VOA标准英语2009-US Lawmakers React to Obama Statement on Ira

President Obama's latest remarks on Iran, in which he said the U.S. and the world are appalled¹ and outraged² by the Iranian government's crackdown on dissent³, have met with praise but also some continuing criticism from members of Congress. The situation in Iran continues to be on the minds of U.S. lawmakers:

After almost two weeks of nearly constant criticism from minority Republicans who said he wasn't speaking out strongly enough, President Obama received some praise from the Republican leader in the House of Representatives.
　
House Minority Leader John Boehner (r) and Republican Representative Mike Pence, 23 Jun 2009

Representative John Boehner told reporters he believes the president did sharpen his criticism of the Iranian government for its violent response against demonstrators.

"I think the president did step up his criticism of the Iranian regime," said John Boehner. "I congratulate him for that, and we need to keep up the pressure on them."

In a 405 to 1 vote last week, the House approved a compromise resolution largely crafted by Republicans condemning⁴ ongoing⁵ violence by the Iranian government and pro-government militias⁶ against demonstrators, and the suppression of independent electronic communications through interference with the Internet and cell phones.

Appearing Tuesday on the Public Broadcasting System's The Newshour with Jim Lehrer, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham called President Obama's remarks strong. But Graham described as unpersuasive the president's continuing assertion that the U.S. must avoid being seen to be meddling⁷ in Iran so Iran's government will not use this as an excuse to intensify⁸ its crackdown on the opposition⁹.

On the same broadcast, Democratic Senator John Kerry said the president has been absolutely correct in his statements about Iran, asserting that tough rhetoric¹¹ against the Iranian government would be counterproductive.

In his remarks on Tuesday, President Obama paid tribute to Neda Agha Soltan, the young woman whose shooting death, recorded on a camera phone just after it occurred, was seen worldwide, calling it heartbreaking and fundamentally unjust.

The killing¹² continued to reverberate¹³ in Congress. As the House Appropriations¹⁴ Committee voted to send a State Department and foreign aid funding bill to the full House of Representatives, Democrat¹⁰ Nita Lowey voiced congressional solidarity¹⁵ with demonstrators in Iran.

"While this bill is not related to the ongoing post-election events in Iran, we would be remiss¹⁶ to not express our solidarity with the protesters persuing electoral freedom in Tehran, consistent with our democratic values," said Nita Lowey.

Saying she fully¹⁷ supports President Obama's diplomatic efforts to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapons capability¹⁸, Lowey supported an amendment¹⁹ to close a loophole in U.S. law regarding sanctions targeting Iran's energy sector²⁰.

The amendment would prevent the U.S. Export-Import Bank from entering into any deals with foreign companies that significantly contribute to Iran's refined petroleum²¹ resources, part of efforts to pressure Iran to stop its uranium enrichment program.

Speaking for the amendment, Republican Mark Kirk referred to the killing of Neda Agha Soltan and post-election events.

"I think it is very important that the U.S. taxpayer²² not subsidize a project which will help [President] Ahmadinejad out of his gasoline shortage problem," said Mark Kirk. "We saw this weekend the video of the death of Nada, a young girl on the streets of Tehran, as well as about a dozen others [and] reports even by the Governing Council of Iran that the votes in 50 Iranian cities were more than the number of people that lived in those cities."

In other Iran-related statements, Republican Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen said the Obama administration should order U.S. embassies around the world to rescind²³ invitations for Iranian officials to attend July 4 Independence Day Celebrations.

Iranian attendance at the events, Ros-Lehtinen said, could be equated²⁴ to fraternizing with the oppressors of people in Iran who yearn²⁵ to live free.

1 appalled   

v.使惊骇，使充满恐惧( appall的过去式和过去分词)adj.惊骇的；丧胆的

参考例句：

• The brutality of the crime has appalled the public. 罪行之残暴使公众大为震惊。
• They were appalled by the reports of the nuclear war. 他们被核战争的报道吓坏了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 outraged   

a.震惊的，义愤填膺的

参考例句：

• Members of Parliament were outraged by the news of the assassination. 议会议员们被这暗杀的消息激怒了。
• He was outraged by their behavior. 他们的行为使他感到愤慨。

3 dissent   

n./v.不同意，持异议

参考例句：

• It is too late now to make any dissent.现在提出异议太晚了。
• He felt her shoulders gave a wriggle of dissent.他感到她的肩膀因为不同意而动了一下。

