VOA标准英语2015--奥巴马预算国防占近15%

 

Defense¹ Swallows 15 Percent of Obama’s Budget Plan 奥巴马预算国防占近15%

PENTAGON—

President Barack Obama's $4 trillion budget includes $585 billion to sustain his national security and defense strategies. That's nearly 15 percent of the overall budget, and a request of $25 billion more than last year's enacted² defense budget.

Protecting the United States and its interests is an expensive undertaking³, to the tune⁴ of $534 billion for a defense base budget and an additional $51 billion to cover overseas war funds.

Obama has called on Congress to approve his budget in its entirety.

“This is one of our most basic and most important responsibilities as a government, so I am calling on Congress to get this done,” said Obama.

The political problem is that this $585 billion request is much higher than the $499 billion spending cap Congress set in 2011.

Ryan Crotty, deputy director for Defense Budget Analysis at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, thinks the 2016 defense budget proposal is meant to correct for a few years of insufficient⁵ funding.

“Acting on what I think seems to be a broad consensus⁶ in both chambers⁷ and the executive that defense spending as it has been in the last couple of years is too low,” said Crotty.

Too low given the current global threat environment. The funding includes more than $5 billion to counter Islamic State operations, through airstrikes and the training of Iraqi forces and moderate Syrian rebels.

It also includes about $800 million for a European Reassurance⁸ Initiative, which funds training exercises with allies in Europe amid Russian aggression⁹ in Ukraine.

And while the U.S. has completed its combat mission in Afghanistan, there are still billions in the budget to continue the support mission.

“The drawdown, we’re talking about the boots on the ground, is not a linear drawdown for dollars. Even though our troops are inside the wire doing train, advise and assist and helping¹⁰ them build their force, we’re still out there trying to make sure those troops in the garrison¹¹ are safe,” said Lt. Gen. Mark Ramsay, Director of Force Structure, Resources and Assesment on the Pentagon's joint¹² staff.

The Navy would receive a lot of the proposed budget increase, with billions of dollars for new ships to help bolster¹³ a shift to the Pacific region.

Pentagon officials explain the majority of the budget is for investing in the future.

“We have three years of built-up demand on modernization¹⁴ that we haven’t been able to get to,” said Undersecretary of Defense Bob Work.

“If we don’t do that today, we’re not going to stay ahead of our potential adversaries,” said Ramsay.

In addition to new air and sea equipment, these investments include maintenance on nuclear facilities and advancements¹⁵ in cyber security.

1 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。

2 enacted   

制定（法律），通过（法案）( enact的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• legislation enacted by parliament 由议会通过的法律
• Outside in the little lobby another scene was begin enacted. 外面的小休息室里又是另一番景象。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

3 undertaking   

n.保证，许诺，事业

参考例句：

• He gave her an undertaking that he would pay the money back with in a year.他向她做了一年内还钱的保证。
• He is too timid to venture upon an undertaking.他太胆小，不敢从事任何事业。

4 tune   

n.调子；和谐，协调；v.调音，调节，调整

参考例句：

• He'd written a tune,and played it to us on the piano.他写了一段曲子，并在钢琴上弹给我们听。
• The boy beat out a tune on a tin can.那男孩在易拉罐上敲出一首曲子。

5 insufficient   

adj.(for，of)不足的，不够的

参考例句：

• There was insufficient evidence to convict him.没有足够证据给他定罪。
• In their day scientific knowledge was insufficient to settle the matter.在他们的时代，科学知识还不能足以解决这些问题。

6 consensus   

n.(意见等的)一致，一致同意，共识

参考例句：

• Can we reach a consensus on this issue?我们能在这个问题上取得一致意见吗？
• What is the consensus of opinion at the afternoon meeting?下午会议上一致的意见是什么？

7 chambers   

n.房间( chamber的名词复数 )；（议会的）议院；卧室；会议厅

参考例句：

• The body will be removed into one of the cold storage chambers. 尸体将被移到一个冷冻间里。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Mr Chambers's readable book concentrates on the middle passage: the time Ransome spent in Russia. Chambers先生的这本值得一看的书重点在中间：Ransome在俄国的那几年。 来自互联网

8 reassurance   

n.使放心，使消除疑虑

参考例句：

• He drew reassurance from the enthusiastic applause.热烈的掌声使他获得了信心。
• Reassurance is especially critical when it comes to military activities.消除疑虑在军事活动方面尤为关键。

9 aggression   

n.进攻，侵略，侵犯，侵害

参考例句：

• So long as we are firmly united, we need fear no aggression.只要我们紧密地团结，就不必惧怕外来侵略。
• Her view is that aggression is part of human nature.她认为攻击性是人类本性的一部份。

10 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

11 garrison   

n.卫戍部队；驻地，卫戍区；vt.派(兵)驻防

参考例句：

• The troops came to the relief of the besieged garrison.军队来援救被围的守备军。
• The German was moving to stiffen up the garrison in Sicily.德军正在加强西西里守军之力量。

12 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

13 bolster   

n.枕垫；v.支持，鼓励

参考例句：

• The high interest rates helped to bolster up the economy.高利率使经济更稳健。
• He tried to bolster up their morale.他尽力鼓舞他们的士气。

14 modernization   

n.现代化，现代化的事物

参考例句：

• This will help us achieve modernization.这有助于我们实现现代化。
• The Chinese people are sure to realize the modernization of their country.中国人民必将实现国家现代化。

15 advancements   

n.（级别的）晋升( advancement的名词复数 )；前进；进展；促进

参考例句：

• Today, the pace of life is increasing with technological advancements. 当今， 随着科技进步，生活节奏不断增快。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Great advancements in drought prediction have been made in recent years. 近年来，人们对干旱灾害的预报研究取得了长足的进步。 来自互联网