2007年VOA标准英语-US Official Outlines New Iraq Reconstruction St

By Deborah Tate
Capitol Hill
25 January 2007

Members of Congress are vowing¹ to hold the Bush administration accountable for U.S. funds used in reconstruction² projects in Iraq.  Lawmakers are concerned about the mismanagement of millions of dollars in reconstruction funding, and some say they may think twice before approving more money for the effort.  VOA's Deborah Tate reports from Capitol Hill.

The United States is moving away from large reconstruction projects in Iraq in favor of smaller efforts that would target local needs, after a number of ambitious projects were never completed amid security threats and poor management by U.S. officials.

 
David Satterfield testifies before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Capitol Hill, 25 Jan 2007 
The U.S. State Department's senior adviser³ on Iraq, David Satterfield, outlined the Bush administration's new plans at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing.  He said the number of provincial⁴ reconstruction teams, or PRT's, would double from the current 10 to 20.

"The PRT's will have a role beyond simple development assistance," Satterfield said. "They will support local, moderate Iraqi leaders with targeted assistance, such as microloans, grants to foster new businesses, create jobs, and develop provincial capacity to govern in a sustainable manner."

Satterfield said some 300 additional civilian⁵ personnel would be sent to Iraq.

"We will augment⁶ our existing PRT's in the country with specialized⁷ technical personnel, such as irrigation specialists, veterinarians, agricultural experts, based on local needs," Satterfield said.

The reconstruction plan is part of the administration's new strategy toward Iraq, which also calls for sending another 21,500 troops to the country.

Satterfield said the success of the reconstruction effort depends on Iraqis taking the lead.  He noted⁸ that the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is committed to spending $10 billion of Iraqi funds to create jobs and move forward on national reconciliation¹⁰.

The State Department official said progress on reconstruction would also depend on Congress approving what is expected to be an additional $1.2 billion requested by the administration in the coming weeks.

But a number of lawmakers said they would be reluctant to approve more funding unless they received strong assurances from the administration that the money would not be mismanaged.

 
James Webb 
Senator James Webb, a Virginia Democrat¹¹ who delivered a strongly worded statement in opposition¹² to Mr. Bush's decision to increase troop strength in Iraq in his party's response to the president's State of the Union address this week, had an equally tough response to Satterfield.

"This has been the most poorly managed reconstruction program in recent memory," Web said.  "The inspector¹³ general has dozens of cases pending⁹ regarding fraud and abuse, the worst blunders have been made by the CPA [Coalition Provisional Authority] and the Department of Defense¹⁴.  I want you to know that I am not inclined to support any additional funding in this area without strong assurances that this sort of mismanagement has been alleviated¹⁵."

The top Republican on the committee, Senator Richard Lugar of Indiana, expressed similar concerns about the U.S. track record on Iraq reconstruction.

"We have achieved some successes.  Children are being immunized, the deep-water port near Basra has been rebuilt, thousands of schools have been rehabilitated," he said. "But overall the results have been disappointing to the Iraqi people, to Congress and to American taxpayer¹⁶.  Electricity remains¹⁷ in short supply, oil production is far below its potential, scores of health clinics remain unfinished, most roads still need repair.  The economy is encumbered¹⁸ by high unemployment, high inflation, widespread poverty, all of which contribute to conditions that intensify¹⁹ the urgency."

Lugar notes that Congress has already approved $35 billion in reconstruction funding.

 
Senator Joseph Biden (l) takes part in a debate on a Iraq war resolution on Capitol Hill, 24 Jan 2007

The chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, Democratic Senator Joe Biden of Delaware, acknowledged the importance of the reconstruction effort, but said he wants better oversight²⁰ of how U.S. funds are being spent.

"There is a correlation²¹ here between the standard of living for Iraqis increasing, and the likelihood of them wanting to shoot at our men and women in uniform.  I do think there is a correlation," he said. "But thus far, I am very skeptical²² of taking very limited resources and assigning them to a worthy²³ goal without much, much, much harder data, much tighter reasoning, and much closer oversight on a monthly basis about what is going on."

The Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Iraq reconstruction came a day after the panel voted 12-9 to oppose President Bush's decision to send more troops to Iraq, saying it is not in the national interest.  That resolution is to go to the full Senate for debate as early as next week. 

1 vowing   

起誓，发誓（vow的现在分词形式）

参考例句：

• President Bush is vowing to help Minneapolis rebuild its collapsed bridge. 布什总统承诺将帮助明尼阿波利斯重建坍塌的大桥。
• President Bush is vowing to help Minneapolis rebuild this collapse bridge. 布什总统发誓要帮助明尼阿波利斯重建起这座坍塌的桥梁。

2 reconstruction   

n.重建，再现，复原

参考例句：

• The country faces a huge task of national reconstruction following the war.战后，该国面临着重建家园的艰巨任务。
• In the period of reconstruction,technique decides everything.在重建时期，技术决定一切。

3 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

4 provincial   

adj.省的，地方的；n．外省人，乡下人

参考例句：

• City dwellers think country folk have provincial attitudes.城里人以为乡下人思想迂腐。
• Two leading cadres came down from the provincial capital yesterday.昨天从省里下来了两位领导干部。

5 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

6 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。

7 specialized   

adj.专门的，专业化的

参考例句：

• There are many specialized agencies in the United Nations.联合国有许多专门机构。
• These tools are very specialized.这些是专用工具。

8 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

9 pending   

prep.直到，等待…期间；adj.待定的；迫近的

参考例句：

• The lawsuit is still pending in the state court.这案子仍在州法庭等待定夺。
• He knew my examination was pending.他知道我就要考试了。

10 reconciliation   

n.和解，和谐，一致

参考例句：

• He was taken up with the reconciliation of husband and wife.他忙于做夫妻间的调解工作。
• Their handshake appeared to be a gesture of reconciliation.他们的握手似乎是和解的表示。

11 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。

12 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

13 inspector   

n.检查员，监察员，视察员

参考例句：

• The inspector was interested in everything pertaining to the school.视察员对有关学校的一切都感兴趣。
• The inspector was shining a flashlight onto the tickets.查票员打着手电筒查看车票。

14 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

15 alleviated   

减轻，缓解，缓和( alleviate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• It is always completely alleviated by total gastrectomy. 全胃切除永远完全缓解症状。
• Toxicity problem in manufacturing and storage might be alleviated by coating beryllium with aluminum. 但如果用铝包覆铍，则可避免加工过程中及储存期间的中毒问题。

16 taxpayer   

n.纳税人

参考例句：

• The new scheme will run off with a lot of the taxpayer's money.这项新计划将用去纳税人许多钱。
• The taxpayer are unfavourably disposed towards the recent tax increase.纳税者对最近的增加税收十分反感。

17 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

18 encumbered   

v.妨碍，阻碍，拖累( encumber的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The police operation was encumbered by crowds of reporters. 警方的行动被成群的记者所妨碍。
• The narrow quay was encumbered by hundreds of carts. 狭窄的码头被数百辆手推车堵得水泄不通。 来自辞典例句

19 intensify   

vt.加强；变强；加剧

参考例句：

• We must intensify our educational work among our own troops.我们必须加强自己部队的教育工作。
• They were ordered to intensify their patrols to protect our air space.他们奉命加强巡逻，保卫我国的领空。

20 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。

21 correlation   

n.相互关系，相关，关连

参考例句：

• The second group of measurements had a high correlation with the first.第二组测量数据与第一组高度相关。
• A high correlation exists in America between education and economic position.教育和经济地位在美国有极密切的关系。

22 skeptical   

adj.怀疑的，多疑的

参考例句：

• Others here are more skeptical about the chances for justice being done.这里的其他人更为怀疑正义能否得到伸张。
• Her look was skeptical and resigned.她的表情是将信将疑而又无可奈何。

23 worthy   

adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的

参考例句：

• I did not esteem him to be worthy of trust.我认为他不值得信赖。
• There occurred nothing that was worthy to be mentioned.没有值得一提的事发生。