2007年VOA标准英语-Lawmakers Discussing Post-Veto Strategies on Ir

By Dan Robinson
Capitol Hill
26 April 2007

U.S. lawmakers are already consulting on next steps after President Bush's expected veto next week of Iraq-Afghanistan war funding legislation. VOA's Dan Robinson reports from Capitol Hill, Democrats¹ and Republicans spoke² after the Senate followed the House in approving the war funding conference report endorsing³ a goal of withdrawing most U.S. combat forces by April 2008.

With the White House repeating the president's intention to veto the bill, the wheels are turning in the House and Senate looking ahead to the next phase of the standoff between Congress and President Bush over Iraq.

After the Senate vote, minority leader Mitch McConnell told reporters that preliminary discussions had already begun.

Saying he had also spoken with the president, McConnell re-stated the Republican position that any new legislation should not contain a timetable for withdrawing U.S. forces:

"What we need to do is get the money, all of the money, down to the troops, without a withdrawal⁴ date, without the pork [extra spending items], as rapidly as possible, and those discussions will commence very soon and we hope to be able to get a quick result," said Mitch McConnell.

Harry5 Reid (r) and Nancy Pelosi at a joint6 press conference, 26 Apr 2007" hspace="2" src="/upimg/allimg/070601/1359520.jpg" width="210" vspace="2" border="0" />

Harry Reid (r) and Nancy Pelosi at a joint press conference, 26 Apr 2007

In a news conference, Senate majority leader Harry Reid joined House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in urging the president to reconsider:

REID: "The president has to work with us. He has refused to do that and so I feel very comfortable that we have moved this legislation forward in keeping with what the American people want."

PELOSI: "I would hope that the president would reconsider and sign this bill. This is a bill that has the president's own benchmarks in it, for progress, it has the Department of Defense's own principles for [military] readiness."

House minority leader John Boehner said Republicans are prepared, after the president's veto, to sit down with Democrats, but repeated his position on a troop withdrawal timeline.

"What we are not going to have are artificial deadlines, we are not going to have shackles⁷ on the generals on the ground, in a bill," said John Boehner. "The president is not going to sign such a bill. And I think that you will see conservatives in the Democratic party and most Republicans are willing to sit down and to work our way through this."

White House spokeswoman Dana Perino described the bill headed to the president desk as mission defeated.

"I just spoke to the president in the Oval Office, and as he said he would for weeks, the president would veto this legislation, and he looks forward to craft a bill that he could sign," said Dana Perino.

Democrats are considering their options, possibly including one that would send the president a new bill containing only a two-month funding provision.

But when it comes to removing withdrawal language, Pelosi and other Democratic leaders may again face opposition⁸ from left wing members had earlier been pressured to go along with stating only a goal of removing most combat troops by April of next year.

With the president, and the Pentagon, warning of the impact on troops of a lengthy⁹ funding standoff, or scuffle as Senator Reid put it Thursday, both parties in Congress, as well as the president, will be under pressure to break the deadlock¹⁰.

 

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 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

3 endorsing   

v.赞同( endorse的现在分词 )；在（尤指支票的）背面签字；在（文件的）背面写评论；在广告上说本人使用并赞同某产品

参考例句：

• Yet Communist leaders are also publicly endorsing religion in an unprecedented way. 不过，共产党领导层对宗教信仰的公开认可也是以前不曾有过的。 来自互联网
• Connecticut Independent Senator Joseph Lieberman is endorsing Republican Senator John McCain. 康涅狄格州独立派参议员约瑟夫。列波曼将会票选共和议员约翰。麦凯恩。 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 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。

6 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

7 shackles   

手铐( shackle的名词复数 )； 脚镣； 束缚； 羁绊

参考例句：

• a country struggling to free itself from the shackles of colonialism 为摆脱殖民主义的枷锁而斗争的国家
• The cars of the train are coupled together by shackles. 火车的车厢是用钩链连接起来的。

8 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。

9 lengthy   

adj.漫长的，冗长的

参考例句：

• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。
• The professor wrote a lengthy book on Napoleon.教授写了一部有关拿破仑的巨著。

10 deadlock   

n.僵局，僵持

参考例句：

• The negotiations reached a deadlock after two hours.两小时后，谈判陷入了僵局。
• The employers and strikers are at a deadlock over the wage.雇主和罢工者在工资问题上相持不下。