2007年VOA标准英语-Democrats Frustrated, but Plan Continuing Legis

By Dan Robinson
Capitol Hill
29 September 2007

The focus of congressional action on Iraq shifts again from the Senate to the House of Representatives next week. While majority Democrats² are releasing few specific details of their legislative³ strategy, VOA's Dan Robinson reports on what is known at this point as they continue efforts to force a significant change in President Bush's military policy in Iraq.

With little prospect⁴ of obtaining the vote margins⁵ they need in the Senate to pass significant legislation challenging the president's Iraq strategy, Democratic leaders in the House are planning another round of Iraq votes through the month of October.

President Bush has asked Congress to approve another $190 billion to support military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, sharply higher than a figure provided last February after he announced his military surge plan.

The request places House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other Democratic leader in even more of an uncomfortable spot, as they face ongoing⁶ pressure from critics within their party, but a mathematical reality in the Senate where a 60 vote majority is needed to move major legislation to a vote.

Frustration⁷ was apparent when House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, fielding questions at the National Press Club, was asked whether Democrats will end up giving the president what he wants.

"The U.S. is a very big ship and turning a big ship takes time, and it is particularly difficult to change the course of a big ship when the captain at the wheel does not believe we ought to change course," said Steny Hoyer. "So what Democrats will do is to continue to offer policies and to garner⁸ larger and larger majorities for the proposition that we need to change course, redeploy our troops, take them out of a civil war, and try to restore America's credibility and integrity around the world."

Hoyer adds that while he and Pelosi understand the frustration of Americans whose votes turned Republicans out of power in November of last year, largely over Iraq, unless Democrats can obtain enough Republican votes and the margins to override⁹ a presidential veto, there may be no change in Iraq policy until 2009 when a new president takes charge.

About all Democrats can do at this point was explained by Pelosi in a Friday news conference.

"So what I am saying to my appropriations¹⁰ committee is that I want them to scrub this request, what is the mission and where is the money going, before we take up any other legislation," said Nancy Pelosi.

What that means is that Democrats may delay consideration of war funding for several months, possibly into 2008, while pursuing a strategy of introducing multiple bills, starting with less controversial measures.

In a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing this past week, Senator Robert Byrd made clear, to applause from spectators in the hearing room, how he views the president's funding request:

"This committee will not, not rubber stamp every request that is submitted by the president," said Robert Byrd. "If the Congress were to approve the president's revised budget request total funding for the war in Iraq will exceed $600 billion, $600 billion, billion dollars.

Democrats are expected to begin their latest vote barrage¹¹ next week with a measure seeking to exert greater control over private contractors¹² in Iraq, amid continuing controversy¹³ over actions by the U.S.-based Blackwater security firm.

Eventually, the House will consider a bill sponsored by Hawaii Democrat¹ Neil Abercrombie that would require President Bush to give Congress a plan within 60 days to redeploy U.S. forces.

Hoyer stresses the need to maintain constant pressure on the president:

"We believe we need to keep putting on the floor resolutions, bills, policies which will lead to a change in policy," he said. "If we can't ultimately pass them into law because of the president's veto, we are sorry about that, because we think America wants change but we will continue our efforts."

All of this is in contrast with the situation several months ago, when some key Republican senators signaled a potential break with the president, and Democrats hoped for more support in the Senate.

But even Republican House leader John Boehner says Congress has an obligation to go through the president's request, in his words, with a fine tooth comb.

While opposing any effort to set a withdrawal¹⁴ timetable, Boehner says he and other Republicans would support legislation calling for an overall plan from the president for troop redeployment, but he adds, only because the military probably already has one:

"I would be shocked if the Pentagon didn't already have those plans sitting on the shelf," said John Boehner. "That is what they do over at the Pentagon, they plan for every kind of contingency¹⁵ known to man and so I would expect if the bill on the [House] floor looks like the bill that came out of [congressional] committee, I would expect all of us would be for it."

Defense¹⁶ Secretary Robert Gates said this week that he believes President Bush did signal a change in mission in Iraq when he endorsed¹⁷ the recommendation of General David Petraeus to draw out as many as 30,000 troops, adding the key question now is how to pace withdrawals¹⁸.

But congressional Democrats point out that the withdrawals would bring U.S. force levels only to a point they were before the military surge plan got underway, enabling President Bush to maintain a minimum 130,000 troop level through next year.

1 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

2 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》

3 legislative   

n.立法机构，立法权；adj.立法的，有立法权的

参考例句：

• Congress is the legislative branch of the U.S. government.国会是美国政府的立法部门。
• Today's hearing was just the first step in the legislative process.今天的听证会只是展开立法程序的第一步。

4 prospect   

n.前景，前途；景色，视野

参考例句：

• This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
• The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。

5 margins   

边( margin的名词复数 )； 利润； 页边空白； 差数

参考例句：

• They have always had to make do with relatively small profit margins. 他们不得不经常设法应付较少的利润额。
• To create more space between the navigation items, add left and right margins to the links. 在每个项目间留更多的空隙，加左或者右的margins来定义链接。

6 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。

7 frustration   

n.挫折，失败，失效，落空

参考例句：

• He had to fight back tears of frustration.他不得不强忍住失意的泪水。
• He beat his hands on the steering wheel in frustration.他沮丧地用手打了几下方向盘。

8 garner   

v.收藏；取得

参考例句：

• He has garnered extensive support for his proposals.他的提议得到了广泛的支持。
• Squirrels garner nuts for the winter.松鼠为过冬储存松果。

9 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。

10 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

11 barrage   

n.火力网，弹幕

参考例句：

• The attack jumped off under cover of a barrage.进攻在炮火的掩护下开始了。
• The fierce artillery barrage destroyed the most part of the city in a few minutes.猛烈的炮火几分钟内便毁灭了这座城市的大部分地区。

12 contractors   

n.（建筑、监造中的）承包人( contractor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• We got estimates from three different contractors before accepting the lowest. 我们得到3个承包商的报价后，接受了最低的报价。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Contractors winning construction jobs had to kick back 2 per cent of the contract price to the mafia. 赢得建筑工作的承包商得抽出合同价格的百分之二的回扣给黑手党。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。

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 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。

16 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。

17 endorsed   

vt.& vi.endorse的过去式或过去分词形式v.赞同( endorse的过去式和过去分词 )；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：

• The committee endorsed an initiative by the chairman to enter discussion about a possible merger. 委员会通过了主席提出的新方案，开始就可能进行的并购进行讨论。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The government has broadly endorsed a research paper proposing new educational targets for 14-year-olds. 政府基本上支持建议对14 岁少年实行新教育目标的研究报告。 来自《简明英汉词典》

18 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