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Ethics Office Backs Interior Official 民族部支持内政部的官员 The Office of Government Ethics said the Interior Department’s No. 2 official, Steven Griles, did not appear to violate ethics rules by arranging meetings between Interior officials and his former lobbying clients and partners. The office, after reviewing an 18-month investigation by the Interior Department’s inspector general, said it found no ethics violations by Griles in the department’s awarding of more than $1.6 million i contracts in 2001 and 2002 to Advanced Power Technologies Inc., a former client. Interior Department Inspector General Earl Devaney said Griles’ behavior is the latest case of an Interior official falling to consider perceived impropriety in his actions. He also called the department’s underfunded ethics office "a train wreck waiting to happen. " Interior Secretary Gale Norton and Republicans in Congress said the report clears Griles of any wrongdoing. Griles is gratified by the finding that he had "adhered to ethics laws and rules. " "I am glad this matter is behind me," he saiD． Sen. Joe Lieberman, D-Conn., called Devaney’s report a case of the "foxes guarding the foxes," saying the questionable conduct and special treatment given to Griles’ former clients "cannot help but leave a sour taste in the mouth of anyone who believes in the fairness of government. " Environmentalists had alleged that Griles helped former clients land government contracts, intervened in an environmental study of coalbed methane development in Wyoming, and held a dinner for senior department officials at the home of his former lobbying partner. Two matters—the coalbed methane analysis and the Interior Department dinner—were referred to Norton by the Office of Government Ethics for possible action. Norton said they had been adequately addresseD． "This closes the issue," Norton said in a statement. Kristen Sykes of Friends of the Earth disagreed and said Griles should be fireD． "It uncovers regular and consistent breaches of Griles’ ethics agreements and , more importantly, blatant violations of the public’s trust," she saiD．"If this White House is serious about ethics and accountability, Mr. Griles should be dismissed immediately. " Devaney did not draw conclusions in his report, but said in a letter to the department that regardless of whether Griles broke the law, the appearance of wrongdoing erodes public trust. "This is the only one in a series of cases in which we have observed an institutional failure to consider the appearance of a particular course of conduct," he wrote. "It is my hope, however, that this may be the case that changes the ethical culture in the department. " Last month, Devaney cleared the department’s former top lawyer, Bill Myers, of allegations that his official actions benefited former lobbying clients. An investigation is under way into whether Bureau of Land Management Director Kathleen Clarke violated ethics rules by participating in meetings regarding a land exchange in Utah, where she was the state’s director of natural resources. Griles continues to receive $284,000 a year as part of a four-year severance package from his former lobbying firm. In April 2002, the Environmental Protection Agency was about to object to an environmental study of coalbed methane drilling in Wyoming when Griles interveneD．In a phone call and letter, he urged EPA to resolve its differences to keep the project on track. At least six of Griles’s former clients had interest in the project. Devaney also found that Interior Department officials sought out projects to award to one of Griles’ former clients, Advanced Power Technologies, Inc., ather than letting APTI compete for existing projects. After joining the Interior Department, Griles held a dinner party for senior department officials at the home of his former lobbying partner, Marc Himmelstein.Assistant Secretary Rebecca Watson, told Devaney she believed it was improper and could give the appearance of favoritism. Griles said it was a social event that he would have hosted at his home if he had space. Devaney said ethics issues can arise with any appointee, but neglect and a lack of funding have left the Interior Department’s enthics office unable to shepherd officials through the ethics minefielD． What, according to Devaney, seemed to be the causes of ethics problems with the Interior Department （）
