久久亚洲国产成人影院-久久亚洲国产的中文-久久亚洲国产高清-久久亚洲国产精品-亚洲图片偷拍自拍-亚洲图色视频

 
 
 

United States Senate's process of confirming the president's nominees

2013-02-08 09:53

 

Get Flash Player

Download

From VOA Learning English, welcome to AS IT IS!

AS IT IS – our new magazine show in Special English. Today and in the days to come, we will be expanding on major world events and reporting on issues that concern you. Talking with newsmakers, experts and VOA's own reporters to help make sense of this quickly changing world – AS IT IS.

Hello, I'm Steve Ember.

On our show today, we tell about the United States Senate's process of confirming the president's nominees for important government positions.

We look at some of the concerns surrounding the immigration issue in the United States.

And we examine a change in how Kenya governs itself.

President Obama is awaiting Senate confirmation for several Cabinet nominees. The Senate recently approved John Kerry as the president's choice for secretary of state. Mr. Kerry had resigned earlier as a senator from Massachusetts to become America's top diplomat. Jim Tedder has our story.

Under the United States Constitution, the Senate has the power to advise and consent – give approval – on nominations sent to it by the president. For years, senators generally have let the president have the people he wanted for these jobs. But expert presidential historian Allan Lichtman says that began to change in the 1980's.

"Traditionally, of course, presidents usually get their way with appointments. And that remains the rule. However, since the 1980's, confirmations have become more bitter and more political."

That change began with the battle in 1987 over the nomination of Judge Robert Bork to the Supreme Court. Senate Democrats defeated the nomination of the conservative judge. In 1991, Clarence Thomas was confirmed as Supreme Court justice, but only after a dispute in the Senate.

John Fortier of the Bipartisan Policy Center says both political parties have used the confirmation process as territory for dispute.

"Before it was often thought that you would give the president the choice as long as it was within a certain range of acceptableness. Today many, many people from the opposition party oppose a lot of nominations."

Historian Lichtman says increased confirmation battles in the Senate are another example of America's current sharp political division. He links the nomination process to a political campaign.

"We have now in America what I call the perpetual campaign. There seems to be no deference to a president or to presidential appointments even in-between elections. We are always campaigning, and if a nominee looks like a convenient target, why not?"

Expert John Fortier says the next major confirmation battle could happen if and when President Obama has a chance to fill a place on the Supreme Court. The high court remains sharply divided with five justices generally voting along conservative lines. The other four justices often provide more liberal opinions.

President Obama says it is time for the United States to have what he calls "common sense" immigration reform. The president announced his goals for a new law last week.

Mr. Obama says immigration reform is extremely important. He wants to settle the future of the 11 million people currently living and working illegally in the United States.

"There are few things that are more important to us as a society than who gets to come here and call our country home; who gets the privilege of becoming a citizen of the United States of America. That's a big deal. When we talk about that in the abstract, it's easy sometimes for the discussion to take on a feeling of 'us' versus them. And when that happens, a lot of folks forget that most of 'us' used to be 'them.' "

The president says immigration reform is within reach. But he knows that it will cause an intense debate.

In Washington, a leader of the opposition Republican Party questioned what a new immigration law would do. Senator Jeff Sessions criticized what he believes has been the government's unwillingness to enforce existing rules. He said that has increased America's population of illegal immigrants.

"We believe in immigration, but we believe in the law. We believe people should wait their time and people should be accepted here – over a million a year – in an orderly process…"

Before the president's speech in Nevada, a group of United States Senators offered their own set of proposed immigration reforms.

Many farmers hope that any new immigration law changes the current guestworker program. They want to make it easier for farm workers from South and Central America to enter the United States legally. Some farmers say the current system is broken.

Kenyans will vote March fourth in general elections that will be different in an important way. For the first time, they will choose candidates for local positions created by the country's new constitution. The nation is transferring some of the powers of the central government to local control. The process is called devolution. It calls for dividing the country into 47 local governing areas known as counties.

The goal of devolution is to increase the voice of all Kenyans in their government. But VOA correspondent Gabe Joselow says some competitions for local offices could pull the country apart.

June Simms has this report….

Kenyans will vote March fourth in general elections that will be different in an important way. For the first time, they will choose candidates for local positions created by the country's new constitution. The nation is transferring some of the powers of the central government to local control. The process is called devolution. It calls for dividing the country into 47 local governing areas known as counties.

The goal of devolution is to increase the voice of all Kenyans in their government. But VOA correspondent Gabe Joselow says some competitions for local offices could pull the country apart.

June Simms has his report….

Ekuru Aukot led the team that wrote the constitution. He says the goal was to correct problems left from years of colonial rule and bad government by former Kenyan leaders. Mister Aukot said bad leadership led to special treatment for favorite groups and companies. The special treatment came to be known as "the national cake."

Mr. Aukot says devolution means people should be able to have equal chances for education and health services. He believes there will be more money to build roads and bridges and increase development. He says the devolution process also means people in all of Kenya will gain power and the chance to make decisions for themselves.

