VOA慢速英语2015 奥巴马寻求500亿美元的外交关系经费

 

AS IT IS 2015-02-04 Obama Seeks $50 Billion for Foreign Relations Spending 奥巴马寻求500亿美元的外交关系经费 

President Barack Obama sent his budget proposal to Congress on Monday. His budget calls for four trillion dollars in federal spending. Under the proposal, the United States would spend more than $50 billion on diplomatic and aid efforts around the world. That amount represents only about 10 percent of what has been suggested for the U.S. Department of Defense¹.

The amount of money for diplomacy² and foreign aid in the budget proposal represents just one percent of the total budget. Heather Higginbottom is Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources. She says the government needs to make sure it has enough money to support America’s leadership in the world.

“Our budget request reflects what is needed to ensure that the United States remains³ powerfully engaged on the myriad⁴ issues that directly impact the security, prosperity and values of the American people.”

Most of the spending on U.S. diplomatic and aid efforts would be targeted at national security concerns, conflict prevention and other issues. They include international peacekeeping activities, security guarantees for U.S. allies and partners, and non-proliferation -- limiting the spread of nuclear and other weapons.

Under the budget proposal, the United States would invest one billion dollars in Central America. The Obama administration says the money would help fix the social, governance and economic issues that led to large numbers of children crossing the U.S. border illegally.

The administration wants Congress to approve $1.5 billion in assistance for Afghanistan. The budget request includes $3.5 billion to strengthen U.S. partners in the fight against the Islamic State militant⁵ group, also known as ISIL. It also includes $275 million to support an additional loan guarantee to Ukraine.

Heather Higginbottom says the president has asked Congress to approve another seven billion dollars for overseas contingency⁶ operations, also known as OCO. She says the money would be used to deal with immediate⁷ and unusual national security requirements.

“OCO funds will support critical programs and operations in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq, as well as exceptional costs related to our efforts to fight ISIL, respond to the conflict in Syria, and support Ukraine.

She says the budget request represents a six percent increase over the request last year.

Jennifer Harris works with the Council on Foreign Relations, an independent organization. She says the State Department part of the budget comes in less than 10 percent of what the president requested for the Defense Department. She says she believes the foreign affairs spending budget is small when one considers the many threats in the world.

“It’s not clear to me that the greatest challenges the U.S. faces in the world today are predominantly military in nature. And so to be putting 90 percent more dollars to more military hardware when it seems like an area where the U.S. already has hyper-dominance is not necessarily the best return on investment.”

Four years ago, President Obama and Congress agreed on a series of required spending cuts over the coming years. But now, the president is asking Congress to cancel the cost-cutting measures. His administration says the spending limits have reduced economic growth and hurt the U.S. military.

President Obama has said the problems in Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq and other areas hit by violence cannot be fixed⁸ with military power alone.

Jennifer Harris warns that simply increasing State Department spending is not the answer. She says barriers within the government and difficult relations with Congress often created problems in the past.

“The flexibilities that go into these budgets in terms of how the State Department or Department of Defense is allowed to use this money as being as or more important than the sheer sums involved.”

President Obama is expected to face opposition⁹ in a number of areas on his budget when Congress comes to vote on the numbers. The reason: the Republican Party now controls both the House of Representatives and the Senate.

Words in This Story

budget - n., a spending plan

aid - n., support; help; assistance

percent - n., a part of every hundred

security - n., freedom from danger or harm; protection; measures necessary to protect a person or place

conflict – n., a fight; a battle, especially a large one

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 diplomacy   

n.外交；外交手腕，交际手腕

参考例句：

• The talks have now gone into a stage of quiet diplomacy.会谈现在已经进入了“温和外交”阶段。
• This was done through the skill in diplomacy. 这是通过外交手腕才做到的。

3 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

4 myriad   

adj.无数的；n.无数，极大数量

参考例句：

• They offered no solution for all our myriad problems.对于我们数不清的问题他们束手无策。
• I had three weeks to make a myriad of arrangements.我花了三个星期做大量准备工作。

5 militant   

adj.激进的，好斗的；n.激进分子，斗士

参考例句：

• Some militant leaders want to merge with white radicals.一些好斗的领导人要和白人中的激进派联合。
• He is a militant in the movement.他在那次运动中是个激进人物。

6 contingency   

n.意外事件，可能性

参考例句：

• We should be prepared for any contingency.我们应该对任何应急情况有所准备。
• A fire in our warehouse was a contingency that we had not expected.库房的一场大火是我们始料未及的。

7 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

8 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

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。