VOA双语新闻 Bush Says Katrina Lessons Learned

President Bush says the federal government has learned lessons from the mixed response to last year's killer¹ hurricane along America's Gulf² Coast.

布什总统表示，联邦政府已经从去年横扫美国墨西哥湾沿岸的卡特里娜飓风中得到教训。

President Bush says he was not satisfied with the federal response to Hurricane Katrina. The storm killed more than 1,300 people along the Gulf of Mexico Coast and destroyed much of the region's infrastructure³.

布什总统说，他对美国联邦政府对卡特里娜飓风的反应不满意。卡特里娜飓风在墨西哥湾沿岸造成1300多人死亡，并摧毁了当地的基础设施。

So he appointed a commission to look at what went wrong. Accepting that commission's report at a White House Cabinet meeting, the president said there is much that could have been done differently.

因此，布什总统指定一个委员会调查原因。布什总统在白宫接受该委员会的一份报告时说，的确有许多需要改变的地方。

"We will learn from the lessons of the past to better protect the American people," said President Bush. "We have made a strong commitment to the people of the Gulf Coast and we will honor that commitment as well. The report helps us anticipate how to better respond to future disaster."

布什总统说：“我们将从过去汲取教训，更好地保护美国人民。我们已经给墨西哥湾人民强有力的承诺，而且将信守这些承诺。这份报告协助我们了解如何更好地对付未来的灾难。”

The report, prepared by Homeland Security Adviser⁴ Fran Townsend, looks at how federal, state and local governments, the private sector⁵, and community leaders can improve disaster preparedness.

这份由国家安全顾问汤森所准备的报告提出了联邦、州和地方政府、私人机构以及社区领导人如何改善对灾害进行准备的方法。

It outlines 17 lessons the Bush administration has learned, 125 specific recommendations, and 11 changes to make before the next hurricane season begins June 1.

报告列举了布什政府从中学到的17条教训、125项建议以及在6月1号下一次飓风季节来临以前的11项改进措施。

Among those, Townsend says, are improving federal support for local law enforcement, much of which was overwhelmed by the storm.

汤森说，这其中包括了改善联邦政府对地方执法机构的支持，许多这种地方执法机构对飓风力不从心。

"While the national response plan called for federal law enforcement capabilities⁶ to be available to back-fill that vacuum, the response was slow and disjoined," she said. "One key recommendation is that the attorney general take the lead in fixing this problem and put in place a deputization process so federal officials can immediately be deployed⁷ so we know what federal law enforcement assets are available."

汤森说：“虽然国家反应计划要求联邦执法部门有能力填补这项真空，但是实际反应太慢而且不协调。一个关键的建议是，由司法部长来牵头修补这个问题，而且将其置于代理的程序之中，以便能立即配置联邦官员，而且我们也可以知道有哪些联邦的执法资产可以动用。”

The report calls for a National Preparedness System to unify⁸ federal, state, and local responses to natural disaster or terrorist attack.

这份报告呼吁建立国家准备系统，统一联邦、州和地方政府的反应，以应对自然灾害和恐怖袭击。

Opposition⁹ Democrats¹⁰ leading the city of New Orleans and the state of Louisiana criticized President Bush for the slow federal response to the storm, including delays in the arrival of National Guard troops to restore order.

领导新奥尔良市和路易斯安那州的反对党民主党批评了布什总统，认为联邦政府对飓风的反应太慢，包括延误派遣国民警卫队来恢复秩序。

Ms. Townsend says the Pentagon must be prepared to play a greater role in responding to natural disaster.

汤森说，五角大楼必须准备扮演更大的角色来应对天灾。

"When state and local first responders are overwhelmed or incapacitated, it may be that our military is the last and only resort," she said. "We need to plan and prepare for the Department of Defense¹¹ to play a significant supporting role during future catastrophic events."

她说："当州或地方政府首先应对灾难力不从心或无能为力时，就可以求助于我们的军队了，这也是最后的和唯一的选择。我们需要为国防部做好计划和准备工作，好在未来的灾难性事件中发挥重要的角色。"

Ms. Townsend says there must be action to improve communications, designate locations for staging emergency material and personnel and update the national emergency alert system.

汤森说，必须采取行动改进通讯，为贮存紧急物资和人员指定地点，并且更新全国的紧急警报系统。

1 killer   

n.杀人者，杀人犯，杀手，屠杀者

参考例句：

• Heart attacks have become Britain's No.1 killer disease.心脏病已成为英国的头号致命疾病。
• The bulk of the evidence points to him as her killer.大量证据证明是他杀死她的。

2 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

3 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。

4 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

5 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

6 capabilities   

n.能力( capability的名词复数 )；可能；容量；[复数]潜在能力

参考例句：

• He was somewhat pompous and had a high opinion of his own capabilities. 他有点自大，自视甚高。 来自辞典例句
• Some programmers use tabs to break complex product capabilities into smaller chunks. 一些程序员认为，标签可以将复杂的功能分为每个窗格一组简单的功能。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

7 deployed   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Tanks have been deployed all along the front line. 沿整个前线已部署了坦克。
• The artillery was deployed to bear on the fort. 火炮是对着那个碉堡部署的。

8 unify   

vt.使联合，统一；使相同，使一致

参考例句：

• How can we unify such scattered islands into a nation?我们怎么才能把如此分散的岛屿统一成一个国家呢？
• It is difficult to imagine how the North and South could ever agree on a formula to unify the divided peninsula.很难想象南北双方在统一半岛的方案上究竟怎样才能达成一致。

9 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

10 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》

11 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。