2007年VOA标准英语-US Lawmakers Argue Over Iraq Spending Measure

By Dan Robinson
Capitol Hill
13 March 2007

Democrats¹ and Republicans in Congress continue to spar over a multi-billion dollar spending bill containing money for U.S. military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. VOA's Dan Robinson reports, majority Democrats have had a tough time balancing the demands of various factions² within their party as they attempt to bring the measure to a vote in the House of Representatives next week.

Trying to allay³ the concerns of conservatives in their party, Democratic leaders removed a provision that would have required President Bush to obtain congressional approval before any military strike on Iran.

 
Steny Hoyer (file photo)
In an off-camera briefing for reporters, House majority leader Steny Hoyer said the move was necessary to craft a bill that would satisfy the largest number of Democrats.

The provision regarding Iran was originally inserted during intra-party negotiations⁴ to satisfy the most vociferous⁵ Iraq war critics among Democrats.

Its inclusion in the Iraq-Afghanistan funding measure also brought howls of complaint from Republicans such as Congressman⁶ Mike Pence.

"Just as they are prepared to micro-manage the actions of the U.S. on the ground in Iraq, they are prepared in a pre-emptive manage to micro-manage the actions of the U.S. with Iran," he said. "To do so, I believe, puts U.S. interests in the region at risk, and it puts our cherished ally Israel at greater risk."

In a news conference a bit later, Democratic leaders defended their legislation, saying it reflects their determination to assert oversight⁷ responsibilities over the war in Iraq.

Majority leader Hoyer expanded on his earlier remarks, saying Democrats are committed to using their powers to force a change in direction.

"I think the American people realize that we are where we are in Iraq today due in large part to an unchecked executive branch that was never asked to justify⁸ its policies, or forced to explain its errors, measures that would have enabled us to make course corrections and succeed," he said.

Adding more than $21 billion to the president's original funding request, the Democratic measure includes numerous add-ons for improving military medical care, as well as domestic programs and homeland security.

It also contains about $225 million more than the White House requested for reconstruction⁹ and economic aid for Afghanistan.

 
Nancy Pelosi (file photo)
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says the $95.5 billion for Iraq and Afghanistan, out of a total of about $124 billion in the complete bill, exceeds President Bush's original request.

"We are giving you everything you asked for in the supplemental, in terms of supporting our troops," she said. "In fact, we are giving you more. We have serious concerns about military readiness and we go a long way in this bill to strengthen our military. We're concerned about the fact that promises have not been kept to our veterans when they return and this supplemental adds funds to do just that.

Democrats are using the war funding bill, the latest in a long line of such requests from the White House stretching back to 2003, to call for the withdrawal¹⁰ of U.S. troops from Iraq no later than the beginning of September 2008.

This would occur if President Bush is unable to certify¹¹ that the Iraqi government is achieving key political, economic and security benchmarks.

The legislation also seeks to impose military readiness conditions that would require the president to certify that troops deploying¹² to Iraq be fully¹³ equipped and trained.

 
Eric Cantor (file photo)

To Republicans such as Congressman Eric Cantor this amounts to an attempt by Democrats to take management of the war out of the president's hands.

"An attempt by Nancy Pelosi and her party to put restrictions¹⁴ on the commanders on the ground, to put restrictions on the soldiers who are fighting for us, and I just think it is wrong-headed," he said.

In responding to Republican criticisms, Democrats say the benchmarks in their legislation were those proposed by the president himself in a January speech announcing that an additional 21,000 troops would be sent to Iraq.

The Democratic bill, which faces a crucial test Thursday in a key House committee, also faces a veto threat from President Bush, while Republican leaders insist that they are maintaining unity¹⁵ within their party to oppose it in its current form.

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 factions   

组织中的小派别，派系( faction的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The gens also lives on in the "factions." 氏族此外还继续存在于“factions〔“帮”〕中。 来自英汉非文学 - 家庭、私有制和国家的起源
• rival factions within the administration 政府中的对立派别

3 allay   

v.消除，减轻(恐惧、怀疑等)

参考例句：

• The police tried to allay her fears but failed.警察力图减轻她的恐惧，但是没有收到什么效果。
• They are trying to allay public fears about the spread of the disease.他们正竭力减轻公众对这种疾病传播的恐惧。

4 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

5 vociferous   

adj.喧哗的，大叫大嚷的

参考例句：

• They are holding a vociferous debate.他们在吵吵嚷嚷地辩论。
• He was a vociferous opponent of Conservatism.他高声反对保守主义。

6 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。

7 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。

8 justify   

vt.证明…正当(或有理)，为…辩护

参考例句：

• He tried to justify his absence with lame excuses.他想用站不住脚的借口为自己的缺席辩解。
• Can you justify your rude behavior to me?你能向我证明你的粗野行为是有道理的吗？

9 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。

10 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。

11 certify   

vt.证明，证实；发证书(或执照)给

参考例句：

• I can certify to his good character.我可以证明他品德好。
• This swimming certificate is to certify that I can swim one hundred meters.这张游泳证是用以证明我可以游100米远。

12 deploying   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的现在分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Provides support for developing and deploying distributed, component-based applications. 为开发和部署基于组件的分布式应用程序提供支持。
• Advertisement, publishing, repair, and install-on-demand are all available when deploying your application. 在部署应用程序时提供公布、发布、修复和即需即装功能。

13 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

14 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

15 unity   

n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调

参考例句：

• When we speak of unity,we do not mean unprincipled peace.所谓团结，并非一团和气。
• We must strengthen our unity in the face of powerful enemies.大敌当前，我们必须加强团结。