2006年VOA标准英语-Bush Signs Bill to Build Fence Along Mexican Bo

By Scott Stearns
White House
26 October 2006
 
U.S. President George Bush has signed a law authorizing¹ construction of more than 1,000 kilometers of fence along America's border with Mexico.  Illegal immigration is an important issue in some of next month's congressional elections.

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Vice² President Dick Cheney, left, looks on as President Bush speaks prior to signing Secure Fence Act of 2006  
  
President Bush says illegal immigration is on the rise in the United States, because the government has not been in complete control of its southern border for decades.

"We have a responsibility to address these challenges," he said.  "We have a responsibility to enforce our laws. We have a responsibility to secure our borders. We take this responsibility seriously."

Mr. Bush says the legislation he signed into law will help meet that responsibility by increasing the number of border agents, creating new vehicle barriers and adding beds to detention³ centers for illegal immigrants.

But the new fence at the centerpiece of the Secure Borders Act may never be built, as only a portion of the necessary funding has been approved. Estimates for more than 1,000 kilometers of fence range from $6 billion to $8 billion. Congress has so far approved just over $1 billion for a fence that would cover nearly one-third of America's border with Mexico.

Still, President Bush says the extra lighting⁴, high technology cameras and unmanned aerial vehicles authorized⁵ in the bill will help make the border more secure.

"We are modernizing⁶ the southern border of the United States so we can assure the American people we are doing our job of securing the border," he added.  "By making wise use of physical barriers and deploying⁷ 21st century technology, we are helping⁸ our border patrol agents do their job."

Border fence in the distance separates the US, foreground, from Mexico near downtown Nogales, Arizona (file photo)  
  
Plans for the new fence have added to border tensions with outgoing Mexican President Vicente Fox who called it shameful⁹ and compared it to the Berlin Wall.

Most members of President Bush's political party from states along the southern border have championed the fence as a national security issue. But many oppose the president's proposed guest worker program, which would allow illegal immigrants to work legally in the United States for a specific period of time.

While his own Republican party blocked that plan in Congress, President Bush says he intends to press ahead with the temporary worker plan after next month's elections. Mr. Bush says it is not practical to deport¹⁰ as many as 12 million illegal immigrants.

"They should not be given an automatic path to citizenship¹¹," explained Mr. Bush.  "That is amnesty. I oppose amnesty. There is a rational middle ground between granting an automatic path to citizenship for every illegal immigrant and a program of mass deportation¹²."

Immigration is a hot topic in some of the races where opposition¹³ Democrats¹⁴ hope to win control of the House of Representatives.

A public opinion poll by the cable television network CNN says two-thirds of Americans disapprove¹⁵ of how President Bush is handling immigration.  A majority of Americans favor building new fences.

1 authorizing   

授权，批准，委托( authorize的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Letters of Marque: Take letters from a warning friendly power authorizing privateering. 私掠许可证：从某一个国家获得合法抢劫的证书。
• Formal phavee completion does not include authorizing the subsequent phavee. 阶段的正式完成不包括核准随后的阶段。

2 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

3 detention   

n.滞留，停留；拘留，扣留；(教育)留下

参考例句：

• He was kept in detention by the police.他被警察扣留了。
• He was in detention in connection with the bribery affair.他因与贿赂事件有牵连而被拘留了。

4 lighting   

n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光

参考例句：

• The gas lamp gradually lost ground to electric lighting.煤气灯逐渐为电灯所代替。
• The lighting in that restaurant is soft and romantic.那个餐馆照明柔和而且浪漫。

5 authorized   

a.委任的，许可的

参考例句：

• An administrative order is valid if authorized by a statute.如果一个行政命令得到一个法规的认可那么这个命令就是有效的。

6 modernizing   

使现代化，使适应现代需要( modernize的现在分词 )； 现代化，使用现代方法

参考例句：

• Modernizing a business to increase its profitability and competitiveness is a complicated affair. 使企业现代化，从而达到增加利润，增强竞争力的目的，是一件复杂的事情。
• The young engineer had a large share in modernizing the factory. 这位年轻工程师在工厂现代化的过程中尽了很大的“力”。

7 deploying   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的现在分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Provides support for developing and deploying distributed, component-based applications. 为开发和部署基于组件的分布式应用程序提供支持。
• Advertisement, publishing, repair, and install-on-demand are all available when deploying your application. 在部署应用程序时提供公布、发布、修复和即需即装功能。

8 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

9 shameful   

adj.可耻的，不道德的

参考例句：

• It is very shameful of him to show off.他向人炫耀自己，真不害臊。
• We must expose this shameful activity to the newspapers.我们一定要向报社揭露这一无耻行径。

10 deport   

vt.驱逐出境

参考例句：

• We deport aliens who slip across our borders.我们把偷渡入境的外国人驱逐出境。
• More than 240 England football fans are being deported from Italy following riots last night.昨晚的骚乱发生后有240多名英格兰球迷被驱逐出意大利。

11 citizenship   

n.市民权，公民权，国民的义务(身份)

参考例句：

• He was born in Sweden,but he doesn't have Swedish citizenship.他在瑞典出生，但没有瑞典公民身分。
• Ten years later,she chose to take Australian citizenship.十年后，她选择了澳大利亚国籍。

12 deportation   

n.驱逐，放逐

参考例句：

• The government issued a deportation order against the four men.政府发出了对那4名男子的驱逐令。
• Years ago convicted criminals in England could face deportation to Australia.很多年以前，英国已定罪的犯人可能被驱逐到澳大利亚。

13 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

14 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• 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》

15 disapprove   

v.不赞成，不同意，不批准

参考例句：

• I quite disapprove of his behaviour.我很不赞同他的行为。
• She wants to train for the theatre but her parents disapprove.她想训练自己做戏剧演员，但她的父母不赞成。