好英语网美国众议院通过特朗普弹劾调查程序决议
WASHINGTON — A bitterly divided House of Representatives voted Thursday to endorse the Democratic-led impeachment inquiry into President Trump, in a historic action that set up a critical new public phase of the investigation and underscored the political polarization that serves as its backdrop.
华盛顿——周四，立场存在严重分歧的众议院投票支持了由民主党人主导的特朗普总统弹劾调查，这一历史性行动为调查开启了一个关键的公开阶段，也凸显了调查背后存在的政治两极分化。
The vote was 232 to 196 to approve a resolution that sets out rules for an impeachment process for which there are few precedents, and which promises to consume the country a little more than a year before the 2020 elections. It was only the third time in modern history that the House had taken a vote on an impeachment inquiry into a sitting president.
此次投票以232票赞成、196票反对通过了一项决议，为鲜有先例的弹劾程序设定了规则，在2020年大选前的一年多时间里，这个程序势必将是整个国家关注的焦点。这是现代史上众议院第三次就现任总统的弹劾调查进行投票。
Having resisted such a vote for months, Democrats muscled through their resolution over unanimous Republican opposition with only two of their members breaking ranks to vote no. The tally foreshadowed the battle to come as Democrats take their case against the president fully into public view, sending both parties into uncharted territory and reshaping the nation’s political landscape.
几个月来，民主党人一直抵制这样的投票，但面对一致反对的共和党人，他们这次强行通过了决议，只有两名民主党人背弃政党立场投了反对票。这一投票结果预示了即将到来的斗争：随着民主党人在公众面前陈明其弹劾的理由，两党都将进入一个未知的领域，美国的政治格局也将被重塑。
众议院议长南希·佩洛西周四宣布最终投票结果，该决议为下一阶段的弹劾调查设定了规则。
在众议院的一场事关重大的激烈辩论后，议长南希·佩洛西(Nancy Pelosi)在异常拥挤的会议厅主持了投票。在一幅美国国旗的图片旁，佩洛西宣读了宪法序言，并郑重宣布，“此事关系到我们的民主本身。”
Representative Kevin McCarthy, Republican of California and the minority leader, quoted Alexander Hamilton, who warned in the Federalist papers against impeachment as a partisan tool. Lawmakers listened from their seats, stone-faced and somber, while members of the public watched from the crowded gallery above.
众议院少数党领袖、加州共和党人凯文·麦卡锡(Kevin McCarthy)援引了亚历山大·汉密尔顿(Alexander Hamilton)在《联邦党人文集》中的警告，称不能把弹劾作为党派工具。表情肃穆严峻的议员们坐在自己的座位上倾听，公众则在上面拥挤的廊台观望。
“We don’t know whether President Trump is going to be impeached but the allegations are as serious as it gets: endangering national security for political gain,” Representative Jim McGovern of Massachusetts, the chairman of the House Rules Committee, thundered from the House floor, adding, “History is testing us.”
“我们不知道特朗普总统是否会被弹劾，但指控是极为严重的：为政治利益而危害国家安全，”马萨诸塞州众议员、众议院规则委员会主席吉姆·麦戈文(Jim McGovern)洪亮的声音在众议院响起，他接着说，“历史在考验我们。”
Minutes after the vote, Stephanie Grisham, the White House press secretary, denounced what she said was “a sham impeachment” and “a blatantly partisan attempt to destroy the president.” In a statement, she added, “The president has done nothing wrong and the Democrats know it.”
投票后几分钟，白宫新闻秘书史蒂芬妮·格里沙姆(Stephanie Grisham)谴责了她所说的“虚假弹劾”和“公然摧毁总统的党派企图”。她在声明中还称，“总统没有做错任何事，并且民主党人知道这一点。”
Mr. Trump weighed in on Twitter: “The Greatest Witch Hunt In American History!”
