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AS IT IS
Facing Divided Congress, Trump Calls for Unity
Last Updated: February 06, 2019
President Donald Trump, before delivering the State of the Union address, shakes the hand of Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. Vice President Mike Pence, center, is also in attendance at the Capitol in Washington, February 5, 2019. (Doug Mills/Pool via REUTERS)
Facing a divided Congress for the first time in his presidency, U.S. President Donald Trump called for the nation to “govern not as two parties but as one nation.”
The call for unity came as the president delivered his yearly State of the Union Tuesday night in front of a joint session of Congress. The nationally televised speech was delayed for one week, after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi withdrew her invitation during the 35-day government shutdown.
The president opened his speech Tuesday by describing what he called “an economic miracle,” with rising wages, more jobs and tax cuts for working families.
Trump also said that “foolish wars, politics, or ridiculous partisan investigations” are the only things that can hold the country back.
“If there is going to be peace and legislation, there cannot be war and investigation,” he declared. He was talking about the numerous investigations into his administration and his own finances.
The partial government shutdown began on December 21 because of disagreements over money to build a U.S.-Mexico border wall. On January 25, Trump and Congressional leaders agreed to temporarily fund the government for three weeks.
Trump and Congressional leaders now have until February 15 to pass long-term bills to fund the government. With that deadline 10 days away, Trump called on lawmakers “to defend our very dangerous southern border” from gangs and drugs.
Trump said in his speech that his proposed border wall is now “a smart, strategic, see-through steel barrier – not just a simple concrete wall.”
Pelosi has repeatedly said the House will not provide money to build a wall.
In a rare sign of unity, female Democratic lawmakers stood up to cheer the president after he made comments about women in the workplace. The female lawmakers wore white in honor of the suffrage movement that gave women the right to vote.
The president on Tuesday recognized that “more women (are) serving in the Congress than ever before.”
On foreign policy, Trump announced that he will meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un later this month in Vietnam to, in his words, “continue our historic push for peace on the Korean Peninsula.” Trump said his administration also “has acted decisively to confront the world's leading state sponsor of terror: the radical regimein Iran.”
The president repeated his claim that the Islamic State has been destroyed. He again called for bringing American troops home from Syria and Afghanistan. Trump said, “Great nations do not fight endless wars.”
Some of the president’s foreign policy comments are not in agreement with experts. In a recent appearance before Congress, the nation’s intelligence chiefs said that North Korea is unlikely to give up all of its nuclear weapons and that ISIS is still “dangerous.”
Stacey Abrams of Georgia was chosen to give the Democratic Party’s response to Trump. She said in her televised speech, “Let’s be clear: Voter suppression is real.”
Abrams narrowly lost a close election in November. Had she won, she would have become America’s first black female governor.
On Tuesday night, Abrams asked Americans to “hold everyone, from the very highest offices to our own families, accountable for racist words and deeds and call racism what it is — wrong.”
I'm George Grow.
Hai Do wrote this story for Learning English. Ashley Thompson was the editor.
________________________________________________________________
Words in This Story
ridiculous - adj. unreasonable
partisan - n. a person who strongly supports a particular leader, group or cause
suffrage - n. the right to vote
regime - n. a particular government
response - n. something that is said as a reply
AS IT IS
Woman Brings New Attention to Sanctuary Movement
February 06, 2019
Rosa Gutierrez Lopez was frightened when immigration officials told her she had to leave the United States by December 10, 2018.
The 40-year-old undocumented immigrant from El Salvador had been living in the U.S. since 2005. She lived in northern Virginia, doing restaurant work and other jobs. She is the mother of three U.S. citizens.
Gutierrez Lopez received deferred action by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, after she was detained in 2014 for being in the country illegally.
Each year, she checked in with ICE and her request for deferred action was granted. Her lawyer says the renewal was mainly granted because her young children are American citizens and one of them has a genetic disorder.
In 2017, however, the first year of the Trump administration, Rosa noticed a difference when she reported to ICE for her yearly check-in.
“I was told to report to a different location and the official there began asking me all sorts of questions – questions they had never asked me before,” she told VOA, speaking in Spanish.
In the end, ICE did not renew her deferment. Officials ordered her to leave the country. She also had to wear an electronic device to record her movements.
