美国国家公共电台 NPR Sen. Al Franken Says He 'Crossed The Line' But Won't Resign

 

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

This week, the House will vote on a bill called the ME TOO Congress Act that will require all lawmakers and staff to complete anti-harassment¹ training. This comes as two Democrats³ in Congress face sexual harassment complaints. This morning, Representative John Conyers of Michigan announced he would step down as ranking Democrat² on the House Judiciary Committee because of sexual misconduct allegations. He denies those. And then there's Senator Al Franken of Minnesota, who has also been accused of harassment. He has apologized but said in an interview today that he has not considered resigning. Mark Zdechlik of Minnesota Public Radio has more on that.

MARK ZDECHLIK, BYLINE⁴: Franken broke his silence in an interview with Minnesota Public Radio News. Since mid-November, four women have made allegations against him. Three say Franken touched their buttocks during photo-ops, one of those when Franken was a senator. A fourth accuses Franken of forcibly kissing her before his Senate career when the two were on a USO tour in 2006. That fourth woman also released a photo of Franken reaching toward her chest and smiling for the camera as she slept aboard an airplane in military fatigues⁵. Franken called the picture inexcusable and claims he would never knowingly touch women inappropriately.

AL FRANKEN: I meet tens of thousands of people. I'm someone who hugs people, you know. And I've learned from these stories that in some of these encounters I have crossed a line for some women.

ZDECHLIK: Many Franken opponents, and some supporters, have called on him to resign. Franken says he hasn't even considered stepping down.

FRANKEN: No. No. The ethics⁶ committee is looking into all this, and I will cooperate fully⁷ with it. Listen. I know I have a lot of work to do to regain⁸ the trust of people I've let down.

ZDECHLIK: Franken says he'll return to the Senate on Monday.

FRANKEN: I'm going to go forward. I'm going to take responsibility. I'm going to be held accountable. And I'm going to try to be productive in the way I speak about this.

ZDECHLIK: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and many others have called for an ethics committee investigation⁹ into Franklin's alleged¹⁰ behavior. For NPR News, I'm Mark Zdechlik St. Paul.

1 harassment   

n.骚扰，扰乱，烦恼，烦乱

参考例句：

• She often got telephone harassment at night these days.这些天她经常在夜晚受到电话骚扰。
• The company prohibits any form of harassment.公司禁止任何形式的骚扰行为。

2 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。

3 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》

4 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

5 fatigues   

n.疲劳( fatigue的名词复数 )；杂役；厌倦；（士兵穿的）工作服

参考例句：

• The patient fatigues easily. 病人容易疲劳。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Instead of training the men were put on fatigues/fatigue duty. 那些士兵没有接受训练，而是派去做杂务。 来自辞典例句

6 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。

7 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

8 regain   

vt.重新获得，收复，恢复

参考例句：

• He is making a bid to regain his World No.1 ranking.他正为重登世界排名第一位而努力。
• The government is desperate to regain credibility with the public.政府急于重新获取公众的信任。

9 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。

10 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为