VOA常速英语2007年-US House Approves Defense Spending Measure

By Dan Robinson
Capitol Hill
08 November 2007

The U.S. House of Representatives Thursday overwhelmingly approved a $460-billion spending bill for the Defense¹ Department, clearing the way for a vote in the Senate. VOA's Dan Robinson reports, the measure does not include funds for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Majority Democrats² plan a separate vote as early as Friday on legislation aimed at forcing an Iraq policy change on the White House.

Congress has added about 10 percent more for Pentagon spending than in the 2007 fiscal³ year, although slightly less than President Bush wanted, with billions for U.S. troops, National Guard and Reserves, money for medical care and pay increases, weapons and other equipment.

What it does not contain is money for the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, which is the subject of a standoff between congressional Democrats and the president this year.

Majority Democrats have been unable to convince enough Republicans to overcome procedural obstacles in the Senate or override⁴ presidential vetoes and impose any timetable for withdrawing U.S. forces from Iraq. So they are using delaying tactics with the president's separate $196-billion emergency request for Iraq and Afghanistan operations, vowing⁶ to pass only portions of it in coming months.

The House is expected do just that as early as Friday by taking up separate legislation providing about $50 billion, or only one quarter of the president's request, for war spending.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told reporters Thursday, the measure will include language stating the Democrats' general goal of withdrawing troops from Iraq by the end of next year, something she asserts Americans want:

"We are re-stating the differentiation⁷ between ourselves and the POTUS [President of the United States]," said Nancy Pelosi. "The American people have spoken very clearly about their opposition⁸ to the course of action in Iraq. I believe this legislation gives voice to the concerns of the American people, as at the same time strives to meet the needs of our troops.

House Republican leader John Boehner said the Democrats' tactic⁵ will hamper⁹ military operations.

"The proposal that we are beginning to hear about trying to handcuff our generals and starve our troops in harm's way is ill-advised,": said John Boehner.

This week, House appropriations¹⁰ chairman David Obey vowed¹¹ again that he will not advance the president's full emergency request for Iraq and Afghanistan in the absence of any change of policy on the part of the president:

"What I would want to see as a policy change would be the establishment or flat out stating that it is now a national goal for us to be out of combat in Iraq by December 2008," said David Obey. "It is hardly a precipitous withdrawal¹² to ask that we be out of there by the end of next year."

The $50-billion "bridge fund" the Democrats propose would pay for about four months of military operations in Iraq.

1 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。

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 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。

4 override   

vt.不顾，不理睬，否决；压倒，优先于

参考例句：

• The welfare of a child should always override the wishes of its parents.孩子的幸福安康应该永远比父母的愿望来得更重要。
• I'm applying in advance for the authority to override him.我提前申请当局对他进行否决。

5 tactic   

n.战略，策略；adj.战术的，有策略的

参考例句：

• Reducing prices is a common sales tactic.降价是常用的销售策略。
• She had often used the tactic of threatening to resign.她惯用以辞职相威胁的手法。

6 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。

7 differentiation   

n.区别，区分

参考例句：

• There can be no differentiation without contrast. 有比较才有差别。
• The operation that is the inverse of differentiation is called integration. 与微分相反的运算叫做积分。

8 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。

9 hamper   

vt.妨碍，束缚，限制；n.(有盖的)大篮子

参考例句：

• There are some apples in a picnic hamper.在野餐用的大篮子里有许多苹果。
• The emergence of such problems seriously hamper the development of enterprises.这些问题的出现严重阻碍了企业的发展。

10 appropriations   

n.挪用（appropriation的复数形式）

参考例句：

• More commonly, funding controls are imposed in the annual appropriations process. 更普遍的作法是，拨款控制被规定在年度拨款手续中。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法
• Should the president veto the appropriations bill, it goes back to Congress. 假如总统否决了这项拨款提案，就把它退还给国会。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件

11 vowed   

起誓，发誓（vow的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• He vowed quite solemnly that he would carry out his promise. 他非常庄严地发誓要实现他的诺言。
• I vowed to do more of the cooking myself. 我发誓自己要多动手做饭。

12 withdrawal   

n.取回，提款；撤退，撤军；收回，撤销

参考例句：

• The police were forced to make a tactical withdrawal.警方被迫进行战术撤退。
• They insisted upon a withdrawal of the statement and a public apology.他们坚持要收回那些话并公开道歉。