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(单词翻译:双击或拖选)
Capitol Hill
16 October 2007
The U.S. House of Representatives has overwhelmingly (395 to 21) approved a resolution crafted by majority Democrats2 criticizing the State Department for withholding4 information on corruption5 in the Iraqi government. VOA's Dan Robinson reports from Capitol Hill on debate over the non-binding6 measure:
In a recent hearing, U.S. House lawmakers heard a former judge, Radhi Hamza al-Radhi, detail corruption that he asserts permeates7 every level of the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.
At the same time, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near East Affairs, Larry Butler, cited bilateral8 diplomatic sensitivities with Iraq for the State Department's refusal to supply in a public setting testimony9 and documents assessing in detail Iraqi government commitment to anti-corruption efforts.
The resolution approved Tuesday grew out of that hearing. It rebukes10 the State Department for what is called abuse of the classification process aimed at withholding from the American people and Congress the extent of Iraqi corruption.
California Democrat1 Henry Waxman chairs the House Oversight11 and Government Reform Committee.
"The Bush administration is hiding the truth while seeking hundreds of billions of dollars and placing our troops in danger, and we cannot allow this to happen," he said.
Republicans asserted that the measure was little more than another effort by Democrats to score political points and mollify the most vocal12 Iraq war critics in their party.
"This resolution is just the latest find in the [Democrat's] frantic13 search for proxy14 anti-war votes that the [Democratic] leadership has staged to feed an increasingly restive15 left wing of their party," said Virginia Republican Tom Davis.
Though it has no binding effect, the resolution calls for the rescinding16 of a directive prohibiting U.S. officials from providing broad statements or assessments17 that judge or characterize the quality of Iraqi governance, or the Maliki government's determination to deal with corruption.
Although Republicans accused Democrats of politicizing the resolution and criticized the way it was brought it to the floor, the overwhelming 395 to 21 vote reflected concern across the political spectrum18 about the impact of corruption on U.S. efforts in Iraq.
Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice's senior adviser19 on Iraq, David Satterfield, denied in remarks to reporters Tuesday that the State Department tried to downplay corruption or withhold3 information from Congress.
Satterfield said retroactive classification of certain material was aimed at protecting individual privacy and to prevent unproven allegations of corruption from becoming public prematurely20.
In his testimony on Capitol Hill earlier this month, former Iraqi anti-corruption judge al-Radhi estimated losses to the Iraqi government from corruption at $18 billion, saying corruption has helped worsen sectarian strife21 and hampered22 political reconciliation23.
1 democrat | |
n.民主主义者,民主人士;民主党党员 | |
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2 democrats | |
n.民主主义者,民主人士( democrat的名词复数 ) | |
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3 withhold | |
v.拒绝,不给;使停止,阻挡 | |
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4 withholding | |
扣缴税款 | |
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5 corruption | |
n.腐败,堕落,贪污 | |
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6 binding | |
有约束力的,有效的,应遵守的 | |
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7 permeates | |
弥漫( permeate的第三人称单数 ); 遍布; 渗入; 渗透 | |
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8 bilateral | |
adj.双方的,两边的,两侧的 | |
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9 testimony | |
n.证词;见证,证明 | |
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10 rebukes | |
责难或指责( rebuke的第三人称单数 ) | |
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11 oversight | |
n.勘漏,失察,疏忽 | |
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12 vocal | |
adj.直言不讳的;嗓音的;n.[pl.]声乐节目 | |
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13 frantic | |
adj.狂乱的,错乱的,激昂的 | |
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14 proxy | |
n.代理权,代表权;(对代理人的)委托书;代理人 | |
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15 restive | |
adj.不安宁的,不安静的 | |
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16 rescinding | |
v.废除,取消( rescind的现在分词 ) | |
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17 assessments | |
n.评估( assessment的名词复数 );评价;(应偿付金额的)估定;(为征税对财产所作的)估价 | |
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18 spectrum | |
n.谱,光谱,频谱;范围,幅度,系列 | |
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19 adviser | |
n.劝告者,顾问 | |
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20 prematurely | |
adv.过早地,贸然地 | |
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21 strife | |
n.争吵,冲突,倾轧,竞争 | |
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22 hampered | |
妨碍,束缚,限制( hamper的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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23 reconciliation | |
n.和解,和谐,一致 | |
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