VOA常速英语2007年-US Congress, Bush Continue Standoff Over Spendi

By Dan Robinson
Washington
04 December 2007

An end-of-year battle continues between majority Democrats¹ in Congress and President Bush over government spending and money for military operations in Iraq. VOA's Dan Robinson reports from Capitol Hill.

In his news conference Tuesday, President Bush again attempted to turn up the heat on Democrats, pointing to areas of unfinished business including war funding, electronic intelligence gathering², and government spending.

He began with his latest demand that Democratic leaders approve billions of dollars needed by the military for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. "Our troops are waiting on Congress to fund them in their operations overseas. Nearly 10 months ago I submitted a detailed³ funding request. Congress has not acted. Our men and women [in the military] should not have to wait any longer," he said.

Waiting is exactly the strategy Democrats, at least those in the House, have been pursuing for some time, vowing⁴ they will approve no new funds without a major change in the president's Iraq policy, including a timetable for a U.S. troop withdrawal⁵.

After a House-passed bill to provide less than a quarter of the $196 billion the president requested for military operations failed in the Senate amid Republican opposition⁶, House speaker Nancy Pelosi vowed⁷ not to bring another war funding measure to the floor this year.

House Democratic appropriations⁸ chairman David Obey issued a statement Tuesday accusing the president of trying to mislead Americans on the impasse⁹ over war funding and government spending, saying money for the military is being stopped only by the president's refusal to compromise.

While not responding directly to a reporter asking if Democrats would stand by Pelosi's pledge, Democratic caucus¹⁰ chairman Congressman¹¹ Rahm Emanuel threw the ball back in the president's court.

"We stand ready to cooperate and compromise, rather than policy of complaining and confrontation¹² and I think that the president of the United States today, it was his 19th press conference where he was pointing fingers at Congress, and I think if he did a little more cooperation, a little more compromise, and a lot less confrontation and a lot less complaining you will see a lot more things get done for the American people," he said.

On government spending, President Bush said again he will veto a likely massive measure being developed that combines 11 appropriations bills Congress has not been able to complete.

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell insists that any such omnibus spending bill must include funding for war operations. "Any passage of an omnibus must include an adequate fund for the troops to carry over into probably March of next year, so those two issues will be inextricably intertwined," he said.

Senate majority leader Harry¹³ Reid says he is willing to consider any proposal from McConnell.

But as of Tuesday Reid said he had heard nothing directly from the White House about any compromise proposal dealing¹⁴ with government spending. "I want to work something out but I cannot do it out of thin air. Someone has to talk to me from the White House, someone representing people in the White House have to talk to me, and I have heard nothing from anyone, even though I have personally reached out to them," he said.

Congress must act before December 14 when a temporary resolution keeping government operations going at 2007 fiscal¹⁵ year levels expires, or be forced to continue stopgap funding into 2008.

Democrats insist that the U.S. military can sustain operations in Iraq and Afghanistan until next March. Republicans accuse Democrats of inflicting¹⁶ strain on U.S. troops and the Pentagon by delaying action.

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 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

3 detailed   

adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• A detailed list of our publications is available on request.我们的出版物有一份详细的目录备索。

4 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。

5 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。

6 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。

7 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。

8 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

9 impasse   

n.僵局；死路

参考例句：

• The government had reached an impasse.政府陷入绝境。
• Negotiations seemed to have reached an impasse.谈判似乎已经陷入僵局。

10 caucus   

n.秘密会议；干部会议；v.（参加）干部开会议

参考例句：

• This multi-staged caucus takes several months.这个多级会议常常历时好几个月。
• It kept the Democratic caucus from fragmenting.它也使得民主党的核心小组避免了土崩瓦解的危险。

11 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。

12 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。

13 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。

14 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

15 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。

16 inflicting   

把…强加给，使承受，遭受( inflict的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• He was charged with maliciously inflicting grievous bodily harm. 他被控蓄意严重伤害他人身体。
• It's impossible to do research without inflicting some pain on animals. 搞研究不让动物遭点罪是不可能的。