PBS高端访谈:美史上在任时间最长议员去世

John Dingell, the longest serving member of Congress in U.S. history, has also died. The Michigan Democrat¹ passed away Thursday night at his home in Detroit. Judy Woodruff remembers the influential² politician and his legacy³.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Born in Colorado, but raised in Michigan and Washington, D.C., John David Dingell Jr. was the son of a 12-term congressman⁴. Dingell joined the Army following the attack on Pearl Harbor. He returned to Washington to earn a degree in chemistry and law from Georgetown. But after the death of his father in 1955, 29-year-old Dingell followed in his political footsteps, winning a special election to succeed John Sr. He became known as a dealmaker, chairing the Energy and Commerce Committee, and working on major pieces of legislation, from the 1964 Civil Rights Act to the Clean Air Act and the Affordable⁵ Care Act.

BARACK OBAMA, Former President of the United States: A bill for comprehensive health reform was first introduced by John Dingell Sr. in 1943; 65 years later, his son continues to introduce that same bill at the beginning of each session.

JUDY WOODRUFF: By the mid-'90s, Dingell earned the title of dean of the House, the longest serving member. The Michigan congressman went on to serve for nearly 60 years, before retiring in 2015.

REP. JOHN DINGELL (D), Michigan: I put myself to the test. And I want to know, when the time comes, whether I can live up to my own personal standards as a member of Congress. I'm going to give the last that I can assuredly give and the last that I can proudly give to my people.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Dingell's wife, Debbie, now represents his Dearborn district, after winning the election to fill his seat in 2014. For years after, Dingell remained active on Twitter, where he developed a loyal following for his cutting wit and partisan⁶ banter⁷. Reacting to a number of White House resignations in 2017, Dingell tweeted: Truman installed a bowling⁸ alley⁹. Carter tried solar panels. Trump¹⁰ is fully¹¹ invested in a revolving¹² door. And for his life's work in the House, President Obama awarded the dean of the House the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2014.

BARACK OBAMA: His life reminds us that change takes time, it takes courage and persistence¹³, but if we push hard enough and long enough, change is possible.

JUDY WOODRUFF: John Dingell was 92 years old.

美国历史上任期最长的国会议员约翰·丁格尔已离世。来自密歇根的他是一位民主党员，他于周四晚上在自己位于底特律的家中离世。朱迪·伍德拉夫将带我们回顾他作为政客的影响力和他留下的财富。

朱迪·伍德拉夫：约翰·丁格尔出生在科罗拉多州，但却在密歇根州和华盛顿特区长大。他的父亲曾任12期国会议员。丁格尔在珍珠港遇袭后就参了军。随后，他回到华盛顿，在乔治城获得了化学和法律专业学位。他父亲1955年去世后，29岁的他追随父亲的政治脚步，通过一次特殊的选举继承了父亲的工作。世人皆知他是做大事之人，他曾担任商业委员会主席，参与过重大立法事项的制定，从1964年的《民权法案》到《清洁空气法》再到《平价医疗法案》，不一而足。

巴拉克·奥巴马，美国前总统：丁格尔于1943首次提出了有关全面医改的法案。65年后，丁格尔的儿子继续推行该法案，每次开会的第一件事都是推行父亲的法案。

朱迪·伍德拉夫：90年代中期的时候，丁格尔获得了众议院院长的称号，成为任期最长的议员。其后，丁格尔又担任了近60年的议员，直到2015年退休。

约翰·丁格尔，来自密歇根州：我要检测自己。我想知道，当时机到来时，我是否能坚持自己作为一名国会议员的标准。我将竭尽全力为人民做贡献，我为此感到骄傲。

朱迪·伍德拉夫：丁格尔的妻子黛比是他所在的迪尔伯恩区的议员。她2014年通过选举得以接替丁格尔的席位。在那以后，丁格尔依然活跃在推特上，他有大批忠实粉丝，都折服于他的睿智和他在党派问题上的诙谐幽默。在回应2017年白宫多位高官离任的事情时，丁格尔发推文：这是特鲁门建的保龄球馆搞的鬼。卡特试过太阳能电池板。特朗普则倾心于旋转门。鉴于他一生为众议院所做的贡献，2014年，奥巴马总统将总统自由勋章表彰给了这位众议院院长。

巴拉克·奥巴马：他的一生提醒着我们——虽然变革需要经年累月，需要勇气与毅力，但如果我们足够努力地推行，推行的时间足够长，那么变革并非不可能。

朱迪·伍德拉夫：约翰·丁格尔享年92岁。

1 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

2 influential   

adj.有影响的，有权势的

参考例句：

• 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。

3 legacy   

n.遗产，遗赠；先人(或过去)留下的东西

参考例句：

• They are the most precious cultural legacy our forefathers left.它们是我们祖先留下来的最宝贵的文化遗产。
• He thinks the legacy is a gift from the Gods.他认为这笔遗产是天赐之物。

4 Congressman   

n.（美）国会议员

参考例句：

• He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman.他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。
• The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics.这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。

5 affordable   

adj.支付得起的，不太昂贵的

参考例句：

• The rent for the four-roomed house is affordable.四居室房屋的房租付得起。
• There are few affordable apartments in big cities.在大城市中没有几所公寓是便宜的。

6 partisan   

adj.党派性的；游击队的；n.游击队员；党徒

参考例句：

• 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。

7 banter   

n.嘲弄，戏谑；v.取笑，逗弄，开玩笑

参考例句：

• The actress exchanged banter with reporters.女演员与记者相互开玩笑。
• She engages in friendly banter with her customers.她常和顾客逗乐。

8 bowling   

n.保龄球运动

参考例句：

• Bowling is a popular sport with young and old.保龄球是老少都爱的运动。
• Which sport do you 1ike most,golf or bowling?你最喜欢什么运动，高尔夫还是保龄球？

9 alley   

n.小巷，胡同；小径，小路

参考例句：

• We live in the same alley.我们住在同一条小巷里。
• The blind alley ended in a brick wall.这条死胡同的尽头是砖墙。

10 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。

11 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

12 revolving   

adj.旋转的，轮转式的；循环的v.（使）旋转( revolve的现在分词 )；细想

参考例句：

• The theatre has a revolving stage. 剧院有一个旋转舞台。
• The company became a revolving-door workplace. 这家公司成了工作的中转站。

13 persistence   

n.坚持，持续，存留

参考例句：

• The persistence of a cough in his daughter puzzled him.他女儿持续的咳嗽把他难住了。
• He achieved success through dogged persistence.他靠着坚持不懈取得了成功。