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　　Influential¹ Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy has proposed that an independent "truth commission" be established to investigate alleged² abuses of power under the Bush administration. President Barack Obama has reacted cautiously to the suggestion, saying he is more interested in looking forward than backwards³.
美国资深民主党参议员帕特里克·莱希提议成立独立“真相调查委员会”，对布什当政时期被指称滥用职权现象进行调查。奥巴马总统对上述提议反应谨慎，他说，他更愿意向前看，而不是纠缠过往。
Several Democratic lawmakers have joined a number of human-rights organizations in calling for an investigation⁴ of the Bush administration's counter-terrorism policies. Controversial policies include certain interrogation techniques used at U.S. detention⁵ centers in Guantanamo, Iraq and Afghanistan, and the warrant-less wiretapping of U.S. citizens.
部分民主党参议员和一些人权组织共同呼吁调查布什政府时期的反恐政策。引发争议的政策包括在古巴关塔纳摩拘留中心、伊拉克以及阿富汗采取的某些特定审讯技术以及布什政府在没有得到授权的情况下对美国公民进行监控等等。
Speaking at Georgetown University earlier this month, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy said there was a "dangerous departure from the rule of law" during the Bush administration, and that Congress needs to make sure America gets back on the right track.
参议院司法委员会主席莱希这个月早些时候在乔治城大学发表演讲时说，布什政府时期，有些政策“与法制相去甚远，非常危险”，国会必须采取措施确保美国重新回到正确的轨道上来。
"One path to that goal would be a reconciliation⁶ process, a truth commission. We could develop and authorize⁷ a person, a group of people universally recognized as fair-minded, without any ax to grind [no personal or political interest]. Their straightforward⁸ mission would be to find the truth. People would be told to come forward and share their knowledge and experiences, not for purposes of constructing criminal indictments⁹, but to assemble the facts, he said.
“我们要达到那个目的的办法就是和解进程，成立真相调查委员会。我们可以找到并授权一个人，或是一些人，这些人秉着公平的心，没有个人私利，他们直接的任务就是找出真相。我们会鼓励大家站出来，告诉我们他们所知道和经历的一切， 这个目的不是进行刑事起诉，仅仅是收集事实。”
Leahy said he envisions the panel modeled after the truth commission in South Africa that investigated the apartheid era, and that immunity¹⁰ from prosecution¹¹ could be offered to those who cooperate.
莱希说，他的设想是，调查委员会按照南非调查种族隔离时期的真相调查委员会的模式建立，对那些愿意合作的人免于起诉。
"Rather than vengeance¹², we need a fair-minded pursuit of what actually happened. And sometimes the best way to move forward, is to find out the truth, find out what happened, and we do that to make sure it never happens again," he said.
“不是报复，我们需要秉着公平的心找出到底发生了什么。有时候，往前走的最好办法是找出真相，找出真正发生了什么，我们这样做的目的是确保这样的事情永远不会再发生。”
Leahy has also made clear that Democratic lawmakers who supported questionable¹³ Bush administration policies must also be investigated, which may help to explain why not many Democratic lawmakers have been clamoring for the commission.
莱希还明确表示，那些曾经支持布什政府有争议政策的民主党议员也必须接受调查，也许这也是没有太多民主党议员要求成立委员会的部分原因。
One notable exception is House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers, who has called for a National Commission on Presidential War Powers and Civil Liberties, with subpoena¹⁴ power, much like the 9/11 Commission.
不过，众议院司法委员会的约翰·科尼尔斯是个明显的例外，他呼吁成立总统战时权力和公民自由全国委员会，同时这个委员会拥有发出传票的司法权，与911 真相调查委员会大致相同。
Elizabeth Goitien of the Brennan Center for Justice, a public policy institute, agrees that some sort of truth commission could help U.S. credibility.
公众政策研究所，布莱南正义中心的伊丽莎白·戈伊坦赞成成立某种真相调查委员会，她说，这样做会有助于美国的信誉。
"Now in order to do that, the commission would have to be set up correctly, I mean it would have to have real teeth and real powers. It would have to have subpoena power, it would have to get cooperation from the government and there would have to be the force of law behind it to make sure that it got cooperation. And it would have to be thorough and unflinching. But I think if a commission were to be set up the right way and to do a good job, then I think "yes", it could demonstrate to the rest of the world that we are very serious about accountability," she said.
“为了做到这一点，这个委员会要以正确的方式建立。我的意思是说，要有真正的权力。要有传唤有关人员的司法权。必须得到政府的合作，必须有相应的法律支持，确保能得到有关方面的合作。调查必须彻底和毫不妥协。但是，我想如果委员会成立的方式恰当，真正做好事，那么，我的答案是“赞成”。这可以向全世界展示，我们对问责是非常严肃认真的。”
Most Republican lawmakers oppose investigating the Bush administration, saying such a probe could compromise counter-terrorism efforts.
大多数共和党议员反对对布什政府进行调查，他们说，调查可能会损害反恐努力。
Moderate Republican Senator Arlen Specter rejected the idea of truth commissions, saying if every administration started to examine what the previous administration did, there would be no end to it.
温和派共和党人阿兰·斯佩克特拒绝接受成立调查委员会，他说，如果每一任政府都开始调查它的前任，这将永无休止。
President Obama has not endorsed¹⁵ the truth commission. At a nationally-televised prime-time news conference earlier this month, he was asked about Leahy's proposal, and said he would review it.
奥巴马总统没有对建立真相委员会表示赞同。本月早些时候，他在电视黄金时段举行的首次新闻发布会上，被问到有关的提议，他说，他会考虑。
"Nobody is above the law, and if there are clear instances of wrongdoing, that people should be prosecuted¹⁶ just like any ordinary citizen. But, that generally speaking, I am more interested in looking forward than I am in looking backwards," he said.
“没有人超越法律，如果有明确的证据证明做错了， 那么，这些人就应该像普通公民那样被起诉。但是，一般说来， 我更愿意向前看，而不是纠缠过去。”
Mr. Obama may fear an investigation could inflame¹⁷ the kind of partisan¹⁸ divisions he has said he wants to avoid. Also the president will likely need Republican support to deal with the economic crisis and challenges such as health care and foreign policy issues.
奥巴马可能担心，调查会进一步引发党派分歧，而他自己一直表示希望避免这种党派纷争。另外，奥巴马也很可能需要共和党的支持，一同应对经济危机、健康保险以及外交政策等问题。
But a USA Today/Gallup poll this month found that 62 percent of Americans support either a criminal investigation or an independent panel to look into allegations of torture and other abuses of power during the Bush administration.
但是，美国盖洛普这个月的调查显示，62%的美国人支持进行刑事调查或是成立独立委员会，调查布什政府时期所谓的酷刑以及其他滥用职权的现象。