2006年VOA标准英语-Lawmakers Urge Bush to Heed Iraq Recommendation

By Dan Robinson
Capitol Hill
06 December 2006

Members of Congress say they hope President Bush gives serious consideration to recommendations by the independent Iraq Study Group. VOA's Dan Robinson reports, Democrats², who will take control of Congress in January, are reiterating³ their readiness to work with the president and Republicans.

As they detailed⁴ 79 recommendations, members of the study group emphasized their report may be the only bipartisan assessment⁶ the president will receive on what to do next in Iraq.

 
Incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi 
Democrat¹ Nancy Pelosi, who will be the speaker of house when the new Congress convenes⁷ in January, says if President Bush is serious about the need for change, he will find Democrats ready to work with him, in her words, to find a way to end the war as quickly as possible.

At the same time, Pelosi says the report shows that proposals Democrats have been making in direct appeals to the president have been correct.

These include the suggestion Democrats made in several letters to the White House, that the mission of U.S. troops in Iraq must shift from combat, to training and support:

"They began [the report] by saying we must transition our troops out of Iraq, we begin by changing the mission," she said. "Democrats have been saying that all along."

Incoming Democratic Majority Leader Steny Hoyer says the report reflects what Americans have known for some time:

He said, "It is clear now that there is no one in America, perhaps [except for] the president, who believes that staying the course is a viable⁸ policy."

With Democrats assuming the majority in January, some reaction had a distinctly partisan⁵ flavor. Massachusetts Democrat Ed Markey said the Iraq Study Group report is, in his words, throwing [President Bush] a life raft.

 
Senator John Warner (8 Nov 2006)
On the floor of the Senate, Republican John Warner emphasized the bipartisan nature of the report:

He said, "The debate on Iraq, the debate on Afghanistan, the debate on our security matters, should always ring in this chamber⁹ with voices that have differing views."

"And how well we know the difficulty, particularly in this most controversial war, the difficult of reaching a consensus¹⁰. They did it," he continued.

Senator Edward Kennedy, a Massachusetts Democrat, describes the report as a verdict that current strategy is failing, and urges the president to heed¹¹ its recommendations:

"The only question is whether the White House will heed this clarion¹² call and agree to change the perilous¹³ course that we have been on in Iraq since Saddam Hussein fell and the chaos¹⁴ began," he said.

Senator Joseph Biden of Delaware says he has concerns about what the report does not say regarding efforts by the Iraqi government for a political settlement:

He said, "Again it comes down to how do you implement¹⁵ the Iraqi constitution and do we stand with it, and do we insist that there be a strong central government and as they stand up we will stand down."

In comments before the report's formal release, President Bush referred to the importance of congressional consideration of the findings.

 
Among other things, the report recommends that future spending requests for Iraq be included in the administration's regular annual budget, beginning with the 2008 fiscal¹⁶ year that begins next October.

The Bush administration has submitted what are called supplemental requests. Another of these, estimated at between $130 to 160 billion, is expected early next year.

The study group says such requests circumvent¹⁷ the budget normal process and erode¹⁸ congressional powers of oversight¹⁹.

The report also urges the Bush administration to work closely with congressional committees to assess not only the overall future budgetary impact of the war in Iraq, but its impact on future U.S. military readiness.

The group's co-chairmen, former Secretary of State James Baker²⁰ and former Congressman²¹ Lee Hamilton, and others say they expect to be testifying before congressional hearings when the new session of Congress convenes.