4 condemning   

v.（通常因道义上的原因而）谴责( condemn的现在分词 )；宣判；宣布…不能使用；迫使…陷于不幸的境地

参考例句：

• The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。
• I concur with the speaker in condemning what has been done. 我同意发言者对所做的事加以谴责。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

5 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

6 militias   

n.民兵组织，民兵( militia的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The troops will not attempt to disarm the warring militias. 部队并不打算解除战斗中的民兵武装。 来自辞典例句
• The neighborhood was a battleground for Shiite and Sunni militias. 那里曾是什叶派和逊尼派武装分子的战场。 来自互联网

7 meddling   

v.干涉，干预（他人事务）( meddle的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• He denounced all "meddling" attempts to promote a negotiation. 他斥责了一切“干预”促成谈判的企图。 来自辞典例句
• They liked this field because it was never visited by meddling strangers. 她们喜欢这块田野，因为好事的陌生人从来不到那里去。 来自辞典例句

8 intensify   

vt.加强；变强；加剧

参考例句：

• We must intensify our educational work among our own troops.我们必须加强自己部队的教育工作。
• They were ordered to intensify their patrols to protect our air space.他们奉命加强巡逻，保卫我国的领空。

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 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。

11 rhetoric   

n.修辞学，浮夸之言语

参考例句：

• Do you know something about rhetoric?你懂点修辞学吗？
• Behind all the rhetoric,his relations with the army are dangerously poised.在冠冕堂皇的言辞背后，他和军队的关系岌岌可危。

12 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

13 reverberate   

v.使回响，使反响

参考例句：

• The decision will reverberate and will jar the country.这项决定将引起反响并震撼这个国家。
• Echoes of cries of pain reverberate in my hear.痛苦呼喊的一遍遍的在我的心中回响。

14 appropriations   

n.挪用（appropriation的复数形式）

参考例句：

• More commonly, funding controls are imposed in the annual appropriations process. 更普遍的作法是，拨款控制被规定在年度拨款手续中。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法
• Should the president veto the appropriations bill, it goes back to Congress. 假如总统否决了这项拨款提案，就把它退还给国会。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件

15 solidarity   

n.团结；休戚相关

参考例句：

• They must preserve their solidarity.他们必须维护他们的团结。
• The solidarity among China's various nationalities is as firm as a rock.中国各族人民之间的团结坚如磐石。

16 remiss   

adj.不小心的，马虎

参考例句：

• It was remiss of him to forget her birthday.他竟忘了她的生日，实在是糊涂。
• I would be remiss if I did not do something about it.如果我对此不做点儿什么就是不负责任。

17 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。

18 capability   

n.能力；才能；(pl)可发展的能力或特性等

参考例句：

• She has the capability to become a very fine actress.她有潜力成为杰出演员。
• Organizing a whole department is beyond his capability.组织整个部门是他能力以外的事。

19 amendment   

n.改正，修正，改善，修正案

参考例句：

• The amendment was rejected by 207 voters to 143.这项修正案以207票对143票被否决。
• The Opposition has tabled an amendment to the bill.反对党已经就该议案提交了一项修正条款。

20 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。

21 petroleum   

n.原油，石油

参考例句：

• The Government of Iran advanced the price of petroleum last week.上星期伊朗政府提高了石油价格。
• The purpose of oil refinery is to refine crude petroleum.炼油厂的主要工作是提炼原油。

22 taxpayer   

n.纳税人

参考例句：

• The new scheme will run off with a lot of the taxpayer's money.这项新计划将用去纳税人许多钱。
• The taxpayer are unfavourably disposed towards the recent tax increase.纳税者对最近的增加税收十分反感。

23 rescind   

v.废除，取消

参考例句：

• They accepted his advice and rescinded the original plan.他们听从了他的劝告，撤销了原计划。
• Trade Union leaders have demanded the government rescind the price rise.工会领导已经要求政府阻止价格上涨。

24 equated   

adj.换算的v.认为某事物（与另一事物）相等或相仿( equate的过去式和过去分词 )；相当于；等于；把（一事物） 和（另一事物）等同看待

参考例句：

• Production costs for the movie equated to around 30% of income. 这部电影的制作成本相当于收益的30%。
• Politics cannot be equated with art. 政治不能同艺术等同起来。

25 yearn   

v.想念；怀念；渴望

参考例句：

• We yearn to surrender our entire being.我们渴望着放纵我们整个的生命。
• Many people living in big cities yearn for an idyllic country life.现在的很多都市人向往那种田园化的生活。