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Legislation, Lawsuits Cover Both Sides on Same-sex Marriage法律，在同性婚姻问题上诉讼两边不得罪In courtrooms and state capitols nationwide, opponents and supporters of gay marriage have embarked on a collision course, pursuing lawsuits and legislation so deeply at odds that prolonged legal chaos is likely.One plausible result:a nation divided, at least briefly, between a handful of states recognizing gay marriage and a majority which do not.The most clear-cut option for averting such chaos is a federal constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. However, despite support from President Bush, the amendment is given little chance of winning the needed two-thirds support in both the House and Senate this year.Without it, experts say, the rival sides are likely to litigate so relentlessly that the US Supreme Court will eventually be compelled to intercede and clarify whether a legal same-sex union in one state must be recognized in other states."It’s going to be complicated for many years—we’re going to have some free-marriages states, and some that are not," said Matt Foreman, executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force."This is not a new situation in our country," Foreman addeD．"We have had a hodgepodge of laws on different social issues. Invariably, we come to widespread consensus, and that’s going to happen to this issue. "For now, though, consensus seems distant as two contrasting legal offensives take shape.On one hand, courts in five relatively liberal states—California, New Jersey, New York, Oregon and Washington—are being asked to consider whether same-sex marriages should be alloweD．In each of these states, local officials have recently performed gay marriages. Gay-rights supporters predict the supreme courts in at least a couple of the states will join Massachusetts’ Supreme Judicial Court in authorizing such marriages.Meanwhile, legislators in many states are moving to amend their constitutions to toughen existing bans on gay marriage and explicitly deny recognition to same-sex unions forged elsewhere.Four states—Alaska, Hawaii, Nebraska and Nevada—already have such constitutional amendments. Similar measures are either certain or likely to go before voters in several other states in November or thereafter, including Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi, Utah and Wisconsin.In 10 other legislatures, proposed constitutional amendments are pending—their fate not yet certain.Matt Daniels, who as head of the Alliance for Marriage helped draft the proposed federal constitutional amendment, sees the developments in state,legislatures as proof of strong grass-roots opposition to gay marriage."As the courts push the envelope, public opinion moves in our direction," he said, "It’s a great national referendum...on whether we as a society are going to send a message through our laws that there’s something uniquely special about marriage between a man and a woman. "However, Daniels is convinced that without an amendment putting that definition in the US Constitution, the courts will eventually strike down state down state laws banning gay marriage, as well as the federal Defense of Marriage Act. That measure, signed by President Clinton in 1996, allows states to refuse to honor same-sex unions performed elsewhere, and denies federal recognition to such unions.Daniels said the proposed federal amendment, if it did clear Congress, would easily win the required ratification by at least 38 state legislatures.He acknowledged that the measure may have difficulty getting two-thirds backing in the current Senate, where few Democrats support it. But he predicted that pressure on politicians to approve the amendment will increase, once gay couples married in Massachusetts or elsewhere successfully sue to have their marriage honored in other states."When the lawsuits start to export what happens in Massachusetts, you will have a political powder keg for politicians who refuse to pay heed to public opinion," Daniels saiD．"This will change the political landscape. "William Reppy, a Duke University law professor, agreed that a challenge to the non- recognition of gay marriages across state lines will be critical—perhaps what ultimately decides the issue."There will be a split of authority—one state court will say it’s valid, another will say it isn’t," Reppy predicteD．"Then the US Supreme Court would have their hand forced, and hear the case. They don’t let splits of authority run rampant around the country for very long. \ Which of the following statement is true of Matt Daniels （）
President Bush’s push to oust Saddam Hussein (1) power soon became more than a foreign-policy initiative; the (2) and his allies used it as a wedge issue (3) Democrats in the run-up to the 2002 elections."After 9/11, he (4) a country that said, ’We’re ready to follow,’" (5) Rep. Rahm Emanual, D-Ⅲ., a former top aide to President Bill (6) and now a member of the House Democratic leadership. "There (7) so much we could have done. But he said, ’Go shopping’, (8) then he divided the nation. "The hyper-political push for (9) cost him the support of Democrats; there would be no (10) big bipartisan successes for him to celebrate, such as his (11) education law, No Child Left BehinD．Republicans stayed with him, (12) , and while they controlled Congress, that was often enough. It (13) him politically potent through the 2002 and 2004 campaigns.But (14) spending programs and other breaks with conservative dogma hurt the (15) standing inside the GOP, and he never really worked the Washingtongame to (16) relationships with members of Congress.In his (17) term, Democrats scuttled Social Security reform even before the president (18) file a bill. Opposition to Bush became their organizing principle—the formula they rode to success in 2006, (19) the botched federal response to Hurricane Katrina and a continuing war left (20) as damaged goods. （2）处填入（）。
