美国副总统拜登电台演讲:是时候填补最高法院空缺

THE VICE PRESIDENT: Hi, folks. Joe Biden here and I'm sitting with Tim Lewis, a retired federal judge who was nominated to the bench by a Republican President and confirmed by a Democratic Senate - within four weeks of a presidential election.
副总统:大家好.我是乔•拜登,旁边坐着蒂姆•路易斯.他是已经退休的法官,被共和党总统提名,并且被民主党参议院确认--在总统选举四个星期之内.

JUDGE LEWIS: Hello, everyone. That's right. And I'm living proof that President Obama's nominee to the Supreme Court - Chief Judge Merrick Garland - deserves similar consideration by today's Senate.
路易斯法官:大家好.是的.我是奥巴马总统提名最高法院法官的生动证明--梅里克•加兰--也应该在当下得到参议院相同的决定.

THE VICE PRESIDENT: Not only because Merrick Garland is recognized - we may know without exception - by the right and the left as one of America's sharpest legal minds and a model of integrity.
副总统:不仅仅因为梅里克•加兰是被认可的--我们可能知道,没有异议--被左派和右派都认为是美国最具洞察力的法律工作者和完美的楷模.

JUDGE LEWIS: But also because that's what the Constitution requires. The sitting President shall - not may - but shall nominate someone to fill a vacancy on the Supreme Court, with the advice and consent of the Senate. That includes consulting and voting.
路易斯法官:也因为这是宪法所要求的.现任总统应该--不是可能--而是应该在参议院建议和同意的情况下,提名人选来填补最高法院大法官空缺.这包括协商和投票.

THE VICE PRESIDENT: Here's how it works. For 17 years, I was chairman or ranking member of the top opposition party person in the Senate Judiciary Committee, which overseas nominations to the Court -- all the Court, all Federal Court. I presided over nine Supreme Court nominations - more than anyone alive. Some I supported. Others I didn't. But every nominee was greeted by committee members. Every nominee got a committee hearing. Every nominee got out of the committee to the Senate floor, even when a nominee did not receive under the rules majority support in my committee to be reported out. Because as a result, the Senate should advice and Consent, not the committee. And every nominee, including Justice Kennedy - in an election year - got an up or down vote by the Senate. Not much of the time. Not most of the time. Every single time. That's the Constitution's clear rule of Advice and Consent. And that's the rule being violated today by Senate Republicans.
副总统:我来说说,这是如何运作的.有17年时间,我是参议院司法委员会反对党主席或者高级成员,在海外向法院提交提名--所有法院,所有联邦法院.我主持了整整九年最高法院的提名--比任何在世的人都多.我支持其中一些人,不支持另一些人.但委员会成员尊重每一个被提名人选.针对每一个被提名人选,委员会都会召开听证会.即便提名人选在规则下,不能获得我所在委员会的大多数支持而被报道出来.他们也能来到参议院委员会.因为,结果是,参议院应该去建议和批准,而不是委员会.每一个被提名人,包括肯尼迪大法官--在选举年--也获得了参议院的直接表决.没有太多的时间.不是大部分的时候间.是每一次.这是宪法中建议和批准权的清晰原则.这也是当下被参议院共和党人违背的规则.

Nobody is suggesting that Senators have to vote "yes" on a nominee. Voting "no" is always an option for any senator. But saying nothing, seeing nothing, reading nothing, hearing nothing, and deciding in advance simply to turn your back - is not an option the Constitution leaves open to United Senator.
没有人要求,参议员必须对提名人投同意.投反对,也一直是参议员们的选项.但是什么都不说,视而不见,不读任何东西,什么都不听,首先简单得决定背过身去--这不是宪法留给美国参议员的开放选项.

JUDGE LEWIS: And it has real consequences for all of us. In the several months since Merrick Garland's nomination, we've already seen how the Senate's refusal to act is preventing the Court from fulfilling its duty of interpreting what the law is and resolving conflicts in lower courts. This is Historic obstruction, is leading to greater litigation costs and delays - the burden falling mostly on average Americans rather than corporations with endless resources. Unresolved decisions by the Supreme Court are leading to federal laws that should apply to the whole country being constitutional in some parts but unconstitutional in others. If this continues, our freedom of speech, our freedom to practice our faith, our right to vote, our right to privacy - all could depend on where we happen to live.
路易斯法官:这对我们所有人都有直接影响.在梅里克•加兰被提名的几个月里,我们已经见到参议院拒绝行动,阻止法院履行其解释法律是什么并在较低层法院解决冲突的职责.这是历史性的障碍,导致了更多的诉讼费用,和更多的拖延--负担主要落到了普通民众身上,而不是有着无尽资源的公司上.最高法院未解决的问题,正在导致本应适用于全国的联邦法律,在一些地方有宪法效力的,而在其他地方是违反宪法的.如果继续下去,我们的言论自由,我们的信仰自由,我们投票的权利,我们的隐私权--所有这些都取决于我们碰巧生活在哪里.

THE VICE PRESIDENT: And the longer the vacancy remains unfilled, the more serious the problem - with greater confusion and uncertainty about our safety and security. You know, if you have eight Justices on the Court, Justice Scalia himself wrote, that it raises the, "possibility that, by reason of a tie vote, the Court will find itself unable to resolve the significant legal issue presented by the case." And if Republican Senators fail to act, it could be an entire year before a fully staffed Supreme Court can resolve any significant issue before it.
副总统:职位空缺不能被填补的时间越长,问题将越严重--我们的安全和治安会有更多的混乱和更多的不确定性.如果法院有八名法官,斯卡利亚法官自己写到,会出现"这样的可能性,平局投票,法院将不能解决在案件中出现的显著的法律问题."如果共和党参议员不采取行动,最高法院全员来解决重要问题之前,可能要等一整年时间.

Folks, there's enough dysfunction in Washington, D.C. Now is not the time for it to spread from the Congress to the Supreme Court.
同胞们,在华盛顿有着太多的障碍.现在不是让它从国会蔓延到最高法院的时候.

JUDGE LEWIS: And we're better than what we're seeing. As a country, we're only as strong as the traditions we value - that we sustain by dedicating ourselves to something bigger than ourselves.
路易斯法官:我们比我们见到的更好.作为一个国家,我们只会更加强大,只要我们珍视我们的传统--我们保持将我们自己献身于比我们自己更大的事情.

THE VICE PRESIDENT: Folks, the defining difference of our great democracy has always been that we can reason our way through to what ails us and then act as citizens, voters, and public servants to fix it. But we have to act in good faith. For unless we find common ground, we cannot govern. So for the sake of the country we love - we all have to do our job. The President has done his. Senate Republicans must do theirs.
副总统:同胞们,我们伟大的民主最不同的地方一直是,我们可以思考苦恼我们问题的原因,然后作为公民,投票者和公务员去解决.但我们必须真诚地努力.除非我们找到共同基础,我们不能管理.为了我们热爱国家的目的--我们所有人必须做自己的努力.总统已经做了他的工作.参议院的共和党人也必须做出他们的努力.

Thanks for listening and hope you have a good weekend.
谢谢大家的收听,周末快乐.