VOA标准英语2013--Hagel Faces Tough Questions at Nomination Hearing

（单词翻译）

Hagel Faces Tough Questions at Nomination¹ Hearing

If Hagel’s goal for his confirmation² hearing was to win the backing of Republican lawmakers, his exchange with Senator John McCain seemed ominous³.

McCain repeatedly asked if Hagel regretted his opposition⁴ to the 2007 U.S. troop surge in Iraq.

“The question is: were you right or wrong? That is a pretty straightforward⁵ question,” he said.

Hagel declined to answer. “I am not going to give you a ‘yes or no.’ I think it is far more complicated than that. As I have already said, my answer is: I will defer⁶ that judgment⁷ to history,” he said.

McCain fired back.

“I think history has already made a judgment about the surge, sir. And you are on the wrong side of it. And your refusal to answer whether you were right or wrong is going to have an impact on my judgment as to whether to vote for your confirmation or not,” he said.

Hagel was also put on the defensive⁸ over past votes and statements concerning Iran’s nuclear program, Iran’s backing for international terrorism, Israel’s influence in U.S. politics, and the necessity of America’s nuclear arsenal⁹. Hagel repeatedly proclaimed his support for Obama administration policies, regardless of past statements or actions.

“I am on the record on many issues. But no one individual vote, no one individual quote, no one individual statement defines me,” Hagel said.

Republican Senator James Inhofe was not impressed.

“Senator Hagel’s record is deeply troubling and out of the mainstream¹⁰. Too often, it seems, he is willing to subscribe¹¹ to a worldwide view that is predicated on appeasing¹² our adversaries¹³ while shunning¹⁴ our friends,” he said.

Hagel rejected the allegation. “My overall worldview has never changed: that America has and must maintain the strongest military in the world, that we must lead in the international community to confront threats and challenges together,” he said.

The hearing was not entirely¹⁵ hostile. Democratic Senator Carl Levin noted¹⁶ Hagel’s service as an enlisted¹⁷ soldier in the Vietnam War.

“It would be a positive message for our soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines in harm’s way around the world to know that one of their own holds the highest office in the Department of Defense¹⁸, and that he has their backs,” Levin said.

Hagel appears to have the support of Democratic senators, who hold a majority in the Senate. But he would need at least five Republican votes for confirmation if any senator used a procedural maneuver¹⁹ to force a three-fifths vote on his nomination. He would succeed outgoing Defense Secretary Leon Panetta.