布什出席共和党议院会议讲话(2008-05-07)

THE PRESIDENT: I'm pleased to be joined by the Republican House leadership. These are dear friends of mine who are committed to doing what's right for the country.
　　I just met with the Republican Caucus¹ from the House and I want to share some thoughts with you. First of all, we are committed to a good housing bill that will help folks stay in their house, as opposed to a housing bill that will reward speculators and lenders. There's a House alternative that will do the right thing for the American people when it comes to housing.
　　I will veto the bill that's moving through the House today if it makes it to my desk, and I urge members on both sides of the aisle² to focus on a good piece of legislation that is being sponsored by Republican members.
　　Secondly³, we talked about gasoline prices. No doubt about it we're deeply concerned about the high price of gasoline, which means that the United States Congress should not pass legislation that makes it harder to increase the supply of crude oil, as well as increase the supply of gasoline. What they should do is allow for the construction of refinery⁴ and for environmentally friendly domestic exploration. And if the truth of the matter is Congress were that concerned about the consumers, they ought to make sure that they make the tax relief we passed a permanent part of the tax code.
　　We talked about the supplemental that's moving. I told the members I support $108 billion supplemental without any strings⁵, and that we're going to work toward that goal.
　　I talked about the Colombia free trade agreement. The Speaker stopped the bill from moving. All we ask is that it be given an up or down vote. The bill is in our economic interests. If you're worried about the economy, then you got to recognize that opening markets for U.S. goods and services will help strengthen the economy. And if you're worried about the security in our neighborhood, turning our back on a strong ally like President Uribe will be -- is bad national security policy. And the Speaker has got to let this bill come to the floor for an up or down vote.
　　And finally, we talked about FISA. That's the ability for our intelligence folks and folks on the front line of protecting America to have the tools necessary to stop al Qaeda from attacking us. And the fact that the Democrat⁶ leadership refuses to let this vote come to the floor is bad for our national security. This vote will pass -- this bill would pass. It has passed the Senate; will pass the House, thanks to the leadership of the members up here, as well as discerning Democrats⁷. And yet the leadership refuses to let it come up. And the country is at greater risk as a result of not having a modernized⁸ FISA bill.
　　And so those are the issues we discussed. It's a positive agenda. It's an agenda that speaks to the economic interests of the people. It's an agenda that speaks to the national security interests of the people. And it's an agenda that recognizes that we can find the wisdom of the American people in their souls, in their hearts. We listen carefully to what they think, and we respond in a way that meets their needs.
　　And so thank you all for coming. Proud to work with you and enjoyed visiting today. Thank you.

1 caucus   

n.秘密会议；干部会议；v.（参加）干部开会议

参考例句：

• This multi-staged caucus takes several months.这个多级会议常常历时好几个月。
• It kept the Democratic caucus from fragmenting.它也使得民主党的核心小组避免了土崩瓦解的危险。

2 aisle   

n.（教堂、教室、戏院等里的）过道，通道

参考例句：

• The aisle was crammed with people.过道上挤满了人。
• The girl ushered me along the aisle to my seat.引座小姐带领我沿着通道到我的座位上去。

3 secondly   

adv.第二，其次

参考例句：

• Secondly,use your own head and present your point of view.第二，动脑筋提出自己的见解。
• Secondly it is necessary to define the applied load.其次，需要确定所作用的载荷。

4 refinery   

n.精炼厂，提炼厂

参考例句：

• They built a sugar refinery.他们建起了一座榨糖厂。
• The purpose of oil refinery is to refine crude petroleum.炼油厂的主要工作是提炼原油。

5 strings   

n.弦

参考例句：

• He sat on the bed,idly plucking the strings of his guitar.他坐在床上，随意地拨着吉他的弦。
• She swept her fingers over the strings of the harp.她用手指划过竖琴的琴弦。

6 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。

7 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》

8 modernized   

使现代化，使适应现代需要( modernize的过去式和过去分词 )； 现代化，使用现代方法

参考例句：

• By 1985 the entire railway network will have been modernized. 等到1985年整个铁路网就实现现代化了。
• He set about rebuilding France, and made it into a brilliant-looking modernized imperialism. 他试图重建法国，使它成为一项表面华丽的现代化帝业。