美国国家公共电台 NPR N.J. Activist Says GOP Congressman's Complaint Forced Her To Quit Her Job

 

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Lawmakers never really stop campaigning even when they're in office. Politics and public perception dictate¹ a lot of what they do and how they think. Our next story is an example of that. The congressman² at the center of it is Republican Rodney Frelinghuysen of New Jersey³ and one particular letter Frelinghuysen sent to some of his supporters. Nancy Solomon from member station WNYC reports.

SAILY AVELENDA: Is it OK to kind of say what happened?

NANCY SOLOMON, BYLINE⁴: The story unfolded during a meeting around a dining room table in Montclair, N.J., in Rodney Frelinghuysen's 11th Congressional District. The steering⁵ committee of NJ 11th for Change was discussing who was available for a morning event.

AVELENDA: I'm remarkably⁶ free now to attend a lot of these events, thanks to my congressman.

SOLOMON: Saily Avelenda was a senior vice⁷ president and lawyer for Lakeland Bank, which has 53 branches in the state. Last month, she was called into her boss's office and handed a fundraising letter that Congressman Frelinghuysen sent to a member of the bank's board of directors. It asked for donations to help him fight organized opposition⁸ to the Republican agenda. At the bottom of the letter, scrawled⁹ in pen next to his signature, it says, P.S., one of the ringleaders works in your bank, exclamation¹⁰ point. Avelenda was not fired, but she says she had a lot of explaining to do. And for that and other reasons, she ultimately decided¹¹ to resign.

AVELENDA: I had to write a statement to my CEO. It was a - it was not something that I expected. And I thought that my congressman put them in a situation and put me in a really bad situation as a constituent¹² that used his name and used his position and used his stationery¹³ to...

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: Punish you.

AVELENDA: ...To try to punish me.

SOLOMON: NJ 11th for Change began with one Facebook post after the election and quickly grew to more than 7,000 members who live in Frelinghuysen's district. He's been in Congress 22 years and is heir to a political dynasty that dates back to the Revolutionary War, but he's experiencing a new level of political opposition. He complained about it during a town hall last week.

(SOUNDBITE OF TOWN HALL)

RODNEY FRELINGHUYSEN: For people who have jammed our line, it made it difficult for us to meet our constituent needs. It would be nice for you to back off. I'm not suggesting that people don't have the right to speak and let their views be known, but this is - some of this is highly orchestrated, and it's unfortunate.

SOLOMON: Jordan Libowitz, spokesman for Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics¹⁴ in Washington or CREW, says the letter is unusual and noteworthy because members of Congress don't usually turn to businesses in their district to do damage to their political opponents.

JORDAN LIBOWITZ: It's certainly troubling. Whether or not it breaks a criminal statute¹⁵ is one issue, but the very clear issue is that it appears that a member of Congress might be using his power to threaten someone's employment because of their political activities.

SOLOMON: CREW is calling for an ethics investigation¹⁶. In an email, Frelinghuysen's campaign spokesman called the letter innocuous and said the congressman was unaware¹⁷ of any of the particulars about Avelenda's status with the bank. Lakeland Bank released a statement saying it encourages and fosters the political activity of its employees. For NPR News, I'm Nancy Solomon.

1 dictate   

v.口授；(使)听写；指令，指示，命令

参考例句：

• It took him a long time to dictate this letter.口述这封信花了他很长时间。
• What right have you to dictate to others?你有什么资格向别人发号施令？

2 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。

3 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。

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 steering   

n.操舵装置

参考例句：

• He beat his hands on the steering wheel in frustration. 他沮丧地用手打了几下方向盘。
• Steering according to the wind, he also framed his words more amicably. 他真会看风使舵，口吻也马上变得温和了。

6 remarkably   

ad.不同寻常地，相当地

参考例句：

• I thought she was remarkably restrained in the circumstances. 我认为她在那种情况下非常克制。
• He made a remarkably swift recovery. 他康复得相当快。

7 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。

8 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。

9 scrawled   

乱涂，潦草地写( scrawl的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• I tried to read his directions, scrawled on a piece of paper. 我尽量弄明白他草草写在一片纸上的指示。
• Tom scrawled on his slate, "Please take it -- I got more." 汤姆在他的写字板上写了几个字：“请你收下吧，我多得是哩。”

10 exclamation   

n.感叹号，惊呼，惊叹词

参考例句：

• He could not restrain an exclamation of approval.他禁不住喝一声采。
• The author used three exclamation marks at the end of the last sentence to wake up the readers.作者在文章的最后一句连用了三个惊叹号，以引起读者的注意。

11 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

12 constituent   

n.选民；成分，组分；adj.组成的，构成的

参考例句：

• Sugar is the main constituent of candy.食糖是糖果的主要成分。
• Fibre is a natural constituent of a healthy diet.纤维是健康饮食的天然组成部分。

13 stationery   

n.文具；(配套的)信笺信封

参考例句：

• She works in the stationery department of a big store.她在一家大商店的文具部工作。
• There was something very comfortable in having plenty of stationery.文具一多，心里自会觉得踏实。

14 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。

15 statute   

n.成文法，法令，法规；章程，规则，条例

参考例句：

• Protection for the consumer is laid down by statute.保障消费者利益已在法令里作了规定。
• The next section will consider this environmental statute in detail.下一部分将详细论述环境法令的问题。

16 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。

17 unaware   

a.不知道的，未意识到的

参考例句：

• They were unaware that war was near. 他们不知道战争即将爆发。
• I was unaware of the man's presence. 我没有察觉到那人在场。