VOA标准英语2013--Budget Cuts Hit US Foreign Aid Programs

Budget Cuts Hit US Foreign Aid Programs

Mandatory¹ federal cuts

Like other federal agencies, the U. S. Agency for International Development has to cut its budget as a result of sequestration. The four-percent USAID must cut will reduce its foreign assistance, but many ongoing² projects will not be affected³ immediately since USAID provides funding up to two years in advance.

Even if the budget cuts for USAID and other U.S. aid and development programs remain small, they will affect the health and the lives of real people, says George Ingram of the Brookings Institution.

"The area that will be impacted the most is health, and that because it is the biggest part of the development budget. And the cuts that will be taken on health are almost $400 million, which is a large amount of money,' Ingram explained. The second is humanitarian⁴ assistance, which will be cut by about $200 million. Both cases are very serious hits because in both of these accounts we are talking about life and death situations."

International programs dependent on US aid

Raj Kumar is President of Devex, an organization that researches and reports on international aid. He thinks that people with HIV-AIDS might suffer the most. "We are in a world with 30 million people living with HIV, for example. Many of them are dependent on US foreign assistance," he said.

One bright spot in the aid picture is the increasing role of private philanthropies, like the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

And corporations are also becoming involved in development -- in communities where they do business and want people to be able to afford their products.

Still, these efforts can not close the entire gap in aid provided by the US government -- especially in the area of health and disaster assistance.

"The private sector⁵ is not going step in and provide the medical care, the food, the water that is required when you have humanitarian crisis," noted⁶ Ingram.

While many Americans criticize foreign aid, the public actually supports many of its goals.

"The American people are very strongly supportive of helping⁷ other countries with their health problems, with education, with microenterprise, with promoting democracy, with promoting economic growth. Americans don`t like foreign aid but they seem to support all of the elements of it," added Ingram.

"The people who are very supportive of national security, traditionally more conservative candidates, Republican candidates, have come on board with foreign assistance because they see it as a part of broader national security, antiterrorism strategy," said Kumar.

And while foreign aid is a popular punching bag in political debates, it actually accounts for no more than 1 percent of the entire US budget. 

1 mandatory   

adj.命令的；强制的；义务的；n.受托者

参考例句：

• It's mandatory to pay taxes.缴税是义务性的。
• There is no mandatory paid annual leave in the U.S.美国没有强制带薪年假。

2 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。

3 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

4 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

5 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

6 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

7 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。