President Bush’s push to oust Saddam Hussein (1) power soon became more than a foreign-policy initiative; the (2) and his allies used it as a wedge issue (3) Democrats in the run-up to the 2002 elections."After 9/11, he (4) a country that said, ’We’re ready to follow,’" (5) Rep. Rahm Emanual, D-Ⅲ., a former top aide to President Bill (6) and now a member of the House Democratic leadership. "There (7) so much we could have done. But he said, ’Go shopping’, (8) then he divided the nation. "The hyper-political push for (9) cost him the support of Democrats; there would be no (10) big bipartisan successes for him to celebrate, such as his (11) education law, No Child Left BehinD．Republicans stayed with him, (12) , and while they controlled Congress, that was often enough. It (13) him politically potent through the 2002 and 2004 campaigns.But (14) spending programs and other breaks with conservative dogma hurt the (15) standing inside the GOP, and he never really worked the Washingtongame to (16) relationships with members of Congress.In his (17) term, Democrats scuttled Social Security reform even before the president (18) file a bill. Opposition to Bush became their organizing principle—the formula they rode to success in 2006, (19) the botched federal response to Hurricane Katrina and a continuing war left (20) as damaged goods. （1）处填入（）。
Hillary Rodham Clinton 希拉里·罗德姆·克林顿 During the 1992 presidential campaign, Hillary Rodham Clinton observed, "Our lives are a mixture of different roles. Most of us are doing the best we can to find whatever the right balance is...For me, that balance is family, work, and service. " Hillary Diane Rodham, Dorothy and Hugh Rodham’s first child, was born on October 26, 1947.Two brothers, Hugh and Tony, soon followeD．Hillary’s childhood in Park Ridge, Illinois, was happy and disciplined.She loved sports and her church, and was a member of the National Honor Society, and a student leader. Her parents encouraged her to study hard and to pursue any career that interested her. As an undergraduate at Wellesley College, Hillary mixed academic excellence with school government. Speaking at graduation, she said, "The challenge now is to practice politics as the art of making what appears to be impossible, possible. " In 1969, Hillary entered Yale Law School, where she served on the Board of Editors of Yale Law Review and Social Action, interned with children’s advocate Marian Wright Edelman, and met Bill Clinton. The President often recalls how they met in the library when she strode up to him and said, "If you’re going to keep staring at me, I might as well introduce myself. " The two were soon inseparable—partners in moot court, political campaigns, and matters of the heart. After graduation, Hillary advised the Children’s Defense Fund in Cambridge and joined the impeachment inquiry staff advising the Judiciary Committee of the House of Representatives. After completing those responsibilities, she"followed her heart to Arkansas," where Bill had begun his political career. They married in 1975. She joined the faculty of the University of Arkansas Law School in 1975 and the Rose Law Firm in 1976. In 1978, President Jimmy Carter appointed her to the board of the Legal Services Corporation, and Bill Clinton became governor of Arkansas. Their daughter, Chelsea, was born in 1980. Hillary served as Arkansas’s First Lady for 12 years, balancing family, law, and public service. She chaired the Arkansas Educational Standards Committee, co-founded the Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families, and served on the boards of the Arkansas Children’s Hospital, Legal Services, and the Children’s Defense FunD． As the nation’s First Lady, Hillary continued to balance public service with private life. Her active role began in 1993 when the President asked her to chair the Task Force on National Health Care Reform. She continued to be a leading advocate for expanding health insurance coverage, ensuring children are properly immunized, and raising public awareness of health issues. She wrote a weekly newspaper column entitled "Talking It Over," which focused on her experiences as First Lady and her observations of women, children, and families she has met around the worlD．Her 1996 book It Takes a Village and Other Lessons Children Teach Us As First Lady, her public involvement with many activities sometimes led to controversy. Undeterred by critics, Hillary won many admirers for her staunch support for women around the world and her commitment to children’s issues. She was elected United States Senator from New York on November 7, 2000. She is the first First Lady elected to the United States Senate and the first woman elected statewide in New York. Hillary Rodham Clinton got her first government appointment in the（）Administration.
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