美国国家公共电台 NPR Who Is Veronica Escobar, Who Will Deliver Spanish State Of

 

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

The results of the Iowa caucuses¹ are still up in the air. The impeachment² trial is still happening. In the middle of all of it, President Trump³ will give his third State of the Union address. That's happening tonight. And as custom holds, Democrats⁴ will respond with remarks of their own. This year, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer will deliver a rebuttal in English. And Veronica Escobar, a first-term congresswoman from El Paso, will give a rebuttal in Spanish. As Mallory Falk from member station KERA reports, Escobar and her city have recently been thrown in the spotlight⁵.

MALLORY FALK, BYLINE⁶: Almost immediately after she took office, Veronica Escobar started leading congressional delegations⁷ to the border. Last January, she stood with several lawmakers near a newly built section of border wall - tall steel slats that cut through the desert. For people who live on the border, she said...

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

VERONICA ESCOBAR: It's frustrating⁸ to know that we are being painted as a dangerous place meant to be controlled when what we see is a place of complexity⁹ and beauty.

FALK: Escobar was elected to fill the seat previously¹⁰ held by Beto O'Rourke - one of the first two Latinas to represent Texas in Congress. But what's truly put her in the spotlight is criticism of the Trump administration's immigration policies at a time when the border and El Paso have dominated the news. Here she is speaking at a House hearing about family separation and migrant detention¹¹.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

ESCOBAR: My district is ground zero for these atrocities¹². These policies have created the humanitarian¹³ crisis and a moral one.

FALK: Last August, a white gunman from North Texas - who said he was targeting Mexicans - killed 22 people at an El Paso Walmart. When President Trump announced plans to visit days after the shooting, Escobar told MSNBC he wasn't welcome.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

ESCOBAR: The president has made my community and my people the enemy. He has told the country that we are people to be feared, people to be hated.

FALK: Those who've known Escobar throughout her career say, they're not surprised about her outspokenness¹⁴.

RAYMOND CABALLERO: She has this way of speaking that is not insulting and yet you know where she stands. She is not wishy-washy in the least.

FALK: That's Raymond Caballero, a former mayor of El Paso. Escobar volunteered for his campaign back in 2001 and made such a strong impression, he hired her as his communications director. She eventually became county commissioner¹⁵, then county judge - top positions in the place where her family's run a dairy farm for several generations. Escobar hasn't joined some fellow Democrats who want to abolish ICE. Instead, she's pushing for increased oversight¹⁶ and accountability.

ELIOT SHAPLEIGH: Well, I think she takes a realistic and pragmatic view.

FALK: Eliot Shapleigh is a former state senator from El Paso who's long worked with Escobar.

SHAPLEIGH: There is going to be a Homeland Security agency that relates to border enforcement issues. So she knows that. So what does she do? She says, let's reform ICE.

FALK: Tonight, she'll reach an even larger audience when she helps deliver the Democratic Party's response to Trump in Spanish. For NPR News, I'm Mallory Falk in El Paso.

1 caucuses   

n.（政党决定政策或推举竞选人的）核心成员( caucus的名词复数 )；决策干部；决策委员会；秘密会议

参考例句：

• Republican caucuses will happen in about 410 towns across Maine. 共和党团会议选举将在缅因州的约410个城镇进行。 来自互联网

2 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。

3 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。

4 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》

5 spotlight   

n.公众注意的中心，聚光灯，探照灯，视听，注意，醒目

参考例句：

• This week the spotlight is on the world of fashion.本周引人瞩目的是时装界。
• The spotlight followed her round the stage.聚光灯的光圈随着她在舞台上转。

6 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。

7 delegations   

n.代表团( delegation的名词复数 )；委托，委派

参考例句：

• In the past 15 years, China has sent 280 women delegations abroad. 十五年来，中国共派280批妇女代表团出访。 来自汉英非文学 - 白皮书
• The Sun Ray decision follows the federal pattern of tolerating broad delegations but insisting on safeguards. “阳光”案的判决仿效联邦容许广泛授权的做法，但又坚持保护措施。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法

8 frustrating   

adj.产生挫折的，使人沮丧的，令人泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的现在分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's frustrating to have to wait so long. 要等这么长时间，真令人懊恼。
• It was a demeaning and ultimately frustrating experience. 那是一次有失颜面并且令人沮丧至极的经历。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 complexity   

n.复杂(性)，复杂的事物

参考例句：

• Only now did he understand the full complexity of the problem.直到现在他才明白这一问题的全部复杂性。
• The complexity of the road map puzzled me.错综复杂的公路图把我搞糊涂了。

10 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

11 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。

12 atrocities   

n.邪恶，暴行( atrocity的名词复数 )；滔天大罪

参考例句：

• They were guilty of the most barbarous and inhuman atrocities. 他们犯有最野蛮、最灭绝人性的残暴罪行。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The enemy's atrocities made one boil with anger. 敌人的暴行令人发指。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

13 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

14 outspokenness   

参考例句：

• He wondered whether his outspokenness a liability to John. 他怀疑自己那么心直口快，是否为成为约翰的包袱。
• He wondered whether his outspokenness might a. to his friend. 他怀疑自己那么心直口快，会否使他朋友背上思想包袱。

15 commissioner   

n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员

参考例句：

• The commissioner has issued a warrant for her arrest.专员发出了对她的逮捕令。
• He was tapped for police commissioner.他被任命为警务处长。

16 oversight   

n.勘漏，失察，疏忽

参考例句：

• I consider this a gross oversight on your part.我把这件事看作是你的一大疏忽。
• Your essay was not marked through an oversight on my part.由于我的疏忽你的文章没有打分。