美国国家公共电台 NPR Group Of House Republicans Trying To Force Vote On Immigration Legislation

 

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

A group of House Republicans are trying to do something unusual. They want to force a vote on immigration legislation even over the objections of their own party leaders.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

MARIO DIAZ-BALART: This bold move will force a vote - force a vote on the floor. And this is an issue that will not fix itself.

CORNISH: The plan from Florida Congressman¹ Mario Diaz-Balart and others is to round up enough signatures to go around House Speaker Paul Ryan and his leadership team and schedule a vote on at least four immigration bills. And they want to do it before the general election in November. NPR congressional reporter Kelsey Snell is here to explain more.

Hey there, Kelsey.

KELSEY SNELL, BYLINE²: Hi, Audie.

CORNISH: So how does a small group of Republicans essentially³ force a vote on something as controversial as immigration policy?

SNELL: Yeah, they are trying to use a procedural maneuver⁴ that's usually used by the party that isn't in power. And it isn't usually successful. It's something called a discharge petition, which really means that they need 218 people to sign a sheet of paper that says that they want to vote on a bill that leaders have refused to consider. Petitions like this aren't rare. But what is rare is when they succeed. It has happened only twice in the past 20 years, and it is a big surprise to see it come from Republicans challenging their own leadership.

CORNISH: On top of that, immigration is basically political kryptonite. So how close is this group to actually reaching their goal?

SNELL: Well, first, this seemed like a long shot. This is not something that's brand-new. They've been talking about it for several weeks. And the original group of seven backers that released this petition this morning doubled their ranks in just a few hours. Now, they say they're expecting all 193 Democrats⁵ to back the plan, meaning they need about 10 more Republicans to get on board. And honestly, that small number is pretty stunning⁶ and is much closer than these usually get.

CORNISH: I'm going to assume that Republican House leadership is not in support of this plan.

SNELL: (Laughter).

CORNISH: What can they actually do about it?

SNELL: Yeah. In short, no, they do not support this. House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy told several of us earlier today in the halls that he doesn't like discharge petitions in general and he'd rather do things the regular order way. House Speaker Paul Ryan has said he wants to keep working on bills through those normal channels. And staff tells me that they want to vote on bills that actually have a chance of getting the president's signature.

But the bill's sponsors say they're worried about getting a bill that can also pass the Senate, where Republicans need 60 votes to pass just about anything. And that means they need Democrats on board. Now, they picked the four-vote plan so that Ryan could work with the White House on their own solution. Here is what another one of the sponsors Jeff Denham said.

JEFF DENHAM: I assume the speaker's having those conversations with the White House on what they would accept. But ultimately, we have to pass something that's going to get 60 votes in the Senate as well. And so we're very cognizant of that as well.

CORNISH: Jeff Denham, a California Republican, where immigration is a very big deal in his district.

SNELL: Absolutely.

CORNISH: Right, which brings us to the point of November and this being essentially a risky⁷ strategy. Could it essentially backfire on this group to try and force the House to take up something as controversial as immigration legislation so close to an election?

SNELL: Yeah, that's absolutely a risk. And it's a risk that we expect the speaker and his allies to make to many Republicans to try to get them not to sign this. But there are 23 Republicans in districts that were won by Hillary Clinton in 2016. That's 23 Republicans who may see passing a bill to protect DACA recipients⁸, those people who are in the country illegally after being brought here as children, as a good thing. They wanted to get this done. It's something Republicans had promised. And there are other vulnerable Republicans like Mia Love in Utah who are signing on. Here's what she said today at a press conference.

(SOUNDBITE OF PRESS CONFERENCE)

MIA LOVE: I'm not abdicating⁹ my responsibilities to the White House. We want the White House to come up with their plans. We want the Senate to come up with their plans. But our job is to come up with our plans and to make sure that all of the bills that all of us have worked really hard on actually have a voice on the floor.

SNELL: Now, that's a pretty strong statement. And it speaks to this moment where Republicans are feeling like they haven't had the opportunity to vote on these things. Now, a lot of immigration bills already failed in the Senate. But the House hasn't had those opportunities. And they want to bring up things like a more moderate bill like the - you know, that would protect DACA recipients than something a lot stronger like the Goodlatte bill. So there are a lot of people who think passing something like this is just good policy.

CORNISH: That's NPR's Kelsey Snell. Kelsey, thank you.

SNELL: Thank you.

1 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。

2 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。

3 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

4 maneuver   

n.策略[pl.]演习；v.(巧妙)控制；用策略

参考例句：

• All the fighters landed safely on the airport after the military maneuver.在军事演习后，所有战斗机都安全降落在机场上。
• I did get her attention with this maneuver.我用这个策略确实引起了她的注意。

5 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》

6 stunning   

adj.极好的；使人晕倒的

参考例句：

• His plays are distinguished only by their stunning mediocrity.他的戏剧与众不同之处就是平凡得出奇。
• The finished effect was absolutely stunning.完工后的效果非常美。

7 risky   

adj.有风险的，冒险的

参考例句：

• It may be risky but we will chance it anyhow.这可能有危险，但我们无论如何要冒一冒险。
• He is well aware how risky this investment is.他心里对这项投资的风险十分清楚。

8 recipients   

adj.接受的；受领的；容纳的；愿意接受的n.收件人；接受者；受领者；接受器

参考例句：

• The recipients of the prizes had their names printed in the paper. 获奖者的姓名登在报上。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The recipients of prizes had their names printed in the paper. 获奖者名单登在报上。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

9 abdicating   

放弃（职责、权力等）( abdicate的现在分词 )； 退位，逊位

参考例句：

• It is merely claimed that this is abdicating to save itself. 他仅仅把这称之为是人的高傲为了自我救赎而退出了王座。
• A complete hands-off approach is abdicating your business responsibility. 彻底的不闻不问意味着你对自己事业责任的放弃。