2006年VOA标准英语-Bush Challenges Any Change to His Version of In

By Scott Stearns
White House
15 September 2006

President Bush is facing stiff opposition¹ from key members of his own party over rules governing the interrogation of suspected terrorists and the way terror trials can be conducted. Mr. Bush says proposed legislation in the U.S. Senate would shut down what he calls "crucial operations" by the Central Intelligence Agency.

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President Bush speaks during press conference in Rose Garden, Friday   
  
President Bush says time is running out in a debate over U.S. interrogation methods that he says will define whether America can defend itself against terrorists.

The president is also pushing legislation that would allow military tribunals to try terror suspects. It would also allow classified evidence to be withheld² from defendants³. In addition, he wants coerced⁴ testimony⁵ to be allowed as evidence, and he wants U.S. interrogators to be protected from prosecution⁶ for using methods that might violate the Geneva Conventions, which govern the treatment of prisoners of war.

The White House says President Bush is not trying to amend⁷ the Geneva Convention. He wants it clarified. And Mr. Bush says that would make it stronger.

But some senior Republican leaders in the Senate disagree. They say those rules do not meet constitutional standards, outlined by the U.S. Supreme⁸ Court, and could endanger U.S. troops overseas, if other countries choose to reinterpret the Geneva Convention in their own way.

Taking questions from reporters in the White House Rose Garden, President Bush said legislation to clarify what is allowed under the Geneva Convention is central to maintaining CIA interrogations that he said are making America safer.

"The bottom line is simple. If Congress passes a law that does not clarify the rules, if they do not do that, the program is not going forward," he said.

CIA Chief Michael Hayden says he will shut down that program, if Congress does not protect his interrogators from possible prosecution for violating international treaty obligations.

Senator John McCain, a former prisoner of war, says Hayden is trying to protect his reputation at the risk of America's reputation by asking for what the senator calls a virtually free hand to treat detainees as CIA agents see fit.

John McCain (file photo)  
  
McCain and fellow Republican Senators John Warner and Lindsey Graham are leading the opposition to the president's plan for interrogating⁹ terror suspects. Those senators, along with Republican Susan Collins, joined Democrats¹⁰ in passing alternative legislation out of the Senate Armed Services Committee Thursday.

While the president stopped short of threatening to veto that legislation, he said he will not sign anything that threatens the CIA program.

"I have one test for this legislation," he said. " I am going to ask one question as this legislation proceeds, and it is this: The intelligence community must be able to tell me that the bill Congress sends to my desk will allow this vital program to continue. That's what I'm gonna ask."

European Union foreign ministers are calling on the Bush administration to respect international law in its handling of terror suspects following the president's admission that terror suspects were being held in previously¹¹ secret CIA prisons.

1 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。

2 withheld   

withhold过去式及过去分词

参考例句：

• I withheld payment until they had fulfilled the contract. 他们履行合同后，我才付款。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• There was no school play because the principal withheld his consent. 由于校长没同意，学校里没有举行比赛。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 defendants   

被告( defendant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The courts heard that the six defendants had been coerced into making a confession. 法官审判时发现6位被告人曾被迫承认罪行。
• As in courts, the defendants are represented by legal counsel. 与法院相同，被告有辩护律师作为代表。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件

4 coerced   

v.迫使做( coerce的过去式和过去分词 )；强迫；（以武力、惩罚、威胁等手段）控制；支配

参考例句：

• They were coerced into negotiating a settlement. 他们被迫通过谈判解决。
• He was coerced into making a confession. 他被迫招供。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 testimony   

n.证词；见证，证明

参考例句：

• The testimony given by him is dubious.他所作的证据是可疑的。
• He was called in to bear testimony to what the police officer said.他被传入为警官所说的话作证。

6 prosecution   

n.起诉，告发，检举，执行，经营

参考例句：

• The Smiths brought a prosecution against the organizers.史密斯家对组织者们提出起诉。
• He attempts to rebut the assertion made by the prosecution witness.他试图反驳原告方证人所作的断言。

7 amend   

vt.修改，修订，改进；n.[pl.]赔罪，赔偿

参考例句：

• The teacher advised him to amend his way of living.老师劝他改变生活方式。
• You must amend your pronunciation.你必须改正你的发音。

8 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

9 interrogating   

n.询问技术v.询问( interrogate的现在分词 )；审问；（在计算机或其他机器上）查询

参考例句：

• She was no longer interrogating but lecturing. 她已经不是在审问而是在教训人了。 来自辞典例句
• His face remained blank, interrogating, slightly helpless. 他的面部仍然没有表情，只带有询问的意思，还有点无可奈何。 来自辞典例句

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 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。