VOA常速英语2007年-US Congress, Bush in New Iraq Spending Fight

By Dan Robinson
Washington
13 November 2007

Democrats¹ and President Bush are headed for another confrontation² over Iraq war policy. VOA's Dan Robinson on Capitol Hill reports, the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives and the Senate are expected to vote on a measure linking some of what the president wants to sustain military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, with new pressure to bring a withdrawal³ of U.S. forces from Iraq next year.

Democrats plan to bring to the floor of the House a measure that would give the president a bridge fund for military operations of about $50 billion of the $196 billion he sought earlier this year.

It would require President Bush to begin redeploying U.S. forces from Iraq within 30 days, with a goal of pulling most combat troops out by December 15, 2008, and would restrict the U.S. military mission to force protection, counter-terrorism and training of Iraqi security forces.

The president has consistently rejected attempts by the Democratic-controlled Congress to attach language calling for any kind of timetable, whether mandatory⁴ or qualified⁵ as a goal.

For that reason, Democrats may ultimately be forced to remove the provision. However, in a Tuesday news conference, Democrats underscored their determination to make another stand on Iraq policy.

"House Democrats plan to send the president a smaller supplemental funding request for the war, with a bigger message: start bringing our troops home now," said New York Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney.

Senate majority leader Harry⁶ Reid says he hopes to bring the measure up for a vote in the Senate as quickly as possible after House passage, adding he hopes the withdrawal language remains⁷ in the bill. "I would hope that Republicans in the Senate will democratically allow us to move forward. If they don't, it is not us taking away the bridge fund, it is they [who are] taking away the bridge fund [temporary fund]," he said.

House Democratic leader Steny Hoyer made this direct appeal to Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, urging him not to block the measure. "We would very sincerely hope that Senator McConnell and the Republicans in the U.S. Senate would allow the will of the American people to be refected on the floor of the U.S. Senate."

For his part, Senator McConnell made clear to reporters later that Republicans have no intention of going along with the Democratic effort, saying he will use Senate procedures to push for a clean bill for military operations.

In arguing against the Democrat's $50-billion measure with withdrawal and other provisions, Republicans are expected to cite recent positive reports about declining violence in Iraq.

Senator McConnell referred to progress in his response to a reporter about a report issued by Democrats Tuesday estimating that the overall economic cost to Americans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan will reach $1.6 trillion by next year:

"Of course the war has been costly⁸, but we have been protected from attack here at home. There is progress that is obviously being made in Iraq, being written about by most of your newspapers and outlets⁹, and we need to finish the job and to finish the job is to leave Iraq in a condition that it can defend itself [and] it can be an ally in the war on terror," he said.

President Bush, who recently signed a $460-billion Defense Department spending bill without specific war funding, is certain to veto any bill he believes would tie the hands of military commanders, as he did with a measure earlier in the year.

When they bring the $50-billion measure to the floor, Democrats will again point to the fact that 2007 remains the deadliest year for American forces, and to the strains on the U.S. military and military families from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

1 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》

2 confrontation   

n.对抗，对峙，冲突

参考例句：

• We can't risk another confrontation with the union.我们不能冒再次同工会对抗的危险。
• After years of confrontation,they finally have achieved a modus vivendi.在对抗很长时间后，他们最后达成安宁生存的非正式协议。

3 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。

4 mandatory   

adj.命令的；强制的；义务的；n.受托者

参考例句：

• It's mandatory to pay taxes.缴税是义务性的。
• There is no mandatory paid annual leave in the U.S.美国没有强制带薪年假。

5 qualified   

adj.合格的，有资格的，胜任的，有限制的

参考例句：

• He is qualified as a complete man of letters.他有资格当真正的文学家。
• We must note that we still lack qualified specialists.我们必须看到我们还缺乏有资质的专家。

6 harry   

vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼

参考例句：

• Today,people feel more hurried and harried.今天，人们感到更加忙碌和苦恼。
• Obama harried business by Healthcare Reform plan.奥巴马用医改掠夺了商界。

7 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。

8 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

9 outlets   

n.出口( outlet的名词复数 )；经销店；插座；廉价经销店

参考例句：

• The dumping of foreign cotton blocked outlets for locally grown cotton. 外国棉花的倾销阻滞了当地生产的棉花的销路。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They must find outlets for their products. 他们必须为自己的产品寻找出路。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》