VOA常速英语2007年-US Congress Expected to Pass Budget With Fundin

By Cindy Saine
Washington
19 December 2007

A massive spending bill to keep the U.S. government operating through most of next year is now making its way through the House of Representatives after Senate passage late Tuesday. The bill marks another defeat for congressional Democrats¹ who wanted to use the legislation to force President Bush to accept a timetable for the withdrawal² of U.S. troops from Iraq. VOA's Cindy Saine reports from Washington.

Approval of the budget - which includes $70 billion for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan - ends a year-long battle between Republican and Democratic lawmakers over U.S. spending priorities.

Democrats won control of Congress in elections last November and announced a goal of bringing U.S. troops home from Iraq. They also had plans to boost domestic spending by $22 billion.

But President Bush threatened to veto any spending bill that contained a timetable for U.S. troop withdrawals³, and Democrats were unable to muster⁴ enough votes to override⁵ the threatened veto.

Democratic Senate Majority leader Harry⁶ Reid conceded that Republicans won this political battle, and he called it a loss for the American people.

"And while they win their so-called battle of obstruction⁷, American people are losing," he said. "Millions of low-income children don't have access to health care, less police officers on the street, less funding to find cures for dread⁸ disease. What we have is Republicans digging in their heels for the status quo."

Republicans had long insisted on a spending bill that funds the war in Iraq without mentioning a timetable for withdrawal. Republican Senator Jon Kyl said the bill is crucial to U.S. troops.

"First of all, it sends a message to our troops that we support them," he said. "There's been a little confusion about that, and given the fact that the Petraeus plan has had such great success in bringing violence down and bringing control of the country much more along the lines that the United States would like to see and our allies there, it is a way to say to the troops we appreciate what you have done and we are not going to pull the rug out from under you."

The half-a-trillion-dollar appropriations⁹ bill combines funding for all government departments except defense¹⁰, covering housing, law enforcement and transport. Although they were unable to fund many of their favorite projects, Democrats did manage to include about $11 billion in spending for health care for veterans, drought relief, firefighting and border security.

The White House has said it will sign the bill if it contains funding for Iraq.

1 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》

2 withdrawal   

n.取回，提款；撤退，撤军；收回，撤销

参考例句：

• The police were forced to make a tactical withdrawal.警方被迫进行战术撤退。
• They insisted upon a withdrawal of the statement and a public apology.他们坚持要收回那些话并公开道歉。

3 withdrawals   

n.收回，取回，撤回( withdrawal的名词复数 )；撤退，撤走；收回[取回，撤回，撤退，撤走]的实例；推出（组织），提走（存款），戒除毒瘾，对说过的话收回，孤僻

参考例句：

• He has made several withdrawals from his bank account. 他从银行账户上提了几次款。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• It is not the bank's policy to deduct interest on withdrawals. 提款需扣除利息这并非是本银行的政策。 来自辞典例句

4 muster   

v.集合，收集，鼓起，激起；n.集合，检阅，集合人员，点名册

参考例句：

• Go and muster all the men you can find.去集合所有你能找到的人。
• I had to muster my courage up to ask him that question.我必须鼓起勇气向他问那个问题。

5 override   

vt.不顾，不理睬，否决；压倒，优先于

参考例句：

• The welfare of a child should always override the wishes of its parents.孩子的幸福安康应该永远比父母的愿望来得更重要。
• I'm applying in advance for the authority to override him.我提前申请当局对他进行否决。

6 harry   

vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼

参考例句：

• Today,people feel more hurried and harried.今天，人们感到更加忙碌和苦恼。
• Obama harried business by Healthcare Reform plan.奥巴马用医改掠夺了商界。

7 obstruction   

n.阻塞，堵塞；障碍物

参考例句：

• She was charged with obstruction of a police officer in the execution of his duty.她被指控妨碍警察执行任务。
• The road was cleared from obstruction.那条路已被清除了障碍。

8 dread   

vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧

参考例句：

• We all dread to think what will happen if the company closes.我们都不敢去想一旦公司关门我们该怎么办。
• Her heart was relieved of its blankest dread.她极度恐惧的心理消除了。

9 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

10 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。