美国国家公共电台 NPR Kavanaugh Confirmation Hearings To Focus On 6 Hot-Button Issues

 

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

A Senate hearing for Supreme¹ Court nominee² Brett Kavanaugh has begun dramatically.

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AMY KLOBUCHAR: We believe this hearing should be postponed³.

CHUCK GRASSLEY: I know this is an exciting day for all of you here.

RICHARD BLUMENTHAL: Mr. Chairman...

GRASSLEY: And you're rightly proud of the judge.

BLUMENTHAL: Mr. Chairman, if we cannot be recognized, I move to adjourn⁴.

GRASSLEY: The American people get to hear...

BLUMENTHAL: Mr. Chairman, I move to adjourn.

GRASSLEY: ...Directly...

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INSKEEP: That's Charles Grassley of Iowa, the chairman of a Senate committee, trying to bring the hearing to order while Democrat⁵ after Democrat after Democrat raise objections, a last-ditch attempt to stop a confirmation⁶ that is favored to go through. NPR legal affairs correspondent Nina Totenberg reports on what's at stake.

NINA TOTENBERG, BYLINE⁷: Kavanaugh's nomination⁸ is very different from Neil Gorsuch's last year. It will have both more drama and less; more because Kavanaugh has a longer record in public life and a paper trail to match and less because the Republicans changed the Senate rules last year to allow confirmation with a simple majority vote instead of 60 votes. Still, anything can happen in a confirmation hearing. First, there is the shadow cast by President Trump⁹'s legal troubles and the very real prospect¹⁰ that issues posed by the Mueller investigation¹¹ could end up before the Supreme Court. Senator Richard Blumenthal points to the plea agreement with President Trump's former lawyer and fixer, Michael Cohen.

BLUMENTHAL: Never before has a president named in a plea agreement as an unindicted co-conspirator appointed a justice who could well fit on his own criminal prosecution¹².

TOTENBERG: Although Kavanaugh was a leading author of the Clinton impeachment¹³ report presented to Congress by the special prosecutor¹⁴ in 1998, he has since been opposed to investigating presidents. He has suggested that the Supreme Court may have been wrong to order President Nixon to turn over to a special prosecutor incriminating tape recordings¹⁵. And he's long criticized the Supreme Court's 1988 decision upholding an independent counsel law.

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BRETT KAVANAUGH: It's been effectively overruled, but I would put the final nail in.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: (Laughter).

TOTENBERG: Moving on, expect Kavanaugh to be asked repeatedly about the Supreme Court's 1973 abortion¹⁶ decision Roe¹⁷ versus¹⁸ Wade¹⁹. The Judiciary Committee's ranking Democrat, Dianne Feinstein, says it won't be enough for Kavanaugh to say that Roe is an established Supreme Court precedent²⁰ or even that it's settled law. She wants to know if Kavanaugh thinks the decision was correct.

DIANNE FEINSTEIN: If he doesn't answer, I would certainly assume that he doesn't believe it's correctly decided²¹.

TOTENBERG: And while Kavanaugh has ruled on only two abortion cases, there is little doubt about where he stands on the issue. Indeed, in two recent speeches about the late Chief Justice William Rehnquist and the late Justice Antonin Scalia, he singled out their dissenting²³ decisions in major abortion cases, speaking of them in favorable terms. There will be other lightning rod issues involving presidential power, religion, birth control, health and safety regulations, civil rights and guns. As a judge, Kavanaugh has staked out an unusually strong position in favor of gun rights. In 2011, disagreeing with his conservative colleagues, he wrote a 52-page dissent²² from a decision that upheld a Washington, D.C., ban on assault weapons and magazines of more than 10 rounds, plus broad registration²⁴ requirements. A ban on a class of arms, he said, is equivalent to a ban on a category of speech.

Today's hearing will probably open with a partisan²⁵ donnybrook over documents, some 3 million of them from Kavanaugh's six years in the Bush White House. While fewer than a third have been produced, Republicans note accurately²⁶ that more Kavanaugh documents have been produced than for any other nominee. That's likely because there are more, and Democrats²⁷ counter that whatever the number, it's less than 20 percent of Kavanaugh's White House documents. Adding insult to injury, late last week, President Trump - not President Bush - invoked²⁸ executive privilege to prevent disclosure of 100,000 Bush documents. Again, Senator Blumenthal.

BLUMENTHAL: I'm willing to wager²⁹ there's a smoking gun here. What are they concealing³⁰? What are they afraid the American people will see?

