2007年VOA标准英语-US House Opens Debate on US Withdrawal from Ira

By Dan Robinson
Washington
22 March 2007

The U.S. House of Representatives has begun a debate on a spending measure containing more than $95 billion to fund the ongoing¹ wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. VOA's Dan Robinson reports, President Bush reiterated² his displeasure with the way congressional Democrats³ are moving the measure through the House and has threatened to veto it.

In more than five hours of debate stretching to a planned vote Friday, Democrats and Republicans will repeat the positions they have voiced in recent weeks in support and opposition⁴ to the legislation.

The bill ties funding needed to support the more than 140,000 troops in Iraq and another 20,000 in Afghanistan with requirements to limit the duration of deployments, and requirements that the president certify⁵ the readiness of military units.

 
Rep. John Murtha
Congressman⁶ John Murtha, a Vietnam war veteran, has been the driving force behind these provisions, and earlier this month challenged lawmakers from both sides of the political aisle⁷ to support the bill. "Is there anybody that thinks we shouldn't have equipment for the troops, or training for the troops, before they go into combat? Anybody here? No. Anybody here think we should extend these troops to the last week they are in Iraq [and then] tell them you're going to be extended for three months? No of course not, you don't think that," he said.

In addition to troop readiness requirements, the measure would require U.S. troops to be withdrawn⁸ from Iraq as early as the end of this year, but no later than August 31 of 2008.

The pullout would be triggered if the president is unable to report to Congress that the Iraqi government is satisfactorily meet political, economic, and security benchmarks.

Democratic leaders have had a difficult time persuading all their members, but specifically the most outspoken⁹ anti-war Democrats and some moderates, to support the legislation.

Opposition Republicans are virtually unanimous against the measure because it contains billions of dollars not related to military needs.

 
House Minority Leader John Boehner
House minority leader John Boehner predicts that Democrats' tactics will ultimately fail, forcing them to come back with a bill focused only on war requirements. "This is just the opening round of what I would expect will be several more months of discussions, before we finally get to a clean supplemental spending bill to pay for our actions in Afghanistan and Iraq," he said.

President Bush says he will veto any legislation that establishes a timetable or other conditions.

After meeting with Americans working on Iraqi provincial¹⁰ reconstruction¹¹ teams, the president issued another warning to congressional Democrats. "In the bill that's now being debated, there is money to help you do your jobs in that bill -- and Congress needs to get that bill out as quickly as possible, without a lot of extra spending and without a lot of strings¹² to it," he said.

The Senate is expected to consider its version of funding legislation as early as next week, after the Senate appropriations¹³ committee approved a measure calling for a U.S. troop withdrawal¹⁴ from Iraq by March of 2008, but providing about $3 billion less than the House measure

Before the Iraq bill reached the floor of the House, Democrats heard from two prominent figures who urged them to vote for it.

Former Democratic Congressman Lee Hamilton, who co-chaired the bipartisan Iraq Study Group, said the measure provides "a light at the end of the tunnel" [for the U.S. involvement in Iraq].

And in a closed door meeting, former U.S. national security adviser¹⁵ under President Jimmy Carter, Zbigniew Brzezinski, told Democrats that a "no" vote would send a message of confusion to President Bush and give him a free hand in Iraq.

1 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。

2 reiterated   

反复地说，重申( reiterate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• "Well, I want to know about it,'she reiterated. “嗯，我一定要知道你的休假日期，"她重复说。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
• Some twenty-two years later President Polk reiterated and elaborated upon these principles. 大约二十二年之后，波尔克总统重申这些原则并且刻意阐释一番。

3 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》

4 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。

5 certify   

vt.证明，证实；发证书(或执照)给

参考例句：

• I can certify to his good character.我可以证明他品德好。
• This swimming certificate is to certify that I can swim one hundred meters.这张游泳证是用以证明我可以游100米远。

6 Congressman   

n.（美）国会议员

参考例句：

• He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman.他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。
• The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics.这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。

7 aisle   

n.（教堂、教室、戏院等里的）过道，通道

参考例句：

• The aisle was crammed with people.过道上挤满了人。
• The girl ushered me along the aisle to my seat.引座小姐带领我沿着通道到我的座位上去。

8 withdrawn   

vt.收回；使退出；vi.撤退，退出

参考例句：

• Our force has been withdrawn from the danger area.我们的军队已从危险地区撤出。
• All foreign troops should be withdrawn to their own countries.一切外国军队都应撤回本国去。

9 outspoken   

adj.直言无讳的，坦率的，坦白无隐的

参考例句：

• He was outspoken in his criticism.他在批评中直言不讳。
• She is an outspoken critic of the school system in this city.她是这座城市里学校制度的坦率的批评者。

10 provincial   

adj.省的，地方的；n．外省人，乡下人

参考例句：

• City dwellers think country folk have provincial attitudes.城里人以为乡下人思想迂腐。
• Two leading cadres came down from the provincial capital yesterday.昨天从省里下来了两位领导干部。

11 reconstruction   

n.重建，再现，复原

参考例句：

• The country faces a huge task of national reconstruction following the war.战后，该国面临着重建家园的艰巨任务。
• In the period of reconstruction,technique decides everything.在重建时期，技术决定一切。

12 strings   

n.弦

参考例句：

• He sat on the bed,idly plucking the strings of his guitar.他坐在床上，随意地拨着吉他的弦。
• She swept her fingers over the strings of the harp.她用手指划过竖琴的琴弦。

13 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

14 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。

15 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。