VOA标准英语--众议院议长的作用是什么（在线收听）

众议院议长的作用是什么

The Speaker of the House is second in line of succession for the presidency after the vice president. He's also the top officer of the entire House of Representatives.

众议院议长是排在副总统之后的总统第二位继承人。他还是整个众议院的最高官员。

Matt Wasniewski, the House Historian, said the Speaker’s role is crucial.

众议院历史学家Matt Wasniewski表示，议长的作用非常关键。

"The Speaker also over the decades has become the chief administrator of the House side of the Capitol. The Speaker makes final decisions pretty much on everything on our (House) side," said Wasniewski.

“数十年来，议长成为国会大厦众议院的行政长官。议长对众议院的所有事宜作出最后决定。”

Catholic University professor Matthew Green said part of the Speaker’s job is representing the House with the Senate, the President and the public.

美国天主教大学教授Matthew Green表示，议长的部分工作是面对参议院，总统和公众时代表众议院。

"And then on top of that, he is the top leader of his party, which is usually how we get him selected. So he's responsible ultimately for helping the party get its legislation enacted, helping with recruiting candidates to run for office, raising money for people to run for office in his party. So he has a lot of responsibilities,” said Green.

“除此之外，他还是自己所在党派的最高领导人，这也是他通常被选举的方式。所以他最终担负着帮助所在党派通过立法，帮助招募总统候选人，为自己党派总统候选人筹集资金的责任。所以，议长担负着许多责任。”

Frederick A.C. Muhlenberg of Pennsylvania became the first House Speaker on April 1, 1789. At the beginning, speakers played more of a parliamentary role than a political one. But time has changed.

1789年4月1日，来自比宾西法尼亚州的Frederick A.C. Muhlenberg成为首任众议院议长。最初，议长在议会方面的作用超过在政治方面的作用。但是时代发生了变化。

"They were, sort of, supposed to keep out of politics or partisan conflict. But gradually in the 19th century, as parties got stronger, Speakers took on more role as party leader. That started in the latter half of the 19th century, and it's continued more or less continually since that," explained Green.

“他们似乎应该立足于政治或党派冲突之外。但是在19世纪，随着党派逐渐变强，议长们在党派领导人方面发挥了更大的作用。这一点是从19世纪下半叶开始的，自那开始一直继续下去。”

Wasniewski notes other roles of the modern Speaker.

Wasniewski还指出了现代议长的其他作用。

"In more modern Congress, he's someone who can drive policy, someone who is a deal maker, who is able to negotiate with various factions within the party and reach out to the other party," he said.

“在更加现代的国会，他可以推动政策，可以达成协议，能够与党内不同派系谈判，也能与其他党派交涉。”

Important as it is, anyone can be elected for this position, not just the members of the House.

尽管其作用非常重要，然而任何人都可以当选该职位，而不仅仅是众议院成员。

"The Constitution is pretty vague about who can be Speaker. All it says is the House shall choose a Speaker. So as I just pointed out, in theory, anyone can be Speaker. You don't even have to be member of congress," said Green. "You could be Speaker if you wanted. I could run for Speaker if I wanted."

“关于谁可以成为议长，宪法的规定非常模糊。宪法只是规定议长应该由众议院选择。所以，就像我指出的，理论上讲，任何人都可以成为议长。你甚至可以不必是国会成员。如果你想，你就可以成为议长。如果我想的话，我也可以参加议长竞选。”

But both experts say, up until now, all 53 Speakers have been members of the House.

但是两位专家都表示，目前为止，所有53位议长都是众议院成员。

The current Speaker, John Boehner, announced his resignation last month -- bringing a tumultuous end to his nearly six-year tenure marked by frequent tension within his own Republican caucus.

现任议长约翰·博纳上月宣布辞职——为他近六年的喧闹任期画上句号。任期内，他与自己的共和党核心集团一直关系紧张。

"This prolonged leadership turmoil would do irreparable harm to the institution,” said Boehner.

“这种长期的领导动乱将对整个机构造成不可挽回的损害。”博纳说。

Traditionally, the Speaker of the House is the leader of the majority party. But he is chosen by a majority vote of all 435 members of the House of Representatives.

传统来说，众议院议长是多数派党派的领导。但是他是被所有435位众议院成员中的大多数选票选择的。