his hair affectionately. 她情意绵绵地拨弄着他的头发。
• All this talk of a strike has clearly ruffled the management's feathers. 所有这些关于罢工的闲言碎语显然让管理层很不高兴。

12 vindictive   

adj.有报仇心的，怀恨的，惩罚的

参考例句：

• I have no vindictive feelings about it.我对此没有恶意。
• The vindictive little girl tore up her sister's papers.那个充满报复心的小女孩撕破了她姐姐的作业。

13 sophomoric   

adj.一知半解的；大学或四年制中学的二年级的

参考例句：

• Do you really believe that sophomoric argument?你当真相信那种幼稚可笑的论点吗？
• As a sophomoric student,it's very happy for me to receive invitation.作为一个二年级的学生，能收到邀请，我自然感到特别开心。

14 deference   

n.尊重，顺从；敬意

参考例句：

• Do you treat your parents and teachers with deference?你对父母师长尊敬吗？
• The major defect of their work was deference to authority.他们的主要缺陷是趋从权威。

15 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。

16 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。