2007年VOA标准英语-House Democrats Signal Readiness to Talk on Ira

By Dan Robinson
Washington
27 March 2007

As the Senate tries to move closer to a vote on its Iraq-Afghanistan funding bill, Democrats¹ in the House of Representatives are signaling their readiness to talk with President Bush about the legislation. VOA's Dan Robinson reports from Capitol Hill, the president has threatened to veto any measure containing a timetable for withdrawing U.S. forces from Iraq.

When they assumed control of Congress, Democrats pledged to chart a new direction on Iraq, but also held out an olive branch to the president saying they hoped he would work with them.

Last week, House Democrats angered the president when they succeeded in passing a measure containing a call for most U.S. combat operations to cease and troops to be out of Iraq by August 31, 2008 at the latest.

The $124 billion House measure, which also includes billions for domestic programs, contains $95.5 billion for military needs, compared to about $92 billion in the Senate.

President Bush made clear where he stands on this, vowing² to veto any bill with a timetable.

In separate venues³ Tuesday, House Democratic leaders signaled they are ready to talk.

Steny Hoyer

Majority leader Steny Hoyer was asked in an off-camera briefing how Democrats would approach a conference with the Senate to reconcile differences between House and Senate--passed versions

I think we would like to reach out to the president, says Hoyer, adding that Democrats do not consider the August 31, 2008 withdrawal⁴ deadline in their legislation to be micro-managing the war.

Congressman⁵ Jim Clyburn, the Democratic whip, echoed Hoyer's call for the White House to work with Congress. "It would be my hope that the White House would get engaged with us, and what we would do is to produce a product that the House, Senate and the White House will agree to," he said.

Clyburn says he could personally support some sort of confidential⁶ timeline, which would be known only to the Bush administration, the Iraqi government, and selected members of Congress, which is among options raised in discussions on Capitol Hill.

Also remarking on the timetable issue was Democratic caucus⁷ chairman Rahm Emanuel, who suggests discussions should begin. "Rather than the White House always trying to issue veto threats, we would welcome them in, to start the discussion. The goal here is not to get to a veto. The goal is to get something done, and we would hope the White House would adopt that attitude on this process," he said.

In a key vote Tuesday, the narrowly Democratic-controlled Senate rejected an amendment⁸ proposed by Republican Thad Cochran to remove language in the Senate measure that sets a non-binding goal of withdrawing troops from Iraq by March of 2008.

But Senate Republicans know that even if a Senate-passed bill goes to a conference with the House with the language retained, it still faces the president's veto.

Senate Democrats want to end debate and vote on that version of the Iraq-Afghanistan supplemental before the end of this week when Congress is set to begin a spring recess⁹.

President Bush and Defense¹⁰ Secretary Gates have urged Congress to send him legislation he can accept so the money, which is designated as 2007 emergency funds, can be used for military operations.

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 vowing   

起誓，发誓（vow的现在分词形式）

参考例句：

• President Bush is vowing to help Minneapolis rebuild its collapsed bridge. 布什总统承诺将帮助明尼阿波利斯重建坍塌的大桥。
• President Bush is vowing to help Minneapolis rebuild this collapse bridge. 布什总统发誓要帮助明尼阿波利斯重建起这座坍塌的桥梁。

3 venues   

n.聚集地点( venue的名词复数 )；会场；（尤指）体育比赛场所；犯罪地点

参考例句：

• The band will be playing at 20 different venues on their UK tour. 这个乐队在英国巡回演出期间将在20个不同的地点演出。
• Farmers market corner, 800 meters long, 60 meters wide livestock trading venues. 农牧市场东北角，有长800米，宽60米的牲畜交易场地。 来自互联网

4 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。

5 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。

6 confidential   

adj.秘（机）密的，表示信任的，担任机密工作的

参考例句：

• He refused to allow his secretary to handle confidential letters.他不让秘书处理机密文件。
• We have a confidential exchange of views.我们推心置腹地交换意见。

7 caucus   

n.秘密会议；干部会议；v.（参加）干部开会议

参考例句：

• This multi-staged caucus takes several months.这个多级会议常常历时好几个月。
• It kept the Democratic caucus from fragmenting.它也使得民主党的核心小组避免了土崩瓦解的危险。

8 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。

9 recess   

n.短期休息，壁凹（墙上装架子，柜子等凹处）

参考例句：

• The chairman of the meeting announced a ten-minute recess.会议主席宣布休会10分钟。
• Parliament was hastily recalled from recess.休会的议员被匆匆召回开会。

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。