2006年VOA标准英语-Foley Ethics Inquiry Completes Third Week

By Dan Robinson
Capitol Hill
26 October 2006

As members of Congress campaign for the upcoming legislative¹ election, back in the U.S. Capitol a congressional ethics² committee completed the third week of an investigation³ that could yet have a major impact on the November 7 vote.

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Mark Foley (file photo)

Day after day, the committee has interviewed key figures in the scandal involving Mark Foley, the former Republican lawmaker who resigned amid revelation of inappropriate emails he sent to male congressional interns⁴.

After questioning everyone from the House Speaker, the Republican Majority leader, other lawmakers and senior staffers, it appears less and less likely any clear answers will emerge before the election.

Committee members are under strict guidelines not to speak to the media.

Committee ranking Democrat⁵ Howard Berman, explained this as the panel began its work.

"In terms of confidentiality⁶ and process, we are going to operate, we think we have to operate in the traditional way of doing our investigation quietly and without announcement - until we're finished," said Howard Berman.

But every witness who did speak with reporters camped outside the committee room has asserted they told the truth to investigators⁷.

House Speaker Dennis Hastert's explanations of who told him what, and when about Foley's inappropriate sexually-explicit Internet messages to congressional pages have been at odds⁸ with accounts provided by others.

"I thank the committee to prompt action, for moving forward on this inquiry⁹," he said. "They did so. I answered all of the questions they asked, to the best of my ability. I also said they need to move quickly to get to the bottom of this issue, including who knew about the sexually-explicit messages and when they knew about it. So they needed to make sure they ask all the question of everybody."

Hastert's Chief of Staff, Scott Palmer, has also gone before the panel, as has Tom Reynolds, the Republican lawmaker who also insists on the accuracy of his version of events.

Among the many accounts, the most conspicuous¹⁰ remains¹¹ one by former congressional aide Kirk Fordham who asserts he informed senior Hastert aides three years ago about Foley's inappropriate behavior. Hastert denies having had any early knowledge, or says he can't recall specific conversations.

Although some individual testimony¹² has lasted as long as six hours, secrecy¹³ has been such that it is difficult at this point to have a sense of what the inquiry has uncovered.

What is possible, despite less media attention as the inquiry has dragged on, is to assess the potential political impact so far for Republicans and Democrats¹⁵ fighting it out for votes on November 7th.

Some campaign appearances by Hastert, Majority Leader John Boehner, and Congressman¹⁶ Reynolds, who heads the Republican Congressional Campaign Committee, had to be curtailed¹⁷ as a result of the Foley investigation.

Facing a strong Democratic challenger in his home district in New York State, Reynolds was forced to air an apologetic campaign ad regarding his role in the Foley scandal.

Reynold's approval numbers have recovered somewhat, and he recently expressed optimism Republicans might even hold on to the Florida House seat vacated by Foley, one political analysts¹⁸ rank as one of the four most vulnerable in the nation for Republicans.

"It is a good Republican seat, and one that based on the circumstances of this campaign leads us to a very good opportunity of seeing if we can't capture it because it holds that Republican strength," said Tom Reynolds.

Democrat Chris Van Hollen disagrees, saying Republicans will have a hard time in key congressional races as a result of ethics issues.

"Look at the seats we're talking about [Republican Congressman] Bob Ney, [former Republican Majority Leader] Tom DeLay, Mark Foley," said Chris Van Hollen. "And you wonder why the American people are fed up, and you wonder why there is a very important national component¹⁹ to this election if you want to hold people accountable."

The references are to Ohio Republican Bob Ney who pled guilty to corruption²⁰ charges linked to the Jack²¹ Abramoff lobbying scandal, and faces expulsion from the House, and Tom DeLay, the former Majority leader who stepped down as he faced criminal charges in Texas, and ethics issues also related to Abramoff.

As the inquiry goes into a fourth week, it's not known if the bipartisan panel will issue a preliminary report.

If such a report were to contain findings that raise new questions about the actions of Republican House leaders, it might refocus voter's attention on the issue of congressional ethics just days before the November 7 election.

On the campaign trail, Republican lawmakers continue their efforts to move attention of voters away from the Foley scandal and toward such key Republican issues as the war on terrorism and border security.

For Democrats, the Foley scandal remains a potent¹⁴ part of their attempts to keep the spotlight²² on Republican ethical²³ lapses²⁴ during the 109th Congress, even as President Bush's handling of the situation in Iraq looms²⁵ ever larger in the days before the November 7 election.

