VOA常速英语听力2013年02月（WORD文本）：WASHINGTON-WEEK-FOCUS-ON-OBAMA-2ND-TERM-AGENDA_.doc

1、President Barack Obamas State of the Union address is the highlight of what will be a busy week in U.S. politics.The president is expected to provide additional details on his second-term agenda when he addresses a joint session of a politically-divided Congress. That agenda includes U.S. immigratio

2、n reform - a cause embraced by Senator Marco Rubio, who will deliver the Republican response to Obamas speech.“The majority of Americans believe that we need to have a legal immigration system that works. And they recognize that what we have now is not a 21st century legal immigration system, said R

3、ubio.Wednesday, the Senate Judiciary Committee will examine a bipartisan plan to strengthen U.S. border enforcement, while providing an eventual path to citizenship for 11-million undocumented immigrants in the country.Testifying at the hearing will be Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, w

4、ho has long spoken out on the issue. “At some point we are going to have to deal with comprehensive immigration reform, she said.President Obama will likely highlight his administrations push for gun control when he travels to Asheville, North Carolina Wednesday. Asheville has been a hub of activism

5、 on firearms since the December mass shooting at a Connecticut elementary school.Some Asheville residents released balloons in memory of the victims of gun violence while others held a free raffle for semi-automatic rifles to demonstrate their opposition to gun control.The still-struggling U.S. econ

6、omy will be a major theme of the presidents visit Thursday to the southern U.S. state of Georgia. Unemployed Atlanta resident Rod Mack wants to see action to boost jobs.“People do not really want to be unemployed, they want a job. They are not interested in receiving unemployment benefits even though they are entitled to them, he said.The coming week could also see Senate votes on two high-level Obama Cabinet picks: former Republican senator Chuck Hagel for defense secretary and John Brennan for CIA director.