特朗普在Twitter上加入了争论：“美国历史上最大的政治迫害！”
The day was a stunning turn in a drama that has riveted Capitol Hill, and the nation, since Ms. Pelosi announced last month that House Democrats would begin an impeachment investigation into whether Mr. Trump abused his power to pressure Ukraine to smear his political rivals, declaring that he had betrayed his oath of office.
一场引发国会山乃至全国关注的大戏在今天发生惊人转变，佩洛西上个月宣布，众议院民主党人将启动弹劾调查，明确特朗普是否曾滥用权力，向乌克兰施压以抹黑自己的政治对手，并宣称他背叛了他的就职誓言。
Practically speaking, the resolution adopted Thursday outlines the rights and procedures that will guide the inquiry, including the public presentation of evidence and how the president and his legal team will be able to eventually mount a defense.
就实际层面而言，周四通过的决议概述了指导调查的权利和程序，包括公开举证，以及总统和他的法律团队最终如何进行辩护。
But its significance was more profound: After five weeks of private fact-finding, Democrats signaled that, despite Republican opposition, they now had enough confidence in the severity of the underlying facts about Mr. Trump’s dealings with Ukraine, and enough public backing for pursuing their inquiry, to start making their case for impeachment before the American people.
但决议有着更为深远的意义：民主党人表示，在私下里进行了五周的事实搜集工作后，尽管有共和党人的反对，他们现在对特朗普与乌克兰交易潜在事实的严重性有足够的信心，并有足够的公众支持开展他们的调查，以便开始在美国民众面前提出他们弹劾的理由。
If Mr. Trump is impeached, he will almost certainly be acquitted by a Republican-led Senate. And House Republicans are still strongly behind him. One by one, they came to the floor on Thursday to denounce an inquiry that they view as secretive and unfair, and to accuse Democrats of shredding important precedents in their zeal to oust a duly elected president.
如果特朗普被弹劾，他几乎肯定会被共和党领导的参议院宣判无罪。众议院的共和党人也仍然强烈支持他。周四，他们一个接一个地走上台前，谴责一项他们认为秘密且不公平的调查，并指责民主党人为推翻一位正式选举产生的总统，破坏了重要的先例。
“Trying to put a ribbon on a sham process doesn’t make it any less of a sham,” said Representative Jim Jordan, Republican of Ohio, while Representative Devin Nunes of California, the top Republican on the Intelligence Committee, said the panel had turned into “a cult.”
“试图给一个虚假的程序系根彩带，并不会让它的虚假减少分毫，”俄亥俄州共和党众议员吉姆·乔丹(Jim Jordan)说，众议院情报委员会共和党领袖、加利福尼亚州众议员德文·努尼斯(Devin Nunes)则表示，调查小组已经变成了一个“邪教组织”。
While Republicans have assailed the process, Mr. Trump’s defense of himself has been more blunt force, describing the inquiry as a “coup,” branding veteran officials who have cooperated “Never Trumpers,” and accusing Democrats of lying about what took place as he insists over and over again that his call with President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine was “perfect.”
共和党人抨击了弹劾程序，然而特朗普的自辩措辞还要更激烈，将该调查称为“政变”，把与之合作的资深官员称为“永不特朗普党人”，并指责民主党人没有说出实情，一再坚持他与乌克兰总统弗拉基米尔·泽伦斯基(Volodymyr Zelensky)的通话是“完美”的。
Democrats urged Republicans to view Thursday’s vote as a turning point, the moment when every House member must begin engaging with the evidence itself.
民主党人敦促共和党人将周四的投票视为一个转折点，从现在开始，每一名众议员都要开始与证据本身打交道。
At least some Republicans seemed ready to do so, and were forming the core of their defense that Mr. Trump was only doing his job, and was justified both in pushing Ukraine to examine allegations of corruption and in withholding military assistance to ensure taxpayer dollars were wisely spent.
