HOST:
Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC -- VOA’s radio magazine in Special English.
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This is Doug Johnson. On our program today,
We play some award winning country music ...
Answer a listener’s question about formere Secretary of State Madeleine Albright...
And report about two sisters recently elected to Congress.
Sanchez Sisters
HOST:
Earlier this month, the voters in the western state of California elected Democrats Loretta Sanchez and her sister Linda to the United States House of Representatives. They are the first sisters elected to serve in Congress at the same time. Shep O’Neal has more.
ANNCR:
The parents of the Sanchez sisters came to the United States from Mexico. They raised seven children who all graduated from college.
Loretta Sanchez was a businesswoman before she decided to enter politics. At first, she was a Democratic Party candidate for local office, but lost. Then the party nominated her for a congressional seat from Orange County, California. Orange County is known for its conservative politics.
In a surprise victory, Mizz Sanchez defeated conservative Republican Congressman Robert Dornan in nineteen-ninety-six. Voters re-elected her in nineteen-ninety-eight and again two years later.
Linda Sanchez is thirty-three, nine years younger than her sister Loretta. Linda Sanchez became a lawyer in nineteen-ninety-five. She gained experience in civil rights cases and employment law. She helped with her sister’s political campaigns in nineteen-ninety-six and nineteen-ninety-eight. Linda Sanchez worked for two labor unions that represent electrical workers. She became an active member of one of the unions. She also was a top official with Orange County’s Central Labor Council.
This year, the Democrats nominated her as their candidate for a seat in a newly-created Congressional district. Many workers and Spanish-speaking Americans live in the area.
The two sisters worked together to win the support of voters. They also received help from their mother, Maria Sanchez. She recorded messages in Spanish for local television stations. She urged people to vote for her daughters.
Linda Sanchez’s Republican opponent criticized the television campaign. However, it was a success. Linda Sanchez won fifty-five percent of the vote. Loretta Sanchez received more than sixty percent of the vote in her re-election effort. On election night, the sisters held a joint party to celebrate the election results and their unusual place in history.
Madeleine Albright
HOST:
Our VOA listener question this week comes from Vietnam. Le Thi Bich Tu wants to know more about Madeleine Albright. She was Secretary of State during the second term of President Bill Clinton.
Madeleine Korbel Albright was born in Czechoslovakia. She and her family came to the United States in nineteen-forty-eight. She completed programs of study at several American universities. Then she worked for a Democratic senator from the state of Maine, Edmund Muskie. She later worked for President Jimmy Carter’s National Security Council.
After President Carter was defeated for re-election, Mizz Albright became a professor at Georgetown University in Washington, D-C. She also helped develop programs designed to increase the number of diplomatic positions for women.
Mizz Albright’s ties with the Democratic Party strengthened in the nineteen-eighties. She served as a foreign policy adviser to presidential candidates Walter Mondale and Michael Dukakis. And she advised Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton when he was a candidate for President.
After Mister Clinton’s election, Mizz Albright served as the United States Permanent Representative to the United Nations. She was a member of the President’s cabinet and National Security Council.
In nineteen-ninety-seven, Mizz Albright became America’s first female Secretary of State. She was the highest level female official in the history of the United States government. She served as Secretary of State until the end of Mister Clinton’s presidency.
Madeleine Albright is again a professor at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service. She also teaches at the University of Michigan School of Business. And she is chairman of the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs. The Institute’s goal is to strengthen and expand democracy around the world.
Mizz Albright continues to speak out about the importance of democracy. She has warned the Bush administration against being in a hurry to launch a war with Iraq. She says the United States needs to finish its work in Afghanistan before dealing with Iraq. She also has spoken out about the importance of having support from international allies. Some people in government have criticized those who question a possible war. Mizz Albright says it is her duty as an American to ask questions.
Country Music Awards
HOST:
The Country Music Association presented its yearly awards earlier this month. Singer Alan Jackson was the big winner this year, receiving five major awards. Mary Tillotson has more.
ANNCR:
Alan Jackson had been nominated for ten awards this year. He won his second entertainer of the year award. He also won song of the year, single record of the year, album of the year and male singer of the year.
This song, “Where Were You When the World Stopped Turning,” was honored as song of the year and single record of the year. Jackson wrote it after the September eleventh terrorist attacks against the United States.
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The members of the Country Music Association named Martina McBride the female singer of the year. She won the same award in nineteen-ninety-nine. Listen to Martina McBride’s new record, “Concrete Angel.”
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The Country Music Association gave Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn the vocal duo of the year award. The two-man group has won many awards, including entertainer of the year three times. Brooks and Dunn have had eighteen top country music hits. They have sold more than twenty-two-million records. We leave you now with Brooks and Dunn’s recording of “Good Girls Go To Heaven.”
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HOST:
This is Doug Johnson. I hope you enjoyed our program today. And I hope you will join us again next week for AMERICAN MOSAIC -- VOA’s radio magazine in Special English.
This AMERICAN MOSAIC program was written by George Grow and Paul Thompson. Our studio engineer was Glen Matlock. And our producer was Paul Thompson.