本文選自The Wall Street Journal 2021-01-04
NancyPelosi won her fourth term asHouse speaker on Sunday,showing in the first vote of thenew session of Congress howher narrow majority will makeit difficult for House Democratsto pass legislation in the newCongress.The 80-year-old CaliforniaDemocrat, who has led herparty in the chamber since2003, won in a 216-209 votebetween her and MinorityLeader Kevin McCarthy (R., Calif.), with five Democrats votingpresent or for someone besidesthe speaker. The daughter of acongressman from Baltimore,Mrs. Pelosi is the first womanspeaker and the first since 1955to lose the gavel and regain it.
南希·佩洛西(Nancy Pelosi)周日贏得了她的第四個眾議院議長任期，在新一屆國會的第一次投票中顯示，她的微弱優勢將使眾議院民主黨人難以在新一屆國會通過立法。這位80歲的加州民主黨人自2003年以來一直領導著她所在的民主黨在參議院的席位。在她和少數黨領袖、加利福尼亞州共和黨人凱文•麥卡錫(Kevin McCarthy)以216票對209票的投票結果中獲勝，在場的有五名民主黨人，或者投給議長以外的其他人。佩洛西是巴爾的摩一名國會議員的女兒，她是自1955年以來第一位女議長。
To win the speakership, Mrs.Pelosi had to carry a majorityof those present and voting byname. Democrats have 222seats to Republicans』 211 because one race in New York isstill in dispute, and a seat inLouisiana is vacant because Republican Rep.-elect Luke Letlowdied on Tuesday from complications of Covid-19.「Nancy Pelosi believes thatour sacred mission is to continue America’s long, necessaryand majestic march toward amore perfect union,」 Democratic Caucus Chair HakeemJeffries (D., N.Y.) said when henominated the speaker on theHouse Floor.Some lawmakers voted behind plexiglass because theyhad recently been exposed tothe coronavirus, though theyhad tested negative forCovid-19.
為了贏得議長席位，佩洛西夫人必須獲得出席並按姓名投票的大多數人的支持。民主黨有222個席位，而共和黨有211個席位，因為紐約的一場競選仍存在爭議，路易斯安那州的一個席位空缺，共和黨當選眾議員盧克·萊特洛（Luke Letlow）周二死於Covid-19的併發症。民主黨黨團主席哈基姆·傑弗裡斯（Hakeem Jeffries，D.，N.Y.）在眾議院提名議長時說：「南希·佩洛西認為，我們的神聖使命是繼續美國朝著一個更完美的聯邦邁進的漫長、必要和莊嚴的步伐。」。一些立法者在玻璃後投票，因為他們最近接觸了冠狀病毒，儘管他們的Covid-19檢測呈陰性。
Rather than assembleat once, House lawmakers entered the chamber in smallgroups for social distancing.Republicans objected to theplexiglass structure, which theysaid Democrats surprised themwith to allow Mrs. Pelosi to getmore votes for speaker. TwoDemocrats and one Republicanused it, at the direction of theHouse physician.「The lack of communicationwith the minority makes this100% political,」 said IllinoisRep. Rodney Davis, the top Republican on the House Administration Committee. 「To builda structure like that, in thedark of night, to only protectthe votes that Speaker Pelosineeds to get re-elected speaker,is shameful.」Under the Constitution, Congress starts on Jan. 3. In thepast, when Congress has beenset to open on a Sunday, lawmakers reached a bipartisanagreement to move the date.
