希拉里.克林顿敦促恢复FEMA的独立性

Hillary: When FEMA was moved into the Department of Homeland Security. Its traditional mission of trying to prepare for and recover from and respond to disasters was subsumed in what became the overall mission of the war against terrorism. Obviously as a senator from New York, I care deeply about our effectiveness in battling the terrorists. But I think we also can do two things at once. And maybe we need to get back to an independent FEMA agency with leadership that's prepared and experienced in order to be sure that we never ever see anything like this again in our country.

Interviewer: But surely FEMA has to be able to respond to a terror incident as well and does the rationale for putting it in Homeland Security.

Hillary: Well...but the independence of it doesn't in any way interfere¹ with that. But even some of the people who are in this administration have admitted that the cutbacks in funding, the cutbacks in personnel, the fact that FEMA was no longer seen as a lead agency on anything would interfere with the ability for it to do either of those functions, either in disasters or with respect to a terrorist attack. We need to be able to respond to natural disasters or man-made disasters. And I had the,you know, great doubts about whether that could happen in the department of Homeland Security. I was willing to give it the benefit of the doubt but I think that you know we've seen clearly that it isn't working and I'm afraid that if it is not independent we are gonna continue to have this confusion. You know, it's one thing to be a bureaucrat² and presidential appointee who is, you know, doing some job though our people's lives are not directly at stake. It is something else though when you are on the, you know the point of the arrow, you have to make the decisions and that just didn't happen.

Interviewer: Well, would you suggest then that the FEMA director Mike Brown be fired.

Hillary: Well, I don't…er…have that, you know, decision, that's up to the president but …er… certainly…

Interviewer: Do you think it is a good idea. Would you fire him?

Hillary: Well, you know right now I don't know what that mean in terms of what we are trying to get accomplish now. We don't want to make a bad situation worse. Obviously, the legislation I am introducing will require that whoever in that position have specific appropriate experience with handling disasters.

Interviewer: Now you are on record as calling for a Katrina Commission, sort of, like a 9-11 commission. Is it the time to be calling for those sorts of things right in the wake of this when there are real needs right now. I think that a lot of people watching this would say, let's, let's wait a little bit on the blame issue and we can deconstruct this later. We have people in need right now.

Hillary: You know, Miles, I've said that's why I've called for an independent commission because I don't think the government should be investigating itself and I don't think that anybody in the government should be taken away from the important tasks of dealing³ with the enormous challenges facing the people along the Gulf⁴ Coast. I think we do need an independent commission. You know, I am always struck when people say that, because it is commonly said. You know, after Pearl Harbor, there was an immediate⁵ investigation⁶ launched. You know I think that, we've sort of lost track of fact that this is a government that has to be accountable to the people of our country. This is not a game. This has to be a serious inquiry⁷ that people have confidence in that will help us understand what did go wrong. The sooner we know that, the better. We have no idea what Mother Nature or Heaven Forbid, you know, the terrorists have installed for us. I for one want to know what went wrong because I don't ever want to see this happen in our country and have people put at risk and have people lose their lives and have the questions that people were asking me that are so painful and poignant⁸ in Houston when I saw them, you know, go without answers for very long.

Interviewer: Is there a simple answer, senator, to who drop the ball?

Hillary: Well, on August 27, the president signed an emergency declaration at his ranch⁹ in Crawford, in which he said that it would be an emergency and the federal government would take the lead in coordinating¹⁰ response. I think that the bucks¹¹ stopped at the federal government and so let's find out what went wrong from an independent panel of experts, people would understand what should happen, what didn't happen and let's do it as quickly as possible.

1 interfere   

v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰

参考例句：

• If we interfere, it may do more harm than good.如果我们干预的话，可能弊多利少。
• When others interfere in the affair,it always makes troubles. 别人一卷入这一事件，棘手的事情就来了。

2 bureaucrat   

n. 官僚作风的人，官僚，官僚政治论者

参考例句：

• He was just another faceless bureaucrat.他只不过是一个典型呆板的官员。
• The economy is still controlled by bureaucrats.经济依然被官僚们所掌控。

3 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

4 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

5 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。

6 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

7 inquiry   

n.打听，询问，调查，查问

参考例句：

• Many parents have been pressing for an inquiry into the problem.许多家长迫切要求调查这个问题。
• The field of inquiry has narrowed down to five persons.调查的范围已经缩小到只剩5个人了。

8 poignant   

adj.令人痛苦的，辛酸的，惨痛的

参考例句：

• His lyrics are as acerbic and poignant as they ever have been.他的歌词一如既往的犀利辛辣。
• It is especially poignant that he died on the day before his wedding.他在婚礼前一天去世了，这尤其令人悲恸。

9 ranch   

n.大牧场，大农场

参考例句：

• He went to work on a ranch.他去一个大农场干活。
• The ranch is in the middle of a large plateau.该牧场位于一个辽阔高原的中部。

10 coordinating   

v.使协调，使调和( coordinate的现在分词 )；协调；协同；成为同等

参考例句：

• He abolished the Operations Coordinating Board and the Planning Board. 他废除了行动协调委员会和计划委员会。 来自辞典例句
• He's coordinating the wedding, and then we're not going to invite him? 他是来协调婚礼的，难道我们不去请他？ 来自电影对白

11 bucks   

n.雄鹿( buck的名词复数 )；钱；（英国十九世纪初的）花花公子；（用于某些表达方式）责任v.（马等）猛然弓背跃起( buck的第三人称单数 )；抵制；猛然震荡；马等尥起后蹄跳跃

参考例句：

• They cost ten bucks. 这些值十元钱。
• They are hunting for bucks. 他们正在猎雄兔。 来自《简明英汉词典》