问题描述：
急需翻译的一篇纽约时报,谢谢啦~\(≥▽≤)/~
“We have crossed the mark of over 100 filibusters and acts of procedural obstruction in less than one year,” Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, Democrat of Rhode Island, said on the floor Sunday. “Never since the founding of the Republic, not even in the bitter sentiments preceding Civil War, was such a thing ever seen in this body.”
Republicans say that the pre-holiday legislative rush reflects an artificial deadline set by Democrats who want to force through a highly complex measure with minimal public scrutiny; Democrats say Republicans, under pressure from conservative campaigners and commentators to stall the bill, are simply unwilling to accept defeat.
Democratic tempers flared during consideration of a Pentagon spending bill, with lawmakers suggesting that Republicans were playing politics at the expense of American troops by extending debate over the $626 billion measure as way of trying to deny Democrats time needed to pass the health care bill before Christmas.
Democrats first thought they had Republican commitments to back the measure, but any they had were later withdrawn, settling off complaints of a double cross. Short of votes, Democrats had to prevail upon Senator Russ Feingold, an antiwar Democrat from Wisconsin, to break his pattern of opposing military spending bills and join them.
The thin margin also required that Senator Robert C. Byrd, who turned 92 last month, be brought to the chamber in his wheelchair after midnight to cast his vote. After Democrats produced the needed votes, some Republicans then cast their votes for the Pentagon measure, drawing an audible murmur of disapproval from Democrats who considered that bad form.
Tensions have run so high on the Senate floor, with Democrats so perturbed by Republican stalling tactics, that party leaders told senators to object to any senator who asked for additional speaking time — even the routine extra minutes that senators request to finish a sentence.
At one point during debate, Senator John Cornyn, Republican of Texas, made just such a request for two minutes but was blocked by Senator Mark Begich, Democrat of Alaska, who was presiding over the chamber at the time.
Mr. Cornyn was flabbergasted. “I’m looking around — I don’t see any other senator waiting to speak,” he said. Mr. Begich relented, but similar incidents followed.
“We have crossed the mark of over 100 filibusters and acts of procedural obstruction in less than one year,” Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, Democrat of Rhode Island, said on the floor Sunday. “Never since the founding of the Republic, not even in the bitter sentiments preceding Civil War, was such a thing ever seen in this body.”
Republicans say that the pre-holiday legislative rush reflects an artificial deadline set by Democrats who want to force through a highly complex measure with minimal public scrutiny; Democrats say Republicans, under pressure from conservative campaigners and commentators to stall the bill, are simply unwilling to accept defeat.
Democratic tempers flared during consideration of a Pentagon spending bill, with lawmakers suggesting that Republicans were playing politics at the expense of American troops by extending debate over the $626 billion measure as way of trying to deny Democrats time needed to pass the health care bill before Christmas.
Democrats first thought they had Republican commitments to back the measure, but any they had were later withdrawn, settling off complaints of a double cross. Short of votes, Democrats had to prevail upon Senator Russ Feingold, an antiwar Democrat from Wisconsin, to break his pattern of opposing military spending bills and join them.
The thin margin also required that Senator Robert C. Byrd, who turned 92 last month, be brought to the chamber in his wheelchair after midnight to cast his vote. After Democrats produced the needed votes, some Republicans then cast their votes for the Pentagon measure, drawing an audible murmur of disapproval from Democrats who considered that bad form.
Tensions have run so high on the Senate floor, with Democrats so perturbed by Republican stalling tactics, that party leaders told senators to object to any senator who asked for additional speaking time — even the routine extra minutes that senators request to finish a sentence.
At one point during debate, Senator John Cornyn, Republican of Texas, made just such a request for two minutes but was blocked by Senator Mark Begich, Democrat of Alaska, who was presiding over the chamber at the time.
Mr. Cornyn was flabbergasted. “I’m looking around — I don’t see any other senator waiting to speak,” he said. Mr. Begich relented, but similar incidents followed.
问题解答：
我来补答展开全文阅读