2006年VOA标准英语-Darfur Dominates US Congressional Hearing

By Dan Robinson
06 April 2006
 
The situation in Sudan's western Darfur region was among issues dominating a hearing Wednesday with the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, John Bolton.

Ambassador Bolton has recently been forced to postpone¹ two scheduled appearances before the U.S. Congress due to urgent business at U.N. headquarters in New York.

When he finally made it to a House subcommittee hearing on U.S. budget issues and the United Nations, lawmakers quickly turned the focus to the situation in Darfur.

The National Congress Party in Khartoum, part of Sudan's National Unity² Government, has rejected proposals for a U.N. peacekeeping force to augment³ the efforts of 7,000 African Union (A.U) troops.

The Bush administration is working to remove obstacles standing⁴ in the way of transforming the African Union Mission in Sudan into a U.N.-supervised operation.

Ambassador Bolton says Khartoum is delaying the process and thus efforts to restore security and stability in Darfur. "The delay that we are encountering now because of the government of Sudan is postponing⁵ the date when we can accomplish the re-hatting," he said.

This week, Sudanese authorities prevented U.N. Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian⁶ Affairs, Jan Egeland, from making a planned visit to Darfur.

Khartoum authorities cited what they called a misunderstanding, saying Egeland was asked to postpone his visit for security reasons.

U.S. lawmakers are also concerned about what many see as the unraveling of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement signed last year to end decades of civil war between the North and the South.

Republican Congressman⁷ Frank Wolf is leading an effort in the House of Representatives to press President Bush to appoint a new special envoy⁸ for Sudan. "What can we do? We need to do something very dramatic," he said.

Kristen Silverberg, Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs, says the Bush administration agrees. "We agree with you that some dramatic effort is needed in order to bring final resolution to this," he said.

Silverberg says Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick is leading U.S. government efforts focused on the need to expand the African Union Mission in Sudan, and achieve the transformation⁹ to U.N. supervision¹⁰.

President Bush supports a U.N. force, with support from NATO. Assistant Secretary Silverberg said the need to ensure that African troops in a future U.N. force are properly trained was the subject of a recent discussion between the president and NATO.

Sudan also came up during questioning of Ambassador Bolton about future membership of the new U.N. Human Rights Council.

Lawmakers have long been concerned that Sudan could become a member, if not chairman, of the body, something Ambassador Bolton discussed in this exchange with Congressman Wolf.

WOLF: Could Sudan serve on it, and could Sudan become the chairman?
BOLTON: Under the resolution that was adopted the answer is yes.

The United States voted against the U.N. resolution establishing the new council, saying there were insufficient¹¹ protections to exclude countries with poor human rights records from membership.

Ambassador Bolton's comments to Congress on Darfur came as the House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved legislation to impose tough sanctions on Sudanese government and military officials considered responsible for atrocities¹² in Darfur.

The Senate passed a similar measure last year.

1 postpone   

v.延期，推迟

参考例句：

• I shall postpone making a decision till I learn full particulars.在未获悉详情之前我得从缓作出决定。
• She decided to postpone the converastion for that evening.她决定当天晚上把谈话搁一搁。

2 unity   

n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调

参考例句：

• When we speak of unity,we do not mean unprincipled peace.所谓团结，并非一团和气。
• We must strengthen our unity in the face of powerful enemies.大敌当前，我们必须加强团结。

3 augment   

vt.(使)增大，增加，增长，扩张

参考例句：

• They hit upon another idea to augment their income.他们又想出一个增加收入的办法。
• The government's first concern was to augment the army and auxiliary forces.政府首先关心的是增强军队和辅助的力量。

4 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

5 postponing   

v.延期，推迟( postpone的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• He tried to gain time by postponing his decision. 他想以迟迟不作决定的手段来争取时间。 来自辞典例句
• I don't hold with the idea of postponing further discussion of the matter. 我不赞成推迟进一步讨论这件事的想法。 来自辞典例句

6 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

7 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。

8 envoy   

n.使节，使者，代表，公使

参考例句：

• Their envoy showed no sign of responding to our proposals.他们的代表对我方的提议毫无回应的迹象。
• The government has not yet appointed an envoy to the area.政府尚未向这一地区派过外交官。

9 transformation   

n.变化；改造；转变

参考例句：

• Going to college brought about a dramatic transformation in her outlook.上大学使她的观念发生了巨大的变化。
• He was struggling to make the transformation from single man to responsible husband.他正在努力使自己由单身汉变为可靠的丈夫。

10 supervision   

n.监督，管理

参考例句：

• The work was done under my supervision.这项工作是在我的监督之下完成的。
• The old man's will was executed under the personal supervision of the lawyer.老人的遗嘱是在律师的亲自监督下执行的。

11 insufficient   

adj.(for，of)不足的，不够的

参考例句：

• There was insufficient evidence to convict him.没有足够证据给他定罪。
• In their day scientific knowledge was insufficient to settle the matter.在他们的时代，科学知识还不能足以解决这些问题。

12 atrocities   

n.邪恶，暴行( atrocity的名词复数 )；滔天大罪

参考例句：

• They were guilty of the most barbarous and inhuman atrocities. 他们犯有最野蛮、最灭绝人性的残暴罪行。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The enemy's atrocities made one boil with anger. 敌人的暴行令人发指。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》