1 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。

2 ethics   

n.伦理学；伦理观，道德标准

参考例句：

• The ethics of his profession don't permit him to do that.他的职业道德不允许他那样做。
• Personal ethics and professional ethics sometimes conflict.个人道德和职业道德有时会相互抵触。

3 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。

4 interns   

n.住院实习医生( intern的名词复数 )v.拘留，关押( intern的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Our interns also greet our guests when they arrive in our studios. 我们的实习生也会在嘉宾抵达演播室的时候向他们致以问候。 来自超越目标英语 第4册
• The interns work alongside experienced civil engineers and receive training in the different work sectors. 实习生陪同有经验的国内工程师工作，接受不同工作部门的相关培训。 来自超越目标英语 第4册

5 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。

6 confidentiality   

n.秘而不宣，保密

参考例句：

• They signed a confidentiality agreement. 他们签署了一份保守机密的协议。
• Cryptography is the foundation of supporting authentication, integrality and confidentiality. 而密码学是支持认证、完整性和机密性机制的基础。

7 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 odds   

n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别

参考例句：

• The odds are 5 to 1 that she will win.她获胜的机会是五比一。
• Do you know the odds of winning the lottery once?你知道赢得一次彩票的几率多大吗？

9 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。

10 conspicuous   

adj.明眼的，惹人注目的；炫耀的，摆阔气的

参考例句：

• It is conspicuous that smoking is harmful to health.很明显，抽烟对健康有害。
• Its colouring makes it highly conspicuous.它的色彩使它非常惹人注目。

11 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

12 testimony   

n.证词；见证，证明

参考例句：

• The testimony given by him is dubious.他所作的证据是可疑的。
• He was called in to bear testimony to what the police officer said.他被传入为警官所说的话作证。

13 secrecy   

n.秘密，保密，隐蔽

参考例句：

• All the researchers on the project are sworn to secrecy.该项目的所有研究人员都按要求起誓保守秘密。
• Complete secrecy surrounded the meeting.会议在绝对机密的环境中进行。

14 potent   

adj.强有力的，有权势的；有效力的

参考例句：

• The medicine had a potent effect on your disease.这药物对你的病疗效很大。
• We must account of his potent influence.我们必须考虑他的强有力的影响。

15 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》

16 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。

17 curtailed   

v.截断，缩短( curtail的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Spending on books has been severely curtailed. 购书开支已被大大削减。
• Their public health programme had to be severely curtailed. 他们的公共卫生计划不得不大大收缩。 来自《简明英汉词典》

18 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

19 component   

n.组成部分，成分，元件；adj.组成的，合成的

参考例句：

• Each component is carefully checked before assembly.每个零件在装配前都经过仔细检查。
• Blade and handle are the component parts of a knife.刀身和刀柄是一把刀的组成部分。

20 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

21 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

22 spotlight   

n.公众注意的中心，聚光灯，探照灯，视听，注意，醒目

参考例句：

• This week the spotlight is on the world of fashion.本周引人瞩目的是时装界。
• The spotlight followed her round the stage.聚光灯的光圈随着她在舞台上转。

23 ethical   

adj.伦理的，道德的，合乎道德的

参考例句：

• It is necessary to get the youth to have a high ethical concept.必须使青年具有高度的道德观念。
• It was a debate which aroused fervent ethical arguments.那是一场引发强烈的伦理道德争论的辩论。

24 lapses   

n.失误，过失( lapse的名词复数 )；小毛病；行为失检；偏离正道v.退步( lapse的第三人称单数 )；陷入；倒退；丧失

参考例句：

• He sometimes lapses from good behavior. 他有时行为失检。 来自辞典例句
• He could forgive attacks of nerves, panic, bad unexplainable actions, all sorts of lapses. 他可以宽恕突然发作的歇斯底里，惊慌失措，恶劣的莫名其妙的动作，各种各样的失误。 来自辞典例句

25 looms   

n.织布机( loom的名词复数 )v.隐约出现，阴森地逼近( loom的第三人称单数 )；隐约出现，阴森地逼近

参考例句：

• All were busily engaged,men at their ploughs,women at their looms. 大家都很忙，男的耕田，女的织布。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The factory has twenty-five looms. 那家工厂有25台织布机。 来自《简明英汉词典》