VOA标准英语2009年-Obama Signs $680 Billion Defense Bill

By Kent Klein
White House
28 October 2009

 
From left: Vice¹ President Joe Biden, President Barack Obama and Defense² Secretary Robert Gates, 28 Oct 2009
U.S. President Barack Obama has signed into law a $680 billion defense bill, which he says will save tens of billions of dollars by cutting wasteful³ projects. The president says he is changing the business-as-usual atmosphere in Washington.

President Obama says the cuts he is making in the defense budget will make the U.S. military more efficient and save taxpayers⁴' money.

"We have passed a defense bill that eliminates some of the waste and inefficiency⁵ in our defense process-reforms that will better protect our nation, better protect our troops and save taxpayers tens of billions of dollars," said President Obama.

With Defense Secretary Robert Gates by his side, Mr. Obama said the bill eliminates some wasteful defense programs that have cost the government billions of dollars.

"Today we are putting an end to some wasteful projects that lawmakers have tried to kill for years," said Mr. Obama. "We are doing this because Secretary Gates and I both know that we cannot build the 21st century military that we need unless we fundamentally reform the way our defense establishment does business."

Among the projects being cut is the F-22 fighter, which critics have said is poorly equipped for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Mr. Obama also said no to a new fleet of presidential helicopters, which was estimated to cost more than $13 billion and was years behind schedule.

The president says the bill is not perfect, and more waste needs to be cut from the Pentagon budget.

He mentioned a government report which says that over the past year, 96 major defense projects are a total of almost $300 billion over budget.

"This waste would be unacceptable at any time," he said. "But at a time when we are fighting two wars and facing a serious deficit⁷, it is inexcusable. It is unconscionable. It is an affront⁸ to the American people and to our troops, and it has to stop."

The bill also makes it a federal hate crime to assault people based on sexual orientation⁹.

Earlier, Mr. Obama appointed two former Senators to lead an advisory¹⁰ board whose role is to give him reliable advice about the nation's intelligence. 

"We all agree that more needs to be done to improve the collection of intelligence, to ensure that analysis reaches senior decision makers⁶ in a timely way, and to provide strong oversight¹¹ to ensure that our intelligence activities are consistent with our democratic values and with the rule of law," said President Obama.

The president says Republican Chuck Hagel and Democrat¹² David Boren will be an independent source of advice on the effectiveness of the U.S. intelligence community.

1 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

2 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。

3 wasteful   

adj.（造成）浪费的，挥霍的

参考例句：

• It is a shame to be so wasteful.这样浪费太可惜了。
• Duties have been reassigned to avoid wasteful duplication of work.为避免重复劳动浪费资源，任务已经重新分派。

4 taxpayers   

纳税人，纳税的机构( taxpayer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Finance for education comes from taxpayers. 教育经费来自纳税人。
• She was declaiming against the waste of the taxpayers' money. 她慷慨陈词猛烈抨击对纳税人金钱的浪费。

5 inefficiency   

n.无效率，无能；无效率事例

参考例句：

• Conflict between management and workers makes for inefficiency in the workplace. 资方与工人之间的冲突使得工厂生产效率很低。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• This type of inefficiency arises because workers and management are ill-equipped. 出现此种低效率是因为工人与管理层都能力不足。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 makers   

n.制造者，制造商（maker的复数形式）

参考例句：

• The makers of the product assured us that there had been no sacrifice of quality. 这一产品的制造商向我们保证说他们没有牺牲质量。
• The makers are about to launch out a new product. 制造商们马上要生产一种新产品。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 deficit   

n.亏空，亏损；赤字，逆差

参考例句：

• The directors have reported a deficit of 2.5 million dollars.董事们报告赤字为250万美元。
• We have a great deficit this year.我们今年有很大亏损。

8 affront   

n./v.侮辱，触怒

参考例句：

• Your behaviour is an affront to public decency.你的行为有伤风化。
• This remark caused affront to many people.这句话得罪了不少人。

9 orientation   

n.方向，目标；熟悉，适应，情况介绍

参考例句：

• Children need some orientation when they go to school.小孩子上学时需要适应。
• The traveller found his orientation with the aid of a good map.旅行者借助一幅好地图得知自己的方向。

10 advisory   

adj.劝告的，忠告的，顾问的，提供咨询

参考例句：

• I have worked in an advisory capacity with many hospitals.我曾在多家医院做过顾问工作。
• He was appointed to the advisory committee last month.他上个月获任命为顾问委员会委员。

11 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。

12 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。