1 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

2 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 reiterating   

反复地说，重申( reiterate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• He keeps reiterating his innocence. 他一再申明他无罪。
• The Chinese government also sent a note to the British government, reiterating its position. 中国政府同时将此立场照会英国政府。

4 detailed   

adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• A detailed list of our publications is available on request.我们的出版物有一份详细的目录备索。

5 partisan   

adj.党派性的；游击队的；n.游击队员；党徒

参考例句：

• In their anger they forget all the partisan quarrels.愤怒之中，他们忘掉一切党派之争。
• The numerous newly created partisan detachments began working slowly towards that region.许多新建的游击队都开始慢慢地向那里移动。

6 assessment   

n.评价；评估；对财产的估价，被估定的金额

参考例句：

• This is a very perceptive assessment of the situation.这是一个对该情况的极富洞察力的评价。
• What is your assessment of the situation?你对时局的看法如何？

7 convenes   

召开( convene的第三人称单数 )； 召集； （为正式会议而）聚集； 集合

参考例句：

• The Premier convenes and presides over the executive meetings and plenary meetings of the State Council. 总理召集和主持国务院常务会议和国务院全体会议。 来自汉英非文学 - 中国宪法
• Chinese woman tenth the National People Congress convenes grandly today in Beijing. 中国妇女第十次全国代表大会今天在北京隆重召开。

8 viable   

adj.可行的，切实可行的，能活下去的

参考例句：

• The scheme is economically viable.这个计划从经济效益来看是可行的。
• The economy of the country is not viable.这个国家经济是难以维持的。

9 chamber   

n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所

参考例句：

• For many,the dentist's surgery remains a torture chamber.对许多人来说，牙医的治疗室一直是间受刑室。
• The chamber was ablaze with light.会议厅里灯火辉煌。

10 consensus   

n.(意见等的)一致，一致同意，共识

参考例句：

• Can we reach a consensus on this issue?我们能在这个问题上取得一致意见吗？
• What is the consensus of opinion at the afternoon meeting?下午会议上一致的意见是什么？

11 heed   

v.注意，留意；n.注意，留心

参考例句：

• You must take heed of what he has told.你要注意他所告诉的事。
• For the first time he had to pay heed to his appearance.这是他第一次非得注意自己的外表不可了。

12 clarion   

n.尖音小号声；尖音小号

参考例句：

• Clarion calls to liberation had been mocked when we stood by.当我们袖手旁观的时候，自由解放的号角声遭到了嘲弄。
• To all the people present,his speech is a clarion call.对所有在场的人而言，他的演讲都是动人的号召。

13 perilous   

adj.危险的，冒险的

参考例句：

• The journey through the jungle was perilous.穿过丛林的旅行充满了危险。
• We have been carried in safety through a perilous crisis.历经一连串危机，我们如今已安然无恙。

14 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

15 implement   

n.(pl.)工具，器具；vt.实行，实施，执行

参考例句：

• Don't undertake a project unless you can implement it.不要承担一项计划，除非你能完成这项计划。
• The best implement for digging a garden is a spade.在花园里挖土的最好工具是铁锹。

16 fiscal   

adj.财政的，会计的，国库的，国库岁入的

参考例句：

• The increase of taxation is an important fiscal policy.增税是一项重要的财政政策。
• The government has two basic strategies of fiscal policy available.政府有两个可行的财政政策基本战略。

17 circumvent   

vt.环绕，包围；对…用计取胜，智胜

参考例句：

• Military planners tried to circumvent the treaty.军事策略家们企图绕开这一条约。
• Any action I took to circumvent his scheme was justified.我为斗赢他的如意算盘而采取的任何行动都是正当的。

18 erode   

v.侵蚀，腐蚀，使...减少、减弱或消失

参考例句：

• Once exposed,soil is quickly eroded by wind and rain.一旦暴露在外，土壤很快就会被风雨侵蚀。
• Competition in the financial marketplace has eroded profits.金融市场的竞争降低了利润。

19 oversight   

n.勘漏，失察，疏忽

参考例句：

• I consider this a gross oversight on your part.我把这件事看作是你的一大疏忽。
• Your essay was not marked through an oversight on my part.由于我的疏忽你的文章没有打分。

20 baker   

n.面包师

参考例句：

• The baker bakes his bread in the bakery.面包师在面包房内烤面包。
• The baker frosted the cake with a mixture of sugar and whites of eggs.面包师在蛋糕上撒了一层白糖和蛋清的混合料。

21 Congressman   

n.（美）国会议员

参考例句：

• He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman.他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。
• The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics.这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。