"The other concept of devolution is just that level of inclusiveness, making every part of Kenya relevant to the governance of the country. People wanted power to come close to them, they wanted to be able to make decisions for them ((and that also explains the concept of people's participation as you'll see in the constitution."))

But some Kenyans fear that new political areas will create new problems. For example, the International Crisis Group warns that competition for the new positions created by devolution add to the possibility of violence. The International Crisis Group has written a new report about Kenya. The group says candidates could try to make local disputes worse just to gain support.

The presidential nominee for the Amani coalition, Musalia Mudavadi, is a political moderate. He says ethnic alliances are still important today. But he says that Kenyans are slowly beginning to accept that issues are more important than tribes or ethnic groups.

Ekuru Aukot led the team that wrote the constitution. He says the goal was to correct problems left from years of colonial rule and bad government by former Kenyan leaders. Mister Aukot said bad leadership led to special treatment for favorite groups and companies. The special treatment came to be known as "the national cake."

Mr. Aukot says devolution means people should be able to have equal chances for education and health services. He believes there will be more money to build roads and bridges and increase development.

He said the devolution process also means people in all of Kenya will gain power and the chance to make decisions for themselves.

EKURU AUKOT: "The other concept of devolution is just that level of inclusiveness, making every part of Kenya relevant to the governance of the country. People wanted power to come close to them, they wanted to be able to make decisions for them and that also explains the concept of people's participation as you'll see in the constitution."

But some Kenyans fear that new political areas will create new problems. For example, the International Crisis Group warns that competition for the new positions created by devolution add to the possibility of violence.

The International Crisis Group has written a new report about Kenya. The group says candidates could try to make local disputes worse just to gain support.

The presidential nominee for the Amani coalition, Musalia Mudavadi, is a political moderate. He says ethnic alliances are still important today. But he says that Kenyans are slowly beginning to accept that issues are more important than tribes or ethnic groups.

Tell us what you want to hear about on our new show. We want to cover the issues and ideas that matter to you in your world, AS IT IS.

相關閱讀

The history of the laser

Ear care: do-it-yourself wax removal

Mobile telephones changing lives in Africa

American expressions based on colors

(來源:VOA 編輯:Julie)

 
中國日報網英語點津版權說明:凡注明來源為“中國日報網英語點津:XXX(署名)”的原創作品,除與中國日報網簽署英語點津內容授權協議的網站外,其他任何網站或單位未經允許不得非法盜鏈、轉載和使用,違者必究。如需使用,請與010-84883561聯系;凡本網注明“來源:XXX(非英語點津)”的作品,均轉載自其它媒體,目的在于傳播更多信息,其他媒體如需轉載,請與稿件來源方聯系,如產生任何問題與本網無關;本網所發布的歌曲、電影片段,版權歸原作者所有,僅供學習與研究,如果侵權,請提供版權證明,以便盡快刪除。

中國日報網雙語新聞

掃描左側二維碼

添加Chinadaily_Mobile
你想看的我們這兒都有!

中國日報雙語手機報

點擊左側圖標查看訂閱方式

中國首份雙語手機報
學英語看資訊一個都不能少!

關注和訂閱

本文相關閱讀
人氣排行
搜熱詞
 
 
精華欄目
 

閱讀

詞匯

視聽

翻譯

口語

合作

 

關于我們 | 聯系方式 | 招聘信息

Copyright by chinadaily.com.cn. All rights reserved. None of this material may be used for any commercial or public use. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited. 版權聲明:本網站所刊登的中國日報網英語點津內容,版權屬中國日報網所有,未經協議授權,禁止下載使用。 歡迎愿意與本網站合作的單位或個人與我們聯系。

電話:8610-84883645

傳真:8610-84883500

Email: [email protected]

主站蜘蛛池模板: 日本wwxx色视频 | 国产亚洲精品看片在线观看 | 免费a级黄毛片 | 女人张开双腿让男人桶爽免 | 久久国产乱子伦精品免费不卡 | 国产成人资源 | 日本一区二区免费在线观看 | 国产成人成人一区二区 | 亚洲成a人片在线观看中 | 国产精品_国产精品_国产精品 | 欧美日韩在线视频一区 | 久久精品国产99国产 | 国产精品专区第二 | 日本一区二区三区在线 视频观看免费 | 风流慈禧一级毛片在线播放 | 亚洲国产成人最新精品资源 | 日本三级一区 | 久久精品国产亚洲精品2020 | 一色屋成人免费精品网 | 欧美成人全部免费观看1314色 | 日本黄网在线观看 | 在线成人天天鲁夜啪视频 | 九九色视频在线观看 | 日韩中文在线 | 欧美性色黄在线视 | 中文字幕亚洲不卡在线亚瑟 | 成人欧美日韩高清不卡 | 久久久久欧美精品网站 | 久草在线国产视频 | 免费a级毛片大学生免费观看 | 黄色a毛片 | 日本在线看小视频网址 | 美女黄视频网站 | 日本色中色| 国产1区2区三区不卡 | 欧美人成在线视频 | 一级做a爰片性色毛片视频图片 | 国产精品亚洲片在线不卡 | 美女张开腿双腿让男人桶 | 国产爽爽视频 | 久草国产在线播放 |