VOA标准英语2009年-US Policy on Sudan, Darfur Under Microscop

U.S. policy toward Sudan and international efforts to devise a lasting¹ and effective solution to the situation in Darfur are receiving attention from the Congress this week. Two House of Representatives committees and one Senate panel are looking at Sudan, as well as U.S. support for international peacekeeping.
　
Map of Darfur, Sudan

The hearings come a week after the fifth anniversary of resolutions passed on July 22, 2004 by the House and Senate declaring that genocide was taking place in Sudan.

Less than two months later, then Secretary of State Colin Powell concurred² with Congress that genocide had been committed in Darfur, responsibility for which he said lay with Janjawid militia³ forces supported by the government in Khartoum.

The Obama administration has faced criticism that it has been slow to formulate⁴ an effective strategy toward Sudan and the situation in Darfur.
On Thursday, U.S. Special Envoy⁵ to Sudan Scott Gration will have an opportunity to lay out administration thinking and plans when he appears before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

A former envoy to Sudan, Richard Williamson, and U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice testify to the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and the Subcommittee on Africa and Global Health about peacekeeping operations and the status of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement in Sudan.

House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman Howard Berman discussed the hearings in an interview to be broadcast this Saturday on VOA's Press Conference USA.

"A lot of resources have been put into trying to deal with this issue," said Howard Berman. "They have not worked as well as we would have wanted, and we have to find ways to sharpen our effort, we have to change what is going on, we have to protect the victims in Darfur and other parts of Sudan."

A resolution in the House of Representatives says that despite Congress's genocide declaration five years ago, the United Nations and countries with significant influence in Sudan, including China and certain Arab League nations, have yet to take significant action.

As the House debated health care reform on Tuesday, Gwen Moore, a Wisconsin Democrat⁶, rose to address the situation in Darfur.

"I rise today to draw awareness⁷ to the unconscionable human tragedy that is still taking place in the Darfur region," said Gwen Moore. "It has been five years since the U.S. Congress declared genocide in Darfur but thousands continue to perish."

Republican Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen sponsored the resolution which urges the U.S. and other nations to support a negotiated settlement to the conflict in Darfur and full implementation⁸ of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA). In a statement supporting the measure, she said the U.S. must re-focus efforts on Darfur, and said Congress will not rest in pursuit of full implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement.

The resolution also calls for governments to provide sufficient resources to support deployment⁹ of a fully¹⁰-constituted African Union/United Nations Mission in Darfur (UNAMID). And it urges parties to the conflict in Darfur to stop attacks on civilians¹¹ and humanitarian¹² and peacekeeping operations, and fully commit to finding a political solution.

When he goes before the Senate committee on Thursday, U.S. envoy to Sudan Gration will likely be asked about the status of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement that ended decades of conflict between the North and the South in Sudan.

Also likely to come up will be the tense state of affairs between Sudan and Chad which hosts about 250,000 refugees from Darfur. Chadian rebels have used Sudanese territory to launch attacks on Chadian government forces, disrupting humanitarian operations.

1 lasting   

adj.永久的，永恒的；vbl.持续，维持

参考例句：

• The lasting war debased the value of the dollar.持久的战争使美元贬值。
• We hope for a lasting settlement of all these troubles.我们希望这些纠纷能获得永久的解决。

2 concurred   

同意（concur的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• Historians have concurred with each other in this view. 历史学家在这个观点上已取得一致意见。
• So many things concurred to give rise to the problem. 许多事情同时发生而导致了这一问题。

3 militia   

n.民兵，民兵组织

参考例句：

• First came the PLA men,then the people's militia.人民解放军走在前面，其次是民兵。
• There's a building guarded by the local militia at the corner of the street.街道拐角处有一幢由当地民兵团守卫的大楼。

4 formulate   

v.用公式表示；规划；设计；系统地阐述

参考例句：

• He took care to formulate his reply very clearly.他字斟句酌，清楚地做了回答。
• I was impressed by the way he could formulate his ideas.他陈述观点的方式让我印象深刻。

5 envoy   

n.使节，使者，代表，公使

参考例句：

• Their envoy showed no sign of responding to our proposals.他们的代表对我方的提议毫无回应的迹象。
• The government has not yet appointed an envoy to the area.政府尚未向这一地区派过外交官。

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 awareness   

n.意识，觉悟，懂事，明智

参考例句：

• There is a general awareness that smoking is harmful.人们普遍认识到吸烟有害健康。
• Environmental awareness has increased over the years.这些年来人们的环境意识增强了。

8 implementation   

n.实施，贯彻

参考例句：

• Implementation of the program is now well underway.这一项目的实施现在行情看好。

9 deployment   

n. 部署,展开

参考例句：

• He has inquired out the deployment of the enemy troops. 他已查出敌军的兵力部署情况。
• Quality function deployment (QFD) is a widely used customer-driven quality, design and manufacturing management tool. 质量功能展开(quality function deployment,QFD)是一个广泛应用的顾客需求驱动的设计、制造和质量管理工具。

10 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。

11 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

12 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。