至少有一些共和党人看来已经准备这样做了，而且正在组织起辩护的核心，即特朗普只是在做他的工作，而且推动乌克兰审查腐败指控，以及冻结对乌克兰的援助以确保纳税人的钱不遭滥用，都是合情合理的。
“Bring it on about substance, because our president was right — he was concerned about corruption,” Representative Lee Zeldin, Republican of New York, said at a crowded news conference after the vote.
“要谈就谈实质问题，因为我们的总统是对的——他担心腐败，”纽约州共和党众议员李·泽尔丁(Lee Zeldin)在投票结束后在一个挤得水泄不通的新闻发布会上说。
Though it is not a perfect comparison to votes taken to authorize impeachment inquiries into Mr. Clinton and President Richard M. Nixon, Thursday’s outcome underscored the depth of partisan polarization gripping American politics. Democrats delivered a show of unity that just weeks ago seemed improbable, with even many moderate lawmakers who are facing difficult re-election races in conservative-leaning districts voting in favor of moving forward.
虽然这与授权对克林顿和尼克松总统进行弹劾调查的投票并不完全一样，但周四的结果突显了美国政治中两党分化的严重程度。民主党人表现出了就在几周前似乎还不太可能的团结，就连许多在倾向保守的选区面临艰难连任竞选的温和派议员，也投票支持推进弹劾案。
众议院情报委员会主席亚当·希夫领导着弹劾调查的取证工作。
投票反对该决议的两名民主党人——明尼苏达州的科林·彼得森(Collin C. Peterson)和新泽西州的杰夫·范德鲁(Jeff Van Drew)，都是身处激烈选情的中间派。众议院唯一的无党派人士、密歇根州众议员贾斯汀·阿玛什(Justin Amash)投了赞成票。他以前是共和党人，在公开批评特朗普后退党。
“Everything has been so divisive and toxic,” Mr. Van Drew, who has long opposed impeachment, lamented after the vote. “We’re so focused on these issues we’re not going to have the focus on issues you all care about so much, like health care, like prescription drugs, like infrastructure, that we really need to focus on.”
“一切都要拼个你死我活的，”长期反对弹劾的范德鲁在投票后感叹。“我们的注意力都放在了这些问题上，就会错过大家真正关心的问题，像是医保，像是处方药，像是基础设施等，那些我们真正需要关注的问题。”
The House is scheduled to recess for one week beginning Friday. Lawmakers leading the impeachment inquiry intend to use that time to begin to wrap up closed-door witness depositions with government officials. Their targets remain ambitious, if perhaps unattainable, including John R. Bolton, Mr. Trump’s former national security adviser.
众议院计划从周五开始休会一周。领导弹劾调查的议员们打算利用这段时间，完成对政府官员的闭门取证。他们的目标依然远大——尽管可能无法实现，包括传召特朗普的前国家安全顾问约翰·博尔顿(John R. Bolton)。
The resolution adopted Thursday lays out rules for public hearings, directs the Intelligence Committee to produce a public report of its findings and authorizes it to share all evidence collected with the Judiciary Committee, where lawmakers from both parties will weigh the strength of the evidence and debate whether it amounts to high crimes and misdemeanors. It also gives Mr. Trump’s lawyers rights to intervene in those proceedings and present a defense.
周四通过的决议明确了公开听证会的规则，指示情报委员会就其调查结果出具一份公开报告，并授权它与司法委员会共享搜集到的所有证据，两党议员将在此基础上对证据加以权衡，并就其是构成重罪还是轻罪进行辩论。它还给予特朗普的律师介入这些诉讼程序并进行辩护的权利。
But the inquiry remains a high-stakes gamble for Democrats just over a year from the 2020 balloting, as their presidential contenders — some of whom would act as jurors in a Senate trial should the House vote to impeach — are already deep into their campaigns to try to defeat Mr. Trump.
但对于距离2020年大选仅一年多的民主党来说，弹劾调查始终是一场高风险的赌博，因为他们的总统竞选人已经深入到竞选活动中，试图打败特朗普。如果众议院投票弹劾，其中一些人将在参议院的审判中作为陪审团成员。