眾議院議員們不是一次全部進入，而是分成小組進入會議廳以保持社交距離。共和黨人反對這種有機玻璃結構，他們說，民主黨人用這種結構讓他們感到意外，因為它讓佩洛西為議長贏得了更多選票。在眾議院醫生的指示下，兩名民主黨人和一名共和黨人使用了它。「缺乏與少數族裔的溝通，使得這件事100%政治化，」眾議院管理委員會(House Administration Committee)最高共和黨人、伊利諾州眾議員羅德尼·戴維斯(Rodney Davis)說。「在漆黑的夜裡，為了保護佩洛西議長獲得連任所需的選票，建造這樣的建築，是可恥的。「根據憲法，國會將於1月3日開始工作。過去，當國會定於周日開幕時，議員們會達成兩黨協議，將日期提前。
However, this year Democratswanted to avoid a chance forPresident Trump to make recess appointments, and wantedto be ready for the joint sessionWednesday to ratify Democratic President-elect Joe Biden’s Electoral College win, thefinal formal step ahead of hisJan. 20 inauguration.Some Republicans plan toraise challenges to some of thestates』 results on Wednesday,alleging election irregularities.Their objections could force debate and votes in both chambers of Congress.The new Congress will bemore diverse than the sessionbefore it, with more womenand more people of color. Atleast 118 women will serve inthe U.S. House, beating the previous record of 102 set in 2019.Of those, 29 are Republican,breaking the previous GOP record of 25 set in 2006, according to an analysis by the Centerfor American Women and Politics at Rutgers University.
然而，今年民主黨人希望避免川普總統有機會做出休會任命，並希望為周三的參眾兩院聯席會議批准民主黨當選總統拜登贏得選舉人票做好準備，這是拜登1月20日就職前的最後正式步驟。一些共和黨人計劃在周三對一些州的選舉結果提出挑戰，稱選舉存在違規行為。他們的反對可能會迫使國會兩院進行辯論和投票。新一屆國會將比前一屆更加多元化，有更多的女性和有色人種。至少有118名女性將在美國眾議院任職，打破了2019年創下的102人的紀錄。羅格斯大學美國婦女和政治中心的一項分析顯示，其中29人是共和黨人，打破了共和黨2006年創下的25人的紀錄。
It is expected to be Mrs.Pelosi’s last term as speaker. In2018, to win the support of detractors, she said she wouldonly seek a fourth and finalterm if she had the support oftwo-thirds of her caucus. Sheran unopposed in her conference.「The question is: Are yougoing to empower the Republican leader, Kevin McCarthy, towhich the answer is no,」 saidincoming Rep. Mondaire Jones,a New York Democrat, whosaid he backed Mrs. Pelosi. Anoutspoken progressive and oneof the first openly gay Blackmen to be elected to Congress,he said he is ready to push theparty to take up Medicare forAll and climate legislation.Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D.,Mich.) voted present for thespeaker as did two other Democrats, Reps. Abigail Spanberger of Virginia and MikieSherrill of New Jersey. Rep.Jared Golden (D., Maine) votedfor Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D.,Ill.), and Rep. Conor Lamb (D.,Pa.) voted for Mr. Jeffries.
預計這將是佩洛西最後一屆議長任期。2018年，為了贏得批評者的支持，她表示，只有獲得三分之二黨團成員的支持，她才會尋求第四次、也是最後一次任期。她在會議中無人反對。「問題是:你會授權給共和黨領袖凱文·麥卡錫(Kevin McCarthy)嗎?答案是否定的，」即將上任的紐約州民主黨眾議員蒙代爾·瓊斯(Mondaire Jones)說。他說自己支持佩洛西。他是一個直言不諱的進步主義者，也是第一個公開同性戀身份的黑人當選國會議員，他說他已經準備好推動民主黨為所有人提供醫療保險和氣候立法。來自密西根州的民主黨眾議員斯洛特金(Elissa Slotkin)和另外兩名民主黨眾議員、來自維吉尼亞州的斯班伯格(Abigail Spanberger)和來自新澤西州的謝裡爾(Mikie Sherrill)都投票支持眾議院議長。緬因州民主黨眾議員戈爾登(Jared Golden)投票給了伊利諾州民主黨參議員達克沃思(Tammy Duckworth)，賓夕法尼亞州民主黨眾議員蘭姆(Conor Lamb)投票給了傑弗裡斯。
Lawmakers won’t be able tovote by proxy as they havedone during the pandemic untilCongress passes its new rulespackage on Monday. The rulespackage will implement remotevoting as well as several procedural changes. One majorchange will be that the motionto recommit, a procedural votethat allowed the minority toamend a bill just before itpassed, will now send the billback to the committee of jurisdiction.
在國會周一通過新規之前，議員們不能像在疫情期間那樣通過代理投票。規則包括實現遠程投票以及一些程序更改。一個主要的變化將是重新提交的動議，即允許少數人在法案通過前修改法案的程序性投票，現在將把法案發回司法委員會。