VOA标准英语2008年-US, India Nuclear Deal Poised for Approval by H

A civilian¹ nuclear deal between the United States and India, the subject of controversy² since proposed by President Bush in 2005, is poised³ for final approval in the U.S House of Representatives. VOA's Dan Robinson reports, opponents in and outside of Congress made last minute efforts to block it, while supporters said approval could not wait until a new U.S. president takes office.

With the Bush administration pressing for action before Congress adjourns⁴, the House debated a version of the legislation approved this past week by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

The agreement was the subject of long and intense negotiations⁵ between the White House and Congress, in particular Democratic Representative Howard Berman who chairs the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

During debate on the measure late Friday, he discussed what he called a personal commitment made to him by Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice. "That in a change in policy, the U.S will make its highest priority at the November meeting of the Nuclear Suppliers Group, the achievement of a decision by all of the nuclear suppliers to prohibit the export of enrichment and reprocessing equipment and technology to states that are not members of the treaty on nonproliferation," he said.

President Bush had hoped to win congressional approval before India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh came to the White House this past week.

The president referred to it as he welcomed the Indian leader, calling the agreement one sign of a good strong strategic relationship. "This has taken a lot of work on both our parts, a lot of courage on your part. And of course we want the agreement to satisfy you and to get it out of our Congress so we are working hard to get it passed as quickly as possible," he said.

Opponents say the agreement will undermine nonproliferation efforts and make it more difficult to dissuade⁷ other countries not to develop nuclear weapons.

"Approval of this agreement undermines our efforts to dissuade countries like Iran and North Korea from developing nuclear weapons. By approving this agreement, all we are doing is creating incentives⁸ for other countries to withdraw from the nuclear nonproliferation treaty," said Barbara Lee, a California Democrat⁶.

Democrat Edward Markey said it fails to meet even minimal⁹ nonproliferation conditions Congress has required, and poses unacceptable risks to U.S. security and the nuclear nonproliferation regime. "By breaking the rules for India, we are making it less likely that the rules will hold against Iran or anyone else. Iran is looking at this deal for India and they're saying "where can I sign up?"

Since conducting its first nuclear weapons test in 1974, India has refused to sign the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, something critics say should happen before India gets full access to global nuclear trade.

Supporters say the agreement recognizes what they call India's responsible handling of its nuclear program, helps nonproliferation by subjecting more than half of India's 22 reactors¹⁰ to monitoring, and assists India's development of a clean energy infrastructure¹¹.

"The IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) will be able to inspect two thirds of India's civlian nuclear facilities, because those facilities will be under IAEA safeguards and all future civliian nuclear facilities will also be under safeguards," said New York Democrat Gary Ackerman.

Last week, opponents made last minute efforts to persuade lawmakers not to vote for the agreement. At a briefing in the U.S. Capitol, Daryl Kimball, who heads the Arms Control Association, called it flawed.

"It does not clearly resolve the inconsistency between the 123 agreement that was initialed last August 2007 and the Henry Hyde Act which established the terms and conditions under which the U.S. can engage in nuclear trade," he said.

The description of the U.S-India accord as a 123 agreement refers to a section of the 1954 U.S. Atomic Energy Act. The U.S. has some two dozen such 123 agreements with various countries.

Ambassador Robert Grey, a former U.S. representative to the Conference on Disarmament, urges lawmakers to take more time to review the agreement.

"This is a bad deal that we are getting into here in terms of nonproliferation. We created the nonproliferation regime, we got it through the international community. We supported it consistently over successive administrations, both Republican and Democrat. Now we have reversed course. We are opening a hole with this agreement with India that you could drive a truck through," he said.

A decision by the 45-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group, which sets rules for international nuclear trade, lifting a prohibition¹² on India's access to global nuclear trade paved the way for congressional approval.

"That NSG decision represents the will of the international community to make the rules conform to the realities of India's energy situation," Republican Ed Royce.

The House of Representatives will take a final recorded vote on the U.S. - India agreement on Saturday. If approved as expected, it would go to the U.S. Senate where supporters expect it to win bipartisan approval.

1 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

2 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。

3 poised   

a.摆好姿势不动的

参考例句：

• The hawk poised in mid-air ready to swoop. 老鹰在半空中盘旋，准备俯冲。
• Tina was tense, her hand poised over the telephone. 蒂娜心情紧张，手悬在电话机上。

4 adjourns   

（使）休会， （使）休庭( adjourn的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Congress adjourns in 3 weeks, we can't do this alone. 距国会开会只有3个星期，我们不能单干。
• And so, at six in the morning, a victorious Convention adjourns. 这样，早上六点，胜利的国民议会休会了。

5 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。

6 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

7 dissuade   

v.劝阻，阻止

参考例句：

• You'd better dissuade him from doing that.你最好劝阻他别那样干。
• I tried to dissuade her from investing her money in stocks and shares.我曾设法劝她不要投资于股票交易。

8 incentives   

激励某人做某事的事物( incentive的名词复数 )； 刺激； 诱因； 动机

参考例句：

• tax incentives to encourage savings 鼓励储蓄的税收措施
• Furthermore, subsidies provide incentives only for investments in equipment. 更有甚者，提供津贴仅是为鼓励增添设备的投资。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

9 minimal   

adj.尽可能少的，最小的

参考例句：

• They referred to this kind of art as minimal art.他们把这种艺术叫微型艺术。
• I stayed with friends, so my expenses were minimal.我住在朋友家，所以我的花费很小。

10 reactors   

起反应的人( reactor的名词复数 )； 反应装置； 原子炉； 核反应堆

参考例句：

• The TMI nuclear facility has two reactors. 三哩岛核设施有两个反应堆。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法
• The earliest production reactors necessarily used normal uranium as fuel. 最早为生产用的反应堆，必须使用普通铀作为燃料。

11 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

12 prohibition   

n.禁止；禁令，禁律

参考例句：

• The prohibition against drunken driving will save many lives.禁止酒后开车将会减少许多死亡事故。
• They voted in favour of the prohibition of smoking in public areas.他们投票赞成禁止在公共场所吸烟。