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Texas police cited both of President Bush's 19-year-old twin daughters on misdemeanor alcohol charges today for a night out at an Austin restaurant earlier this week.
Jenna and Barbara Bush both face misdemeanor charges. Jenna, who less than a month ago pleaded "no contest" to possession of alcohol charges, was cited for showing another person's identification to buy drinks. Barbara, along with a 20-year-old friend who was with them, was cited for possession of alcohol.
The charges stem from an incident Tuesday night, when Austin police were called to a Tex-Mexican restaurant in south Austin. The manager had called to report that minors were trying to buy alcohol.
The president was trying to keep the embarrassing family incident private today. Bush has told his daughters that he loves them, and reminded them he and first lady Laura Bush would work hard to keep the teenage girls out of the public eye.
But with the very public incident this week, the family is quoted as saying advice from parent to child is going to remain private.
Under repeated questioning today, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer refused to elaborate on the president's conversations with his daughters.
"I think the American people agree with the president that it is his purview, even as president of the United States to have private moments with his family," Fleischer said. "That includes his two 19-year-old daughters. And like any parent raising a child, they expect the right to talk privately with their children no matter what position they hold in life."
A senior administration official confirmed Wednesday that the president, traveling in California, had called Jenna to talk about the incident. The official would not characterize the call but published reports described him as "not happy."
In late April, Jenna pleaded no contest to a charge of possessing alcohol under age at an Austin nightclub.
She was ordered to pay .25 in court costs, serve eight hours of community service and attend six hours of alcohol awareness classes.
If Jenna is convicted, both this incident and the earlier incident would remain on her permanent record. If convicted of alcohol offenses two more times under Texas law, Jenna faces fines up to ,000 and possible jail time.
Barbara attends Yale University. Jenna studies at the University of Texas in Austin.
(Agencies)
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美國德克薩斯州警方指控布什總統19歲的雙胞胎女兒輕度酗酒。兩人曾在本周早些時候深夜外出，呆在奧斯丁的一家酒館里面酗酒。
杰娜和芭芭拉-布什姐倆都面臨輕罪指控。杰娜在不到一個月前曾對飲酒的指控供認不諱，如今她又被控用別人的身份證件買酒喝。芭芭拉也被指控非法飲酒，當時還有一位20歲的朋友和她們在一起。
這次指控的起因還得從周二晚上說起，當時奧斯丁警方接到舉報電話后趕到一家位于奧斯丁南部的德克薩斯-墨西哥酒館。酒館的經理給他們掛了電話，通知他們有未成年人買酒。
在德克薩斯，法律規定不滿21歲者不能飲酒。
布什總統竭力使家丑不要張揚開來。布什曾告訴自己的女兒，自己很愛她們，說他和第一夫人勞拉會盡力避免讓未成年的姐倆在公眾面前拋頭露面。
鑒于發生在本周的這件事已經在公眾中炒得沸沸揚揚，作為家長，布什夫婦不會公開他們給孩子的勸告。
盡管不斷被問及此事，白宮發言人阿里-弗雷舍拒絕對總統和女兒的談話作出詳細說明。
弗雷舍說："我想美國人民和總統的看法是一致的，即使身為美國總統，他應有和家人--當然，包括兩位19歲的女兒，獨自相處的時間。為人父母，無論他們在現實生活中處于什么樣的位置和職務，都希望能和自己的孩子單獨談談心。"
一位高級行政官員證實周三正在加州的布什總統就所發生的事給杰娜打過電話。這位官員沒透露電話的內容，不過相關報道說總統"不是很痛快"。
四月下旬，杰娜對警方對她在奧斯丁一家夜總會飲酒的指控沒提出任何異議。
她被罰支付了51.25 美元的訴訟費，還罰做了8小時的社區服務工作，并且上了6小時的飲酒規定教育課。
如果這次杰娜被法庭判罰，兩次事件都會成為其永久性記錄。根據德州法律，違反飲酒規定超過兩次的話，杰娜有可能被處以最高達2，000美元的罰款，并有可能被關進大牢。
芭芭拉就讀于耶魯大學，杰娜就讀于奧斯丁的德克薩斯大學。
(中國日報網站譯)
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Updated: 2001-06-06 01:00