But then, a friend told her about sanctuary Christian religious centers and she was able to find one.
Since mid-December, Gutierrez Lopez has been living at the Cedar Lane Unitarian Universalist Church in Bethesda, Maryland.
She is the first publicly known case in the Washington, D.C. area since churches across the nation began resisting the Trump administration’s immigration policies.
While she lives in sanctuary, her lawyers are requesting her asylum because of high rates of organized crime in El Salvador. Criminal groups killed three of her close family members in recent years. Gutierrez Lopez fears the same will happen to her if she returns.
Hector Perez Casillas is the immigration lawyer representing her. He believes she would be in serious danger if she returned to El Salvador.
“They would be immediately targeted because they know that: A) she’s been here in the United States for so long; B) she has American children; and C) one of them is ill, making her an extra vulnerable target."
Church sanctuaries grow
Gutierrez Lopez is one of 50 undocumented immigrants known to have sought sanctuary in 39 churches across the country. That information comes from the Church World Service, or CWS.
While the total number of people now in sanctuary is unknown, the CWS notes there has been an increase since the start of the Trump administration.
At that time, there were 37 reported cases. The number of churches offering sanctuary also rose from 400 in 2017 to more than 1,100 today.
Noel Andersen is with the CWS. He says the Trump administration’s policy of arresting and deporting undocumented immigrants who have no criminal records is responsible for the increase.
The churches, in Anderson’s words, “see that people are being dehumanized.”
Though sanctuary churches may fear government raids, for now immigration authorities are obeying the established tradition of staying out of churches, schools and hospitals.
Steve Camarota agrees with the tradition, but has strong criticism for the sanctuary movement. He is the research director at the Center for Immigration Studies, or CIS, an organization based in Washington, D.C.
"It's understandable why in any individual case, you might say, ‘Well, couldn't we make an exception for this nice guy, this nice lady.' And I think everyone feels a lot of sympathy for that. But when you do that, you end up with the scale of illegal immigration that we now have.”
The American non-profit organization, Southern Poverty Law Center, a legal support organization, identifies CIS as a hate group. It accuses CIS of publicizing white nationalist and anti-Semitic ideas.
Growing publicity
Reverend Abhi Janamanchi is the religious leader at the Cedar Lane Unitarian Universalist Church, where Gutierrez Lopez is staying. He said cases like hers get a lot of support and media attention.
“So far, we’ve received…offers of support even from total strangers,” he told VOA.
Acting as a sanctuary is a big project, involving many volunteers. Janamanchi said the Cedar Lane Church has 150 volunteers providing services such as meals, language services and security.
Because Gutierrez Lopez cannot leave church grounds without risking arrest, her children visit on weekends. But only her daughter fully understands why she remains at the church.
“My daughter, who is 11 -- she does know. She tells me: ‘Mommy, I miss you, I want you to be in our home.’ But I tell her I can’t,” she said.
Her life at the Cedar Lane Church is likely to continue for some time. Janamanchi has promised the church would support her "for as long as it takes."
I’m Alice Bryant.
Bill Rodgers reported this story for VOA News. Alice Bryant adapted it for Learning English. Caty Weaver was the editor.
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Words in This Story
deferred action – n. an immigration status that delays deportation
grant – v. to agree to do, give, or allow something asked for or hoped for
location – n. a place or position
sanctuary – n. a place where someone or something is protected or given shelter
church – n. a building that is used for Christian religious services
vulnerable – adj. open to attack, harm, or damage
deport – v. to force a person who is not a citizen to leave a country
scale – n. the size or level of something especially in comparison to something else
AS IT IS
Trump to Meet North Korea's Kim in Vietnam
February 06, 2019
FILE - North Korea leader Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump shake hands at the conclusion of their meetings at the Capella resort on Sentosa Island Tuesday, June 12, 2018 in Singapore. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, Pool)
American President Donald Trump will meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on February 27 and 28 in Vietnam.
Trump announced the meeting in his State of the Union speech to American lawmakers Tuesday night. He said the meeting would, in his words, “continue our historic push for peace on the Korean Peninsula.”
The men first met last June in Singapore and agreed, “to work toward complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.” The agreement did not include a plan for reaching such a goal.
