2006年VOA标准英语-Bush Urges Immigration Compromise

By Paula Wolfson
White House
01 June 2006

President Bush is urging members of the U.S. Congress to overcome their differences and pass a comprehensive immigration reform bill.  The president acknowledges reaching a compromise will not be easy.

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The House and Senate have passed drastically different versions of immigration reform legislation and now face the task of merging¹ them into one compromise bill.

President Bush acknowledges it will be tough going, but says it can and must be done.

"It's a difficult task," he said.  "Yet the difficulty of this task is no excuse for avoiding it." 

In a speech to the U.S. Chamber² of Commerce, a national association of business owners, the president made very clear he prefers the comprehensive Senate bill over the far more restrictive border security legislation that cleared the House.

The Senate version includes a temporary guest worker program and a formula that would enable some illegal immigrants to eventually apply for citizenship³.  

House critics maintain the Senate plan grants amnesty to those who have broken U.S. laws, but the president, the former governor of a border state, said it is realistic.

"There is a rational middle ground between granting an automatic path to citizenship for every illegal immigrant and a program that requires every illegal immigrant to leave," he added.

He said there are clear differences between illegal immigrants who just crossed the border, and those who have been in the United States for years and have jobs, families and "a clean record."

"I believe illegal immigrants who have roots in our country and want to stay should have to pay a meaningful penalty for breaking the law, pay their taxes, learn English, and work at a job for a number of years," he explained.  "People who meet these conditions should eventually be permitted to apply for citizenship like other foreign workers."

But the president stressed they would go to the end of the line, and citizenship would not be automatic.  He said deporting⁴ all illegal immigrants is not the answer, and the only way to fix the current broken immigration system is a multi-faceted approach that relies on far more than just border security.

"All the elements of this problem must be addressed together or none of them will be solved at all," he noted⁵.

The president found strong support among the members of the Chamber of Commerce, which has been advocating an immigration

1 merging   

合并（分类）

参考例句：

• Many companies continued to grow by merging with or buying competing firms. 许多公司通过合并或收买竞争对手的公司而不断扩大。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件
• To sequence by repeated splitting and merging. 用反复分开和合并的方法进行的排序。

2 chamber   

n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所

参考例句：

• For many,the dentist's surgery remains a torture chamber.对许多人来说，牙医的治疗室一直是间受刑室。
• The chamber was ablaze with light.会议厅里灯火辉煌。

3 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。

4 deporting   

v.将…驱逐出境( deport的现在分词 )；举止

参考例句：

5 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。