TOTENBERG: Republican Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley counters that the Democrats' document complaints are simply a red herring.

GRASSLEY: They're diverting attention from his extreme qualifications to be on the Supreme Court because they don't have anything else to pick at.

TOTENBERG: In a city that is polarized by past grievances³¹, however, there's plenty to scrutinize³² about Kavanaugh's six years in the Bush White House. You can expect, for instance, that Democrat Dick Durbin will revisit Kavanaugh's testimony³³ at his 2006 confirmation hearing for the appeals court. At that hearing, Durbin questioned Kavanaugh about his role in crafting the Bush administration's rules governing detention³⁴ and interrogation of enemy combatants. Here's Kavanaugh's answer.

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KAVANAUGH: I was not involved and am not involved in the questions about the rules governing detention of combatants.

TOTENBERG: The following year, however, after Kavanaugh had become a judge, NPR and The Washington Post published reports describing a contentious³⁵ meeting that Kavanaugh attended in 2002 to discuss the detention rules. NPR reported Kavanaugh gave key advice about how a legal challenge might play in the Supreme Court, especially with the court's swing justice, Anthony Kennedy, for whom Kavanaugh had clerked. Durbin, upon reading these press reports, told NPR that he felt...

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DICK DURBIN: Perilously³⁶ close to being lied to.

TOTENBERG: Durbin wrote to Kavanaugh asking about the apparent contradiction but never got a reply. Now, you can bet, he will insist on one.

Nina Totenberg, NPR News, Washington.

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1 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

2 nominee   

n.被提名者；被任命者；被推荐者

参考例句：

• His nominee for vice president was elected only after a second ballot.他提名的副总统在两轮投票后才当选。
• Mr.Francisco is standing as the official nominee for the post of District Secretary.弗朗西斯科先生是行政书记职位的正式提名人。

3 postponed   

vt.& vi.延期，缓办，（使）延迟vt.把…放在次要地位；[语]把…放在后面（或句尾）vi.（疟疾等）延缓发作（或复发）

参考例句：

• The trial was postponed indefinitely. 审讯无限期延迟。
• The game has already been postponed three times. 这场比赛已经三度延期了。

4 adjourn   

v.（使）休会，（使）休庭

参考例句：

• The motion to adjourn was carried.休会的提议通过了。
• I am afraid the court may not adjourn until three or even later.我担心法庭要到3点或更晚时才会休庭。

5 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。

6 confirmation   

n.证实，确认，批准

参考例句：

• We are waiting for confirmation of the news.我们正在等待证实那个消息。
• We need confirmation in writing before we can send your order out.给你们发送订购的货物之前，我们需要书面确认。

7 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。

8 nomination   

n.提名，任命，提名权

参考例句：

• John is favourite to get the nomination for club president.约翰最有希望被提名为俱乐部主席。
• Few people pronounced for his nomination.很少人表示赞成他的提名。

9 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

10 prospect   

n.前景，前途；景色，视野

参考例句：

• This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
• The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。

11 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。

12 prosecution   

n.起诉，告发，检举，执行，经营

参考例句：

• The Smiths brought a prosecution against the organizers.史密斯家对组织者们提出起诉。
• He attempts to rebut the assertion made by the prosecution witness.他试图反驳原告方证人所作的断言。

13 impeachment   

n.弹劾；控告；怀疑

参考例句：

• Impeachment is considered a drastic measure in the United States.在美国，弹劾被视为一种非常激烈的措施。
• The verdict resulting from his impeachment destroyed his political career.他遭弹劾后得到的判决毁了他的政治生涯。

14 prosecutor   

n.起诉人；检察官，公诉人

参考例句：

• The defender argued down the prosecutor at the court.辩护人在法庭上驳倒了起诉人。
• The prosecutor would tear your testimony to pieces.检查官会把你的证言驳得体无完肤。

15 recordings   

n.记录( recording的名词复数 )；录音；录像；唱片

参考例句：

• a boxed set of original recordings 一套盒装原声录音带
• old jazz recordings reissued on CD 以激光唱片重新发行的老爵士乐

16 abortion   

n.流产，堕胎

参考例句：

• She had an abortion at the women's health clinic.她在妇女保健医院做了流产手术。
• A number of considerations have led her to have a wilful abortion.多种考虑使她执意堕胎。

17 roe   

n.鱼卵；獐鹿

参考例句：

• We will serve smoked cod's roe at the dinner.宴会上我们将上一道熏鳕鱼子。
• I'll scramble some eggs with roe?我用鱼籽炒几个鸡蛋好吗？

