VOA标准英语2008年-US Senators Want Iraq to Spend Oil Revenue on R

U.S. lawmakers want Iraq to use bigger oil profits to pay for more of its own reconstruction¹. VOA Correspondent Scott Stearns reports, Iraq's parliament has approved a supplementary² budget that raises this year's spending to more than $70 billion.
　

An oil pipeline3 southeast of Baghdad, 03 Jul 2008

The U.S. Government Accountability Office says higher oil prices could earn Iraq up to $79 billion this year. That is twice its average annual oil revenue from 2005 to 2007.

Higher oil earnings⁴ could give the government in Baghdad a budget surplus of up to $50 billion - a windfall that has been noticed by senior senators in both U.S. political parties.

Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Michigan Democrat⁵ Carl Levin and the committee's ranking Republican Virginia Senator John Warner say Iraq should use some of that money to repay American taxpayers⁶ who have already spent approximately $48 billion stabilizing⁷ and rebuilding Iraq.

The GAO report says Iraq's central ministries⁸ last year spent just 11 percent of their capital investment budget - less than $900 million.

Since the 2003 invasion, the report says the United States has spent more than $23 billion restoring Iraqi security, oil, electricity and water. From 2005 to April of this year, Iraq's government has spent less than $4 billion on similar services.

Levin says it is inexcusable that U.S. taxpayers are continuing to pay for projects that Iraqis are fully⁹ capable of funding themselves.

Warner says it is time for Baghdad to use its revenue and surplus to fully assume responsibility for providing essential services instead of relying on American taxpayers who have been the overwhelming source of reconstruction funds so far.

In March of 2003, then-U.S. Deputy Defense¹⁰ Secretary Paul Wolfowitz estimated rebuilding costs in the tens of billions of dollars and told Congress that Iraq could finance its own reconstruction through oil revenue.

Acting¹¹ State Department Spokesman Gonzalo Gallegos says it is wrong to conclude from the new GAO report that U.S. taxpayers alone are paying to rebuild Iraq.

"The truth is that we spent a lot of money after liberation to help the country get on its feet, after years of dictatorship," he said. "The large-scale reconstruction-focussed assistance started winding¹² down several years ago as Iraqi revenues and capabilities¹³ began to grow. Since last year, we have been focusing our aid not on capital projects but capacity-building, helping¹⁴ to address many of the issues raised in the GAO report."

Parliament's passage of a $21 billion supplementary budget will reduce Iraq's overall surplus, some of which is earning millions of dollars in interest at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Iraqi Finance Minister Bayan Jabr says the additional spending is needed for food rations¹⁵, fuel for power plants, and higher salaries for civil servants.

White House Spokewoman Dana Perino says Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's government has made a lot of progress getting money directly to people living under what she calls terrible conditions in Sadr City, Basra, and Mosul. She says the Bush administration is also working with Baghdad to eliminate corruption¹⁶ to make sure they are spending their money responsibly.

The GAO report says obstacles to Iraq spending more of its own money include a shortage of trained budgetary and procurement¹⁷ staff, a weak accounting¹⁸ system, and sectarian violence.

1 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。

2 supplementary   

adj.补充的，附加的

参考例句：

• There is a supplementary water supply in case the rain supply fails.万一主水源断了，我们另外有供水的地方。
• A supplementary volume has been published containing the index.附有索引的增补卷已经出版。

3 pipeline   

n.管道，管线

参考例句：

• The pipeline supplies Jordan with 15 per cent of its crude oil.该管道供给约旦15%的原油。
• A single pipeline serves all the houses with water.一条单管路给所有的房子供水。

4 earnings   

n.工资收人；利润，利益，所得

参考例句：

• That old man lives on the earnings of his daughter.那个老人靠他女儿的收入维持生活。
• Last year there was a 20% decrease in his earnings.去年他的收入减少了20%。

5 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。

6 taxpayers   

纳税人，纳税的机构( taxpayer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Finance for education comes from taxpayers. 教育经费来自纳税人。
• She was declaiming against the waste of the taxpayers' money. 她慷慨陈词猛烈抨击对纳税人金钱的浪费。

7 stabilizing   

n.稳定化处理[退火]v.（使）稳定， （使）稳固( stabilize的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The disulfide bridges might then be viewed primarily as stabilizing components. 二硫桥可以被看作是初级的稳定因素。 来自辞典例句
• These stabilizing design changes are usually not desirable for steady-state operation. 这些增加稳定性的设计改变通常不太符合稳态工作的要求。 来自辞典例句

8 ministries   

（政府的）部( ministry的名词复数 )； 神职； 牧师职位； 神职任期

参考例句：

• Local authorities must refer everything to the central ministries. 地方管理机构应请示中央主管部门。
• The number of Ministries has been pared down by a third. 部委的数量已经减少了1/3。

9 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

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。

11 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

12 winding   

n.绕，缠，绕组，线圈

参考例句：

• A winding lane led down towards the river.一条弯弯曲曲的小路通向河边。
• The winding trail caused us to lose our orientation.迂回曲折的小道使我们迷失了方向。

13 capabilities   

n.能力( capability的名词复数 )；可能；容量；[复数]潜在能力

参考例句：

• He was somewhat pompous and had a high opinion of his own capabilities. 他有点自大，自视甚高。 来自辞典例句
• Some programmers use tabs to break complex product capabilities into smaller chunks. 一些程序员认为，标签可以将复杂的功能分为每个窗格一组简单的功能。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

14 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

15 rations   

定量( ration的名词复数 )； 配给量； 正常量； 合理的量

参考例句：

• They are provisioned with seven days' rations. 他们得到了7天的给养。
• The soldiers complained that they were getting short rations. 士兵们抱怨他们得到的配给不够数。

16 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

17 procurement   

n.采购；获得

参考例句：

• He is in charge of the procurement of materials.他负责物资的采购。
• More and more,human food procurement came to have a dominant effect on their evolution.人类获取食物愈来愈显著地影响到人类的进化。

18 accounting   

n.会计，会计学，借贷对照表

参考例句：

• A job fell vacant in the accounting department.财会部出现了一个空缺。
• There's an accounting error in this entry.这笔账目里有差错。