After that meeting, North Korea released American detainees and suspended nuclear and long-distance missile tests. It also said it shut down a nuclear test site without the presence of outside experts. North Korea has repeatedly demanded that, in return, the United States lift economic measures against the country.
However, satellite images, taken since the June meeting, have shown North Korea is continuing to produce nuclear materials and work on its missile program.
Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats told Congress last week that U.S. intelligence officials do not believe Kim will surrender his nuclear weapons and production capability. Coats said North Korean leaders “view nuclear weapons as critical to regime survival.”
Trump said in his speech, “Our hostages have come home, nuclear testing has stopped, and there has not been a missile launch in more than 15 months.” He added, “Much work remains to be done, but my relationship with Kim Jong Un is a good one.”
It is not known where in Vietnam the meeting will take place. The city of Da Nang was the site of the 2017 APEC meeting and the capital city of Ha Noi held the 2018 regional World Economic Forum.
Murray Hiebert of the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C. spoke to the Associated Press. He said, “Like Singapore, where they met last time, Vietnam is a very secure place…” He said the country’s special police can keep crowds away and restrict reporters to permitted areas.
Trump attended the 2017 APEC meeting. The president also has met with Vietnamese leaders in Vietnam and the United States.
North Korea considers Vietnam a friendly Communist country although it operates under a free-market economic policy. It is a four-hour plane trip from North Korea.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo visited Vietnam last July after two days of talks in North Korea. Pompeo praised Vietnamese leaders for opening up the country “without threatening the country’s sovereignty, its independence, and its form of government.”
In a speech to the business community in Ha Noi, Pompeo said, “I have a message for Chairman Kim Jong Un: President Trump believes your country can replicate this path. It’s yours if you’ll seize the moment.”
I’m Ashley Thompson.
Hai Do adapted this story for Learning English based on AP news reports. Caty was the editor.
Write to us in the Comments Section or on our Facebook page.
_______________________________________________________________
Words in This Story
regime - n. a form of government : a particular government
capability - n. the ability to do something
sovereignty - n. a country's independent authority and the right to govern itself
AS IT IS
Catholic Church Explains Pope's Comment on ‘Sexual Slavery’ of Nuns
February 06, 2019
Bangladeshi Catholic nuns arrive to participate in a meeting with Pope Francis at the Church of the Holy Rosary in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Saturday, Dec. 2, 2017. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)
The Roman Catholic Church has sought to explain the “sexual slavery” comment Pope Francis made in connection to Catholic nuns.
Francis publicly discussed the reports of sexual abuse of nuns for the first time Tuesday. A reporter asked Francis about priests accused of abusing nuns.
Francis answered, “It’s not that everyone does this, but there have been priests and bishops who have… And I think that it’s continuing because it’s not like once you realize it that it stops. It continues. And for some time we’ve been working on it.”
Francis also expressed praise for Pope Benedict XVI for taking action in 2013 against abusers in a France-based religious order. Francis said the nuns in that order were subjected to “sexual slavery” by the founding priest and other clergymen.
Roman Catholic Church spokesman Alessandro Gisotti said Wednesday that Francis “spoke of ‘sexual slavery’ to mean ‘manipulation’ or a type of abuse of power that is reflected in a sexual abuse.”
In the past year, The Associated Press and other media have published stories about reports of abuse of nuns in India, Africa, Europe and South America.
The International Union of Superiors organization represents Catholic female religious orders. In November, it denounced the “culture of silence and secrecy” that prevented nuns from speaking out about abuse.
It also urged nuns to report abuse to their supervisors and to police.
I’m Ashley Thompson.
The Associated Press reported this story. Ashley Thompson adapted it for VOA Learning English. Caty Weaver was the editor.
_______________________________________________________________
Words in This Story
nun - n. a woman who is a member of a religious community and who usually promises to remain poor, unmarried, and separate from the rest of society in order to serve God
priest - n. a person who has the authority to lead or perform ceremonies in some religions and especially in some Christian religions
bishop - n. an official in some Christian religions who is ranked higher than a priest and who is usually in charge of church matters in a specific geographical area
manipulation - n. the act of dealing with or control (someone or something) in a clever and usually unfair or selfish way
type - n. a particular kind or group of things or people
reflect - v. to show (something) : to make (something) known
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