18 versus   

prep.以…为对手，对；与…相比之下

参考例句：

• The big match tonight is England versus Spain.今晚的大赛是英格兰对西班牙。
• The most exciting game was Harvard versus Yale.最富紧张刺激的球赛是哈佛队对耶鲁队。

19 wade   

v.跋涉，涉水；n.跋涉

参考例句：

• We had to wade through the river to the opposite bank.我们只好涉水过河到对岸。
• We cannot but wade across the river.我们只好趟水过去。

20 precedent   

n.先例，前例；惯例；adj.在前的，在先的

参考例句：

• Is there a precedent for what you want me to do?你要我做的事有前例可援吗？
• This is a wonderful achievement without precedent in Chinese history.这是中国历史上亘古未有的奇绩。

21 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。

22 dissent   

n./v.不同意，持异议

参考例句：

• It is too late now to make any dissent.现在提出异议太晚了。
• He felt her shoulders gave a wriggle of dissent.他感到她的肩膀因为不同意而动了一下。

23 dissenting   

adj.不同意的

参考例句：

• He can't tolerate dissenting views. 他不能容纳不同意见。
• A dissenting opinion came from the aunt . 姑妈却提出不赞同的意见。

24 registration   

n.登记，注册，挂号

参考例句：

• Marriage without registration is not recognized by law.法律不承认未登记的婚姻。
• What's your registration number?你挂的是几号？

25 partisan   

adj.党派性的；游击队的；n.游击队员；党徒

参考例句：

• In their anger they forget all the partisan quarrels.愤怒之中，他们忘掉一切党派之争。
• The numerous newly created partisan detachments began working slowly towards that region.许多新建的游击队都开始慢慢地向那里移动。

26 accurately   

adv.准确地，精确地

参考例句：

• It is hard to hit the ball accurately.准确地击中球很难。
• Now scientists can forecast the weather accurately.现在科学家们能准确地预报天气。

27 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》

28 invoked   

v.援引( invoke的过去式和过去分词 )；行使（权利等）；祈求救助；恳求

参考例句：

• It is unlikely that libel laws will be invoked. 不大可能诉诸诽谤法。
• She had invoked the law in her own defence. 她援引法律为自己辩护。 来自《简明英汉词典》

29 wager   

n.赌注；vt.押注，打赌

参考例句：

• They laid a wager on the result of the race.他们以竞赛的结果打赌。
• I made a wager that our team would win.我打赌我们的队会赢。

30 concealing   

v.隐藏，隐瞒，遮住( conceal的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Despite his outward display of friendliness, I sensed he was concealing something. 尽管他表现得友善，我还是感觉到他有所隐瞒。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• SHE WAS BREAKING THE COMPACT, AND CONCEALING IT FROM HIM. 她违反了他们之间的约定，还把他蒙在鼓里。 来自英汉文学 - 三万元遗产

31 grievances   

n.委屈( grievance的名词复数 )；苦衷；不满；牢骚

参考例句：

• The trade union leader spoke about the grievances of the workers. 工会领袖述说工人们的苦情。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• He gave air to his grievances. 他申诉了他的冤情。 来自《简明英汉词典》

32 scrutinize   

n.详细检查，细读

参考例句：

• Her purpose was to scrutinize his features to see if he was an honest man.她的目的是通过仔细观察他的相貌以判断他是否诚实。
• She leaned forward to scrutinize their faces.她探身向前，端详他们的面容。

33 testimony   

n.证词；见证，证明

参考例句：

• The testimony given by him is dubious.他所作的证据是可疑的。
• He was called in to bear testimony to what the police officer said.他被传入为警官所说的话作证。

34 detention   

n.滞留，停留；拘留，扣留；(教育)留下

参考例句：

• He was kept in detention by the police.他被警察扣留了。
• He was in detention in connection with the bribery affair.他因与贿赂事件有牵连而被拘留了。

35 contentious   

adj.好辩的，善争吵的

参考例句：

• She was really not of the contentious fighting sort.她委实不是好吵好闹的人。
• Since then they have tended to steer clear of contentious issues.从那时起，他们总想方设法避开有争议的问题。

36 perilously   

adv.充满危险地，危机四伏地

参考例句：

• They were perilously close to the edge of the precipice. 他们离悬崖边很近，十分危险。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• It'seemed to me that we had come perilously close to failure already. 对我来说，好像失败和我只有一步之遥，岌岌可危。 来自互联网