VOA常速英语2019--为躲避投票 多名共和党离“家”出走（在线收听）

Oregon’s Republican senators walked out of the Capitol building in Salem on Thursday, and have not returned since then. Their absence has led to the cancellation of a vote on Sunday. Oregon Senate has 30 seats, 18 of them held by Democrats. But at least 20 senators have to be present for a vote to take place. Senate Republicans failed to show up and failed to do their jobs. Governor Kate Brown has authorized state police to find the missing senators. But so far none has been tracked down.

周四，俄勒冈州的一些共和党参议员走出了位于塞勒姆的国会大楼，之后，就再没见过他们的踪迹。他们的缺席导致周日的投票取消了。俄勒冈州参议院有30个席位，其中18个席位由民主党占据。不过，至少有20名参议员在场，才能进行投票。参议院的共和党议员没有露面参加投票，他们失职了。州长凯特·布朗授权州立警局搜寻失踪的参议员。但目前为止，还没有找到他们中任何人的踪迹。

We have avoided being within the state boundaries where the governor can exercise at her prerogative--- the state troopers that call us back to the State Capitol. The Republican senators fiercely opposed the bill which aims to encourage businesses to switch to green technology. The Democrat backed plan is to slash emissions by 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050. But Republicans say the ensuing gas and diesel price hikes would disproportionately affect rural Oregonians. They want a statewide referendum on the plan. I am doing the work of my constituents by avoiding saddling all Oregonians with this horrid piece of legislation. The walkout over the climate change bill affects more than 120 other bills since no votes can be made until the missing Republicans return. Oregon’s Senate President on Sunday appealed to the fugitive lawmakers to return. This is the saddest day of my legislative life. But the Republicans point out that in 2001 House Democrats then a minority staged a five-day walkout to block a Republican bill. It would seem to be hypocritical of the Democrats to use the same, basically the same procedure that we were using, now and then when we use it, they say that it’s not appropriate. The missing senators have been ordered to pay a $500 fine for every day of absence from work. Their supporters have set up an online fundraiser to pay those fines.

我们已经避免在俄勒冈州州界内待着了，因为州界内，州长才可以行使特权——州立警察可以将我们遣回国会。共和党参议员强烈反对该法案，该法案的目的是鼓励企业向绿色科技转型。民主党支持的这项计划是为了在2050年之前将碳排放量减少80%，降至1990年以下的水平。但一些共和党认为，该法案若是实施，就会导致燃气和柴油价格上涨，会极大地影响俄勒冈州的农民。他们希望能就此法案进行全国公投。我在履行我作为议员的职责，避免让所有俄勒冈人受到这一可怕法案的困扰。这些共和党议员因该气候变化方案的出走影响了另外120多个法案，因为这些共和党议员不在，所以任何投票都无法进行。俄勒冈州参议院议长呼吁这些出走的议员回到国会。这是我从政生涯中最悲伤的一天。但一些共和党指出，2001年众议院民主党中有少数人发起了为期5天的出走，目的是阻止一项共和党议案的通过。民主党用同一招未免显得虚伪，这就是我们当初用过的招数啊。我们用的时候，民主党就指指点点的。出走的参议员们收到命令——每少上一天班，就要支付500美元的罚款。这些议员的支持者们已经启动了在线集资，打算为他们支付这笔罚款。