VOA常速英语2014--共和党控制参议院或将改变美国外交政策

 

Republican Control of Congress Could Change Obama Foreign Policy 共和党控制参议院或将改变美国外交政策

STATE DEPARTMENT— 

With Republicans set to take control of the U.S. Senate early next year following the results of Tuesday's midterm elections, President Barack Obama may face a different foreign policy landscape during his last two years in office.

Republican control of both houses of Congress would limit the president’s room to maneuver¹ on two of his biggest foreign policy goals, said American University assistant professor Guy Ziv.

一旦共和党控制国会两院，这将会限制总统对两大外交政策目标的操纵，美洲大学助理教授Guy Ziv如是说。

"This will create much more difficulty for President Obama to make the kind of progress that he’s wanted to see in both the Iranian negotiations² - Iran’s nuclear negotiations - and the Israeli/Palestinian peace process," said Ziv, who teaches classes on foreign policy and international negotiations. "Both of those issues have regrettably been used over the years as a partisan³ football on Capitol Hill."

“奥巴马总统要想在伊朗核谈判和巴以和平进程上取得进展，这一局面会给他带来很多困难。多年来，这两个问题在国会山一直被用作党派之争的工具，这是令人遗憾的。”

Iran's nuclear program

Talks on Iran’s nuclear program are scheduled to end later this month, with international negotiators working to convince Iran to limit its atomic activities in exchange for easing some economic sanctions.

伊朗核项目谈判原定于本月晚些时候举行，国际协商者在努力说服伊朗限制其核活动，交换条件是放松某些经济制裁。

Many Senate Republicans are wary⁴ of a deal that allows Tehran to continue enriching any uranium, but Obama already has the authority to waive⁵ U.S. sanctions without congressional approval.

参议院的很多共和党人都对允许德黑兰继续浓缩铀的协议表示担心，但奥巴马已经在不经过国会批准的情况下授权免除美国的制裁。

Cato Institute analyst⁶ Justin Logan said that could change as Republicans move to more forcefully confront Iran.

卡托研究所分析员贾斯丁·罗根说，随着共和党对伊朗采取更强硬态度，这一局面可能会发生改变。

"There’s some prospect⁷ that a large Republican wave and takeover of the Senate could raise the prospect of sanctions bills against Iran without that waiver authority," Logan said. "But that requires Congress to sort of take responsibility for the policy and leave its fingerprints⁸ on the policy. And historically, [it has] been very wary of doing that."

“有预测称共和党控制参议院的话，那么加强对伊朗制裁的可能性会增加，但是这需要国会在一定程度上对该政策负责任，不要改变该政策，在过去该党一直对此保持谨慎。”

Republican Senator John McCain has led his party’s criticism of the slow U.S. support for moderate rebels in Syria and may push for a more active military role, said Atlantic Council analyst Robert Manning.

共和党议员约翰·麦凯恩带领该党批评美国未能及时对叙利亚温和派叛军提供支持，可能会要求美国发挥更积极的军事角色，大西洋理事会分析员罗伯特·曼宁如是说。

“I think on the security side, you are likely to see Senator McCain taking over the Armed Forces Committee in the Senate, and I think that may be contentious⁹ in terms of defense¹⁰ spending and some of our military activities in the Middle East and elsewhere," Manning said.

“我想在安全方面，我们可能会看到参议员麦凯恩会接管参议院武装部队委员会，我想在国防开支和美国在中东等地的军事活动方面会有争议。”

While the U.S. has started a program to train and equip Syrian rebels, the issue is not likely to go away given the fight against Islamic State militants¹¹.

尽管美国已开始培训并提供叙利亚叛军武器的项目，但考虑到针对IS的战斗，该问题不大可能很快解决。

"There’s a program in place. It is not being conducted the way Senator McCain would like it to be conducted," Cato's Logan said. "So I think the change here might really be how the conversation goes, what sorts of hearings happen, and how Republicans in the Senate can affect the press coverage¹², what is said about the president’s policies."

“目前已经实施了该项目，不会以参议员麦凯恩希望实施的方式来实施，所以我想真正的改变可能是如何进行对话，进行什么样的听审，以及参议院中的共和党如何影响媒体报道，以及如何评价总统的政策。”

State Department

State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said U.S. diplomats¹³ cooperate equally with whomever controls Congress.

国务院女发言人简·帕萨基说不管谁控制国会，美国外交人员都会与之合作。

"The State Department is a nonpartisan building and one where we work with Democrats¹⁴ and Republicans, so we will continue to move forward with that in mind," Psaki said.

“国务院是个无党派机构，我们和民主党及共和党都合作，所以我们将继续以这样的方式工作。”

As for Secretary of State John Kerry’s tenure¹⁵, there were press reports during this campaign quoting Obama administration sources criticizing his foreign policy pursuits being "untethered" from the president. 

至于国务卿约翰·克里的任期，有媒体在这次选举中援引奥巴马政府批评其外交政策目标的意见，称其政策目标和总统的目标“背道而驰”。

Psaki said the White House is "making pretty clear he will be here."

帕萨基说白宫“明确表示他将继续任职”。

1 maneuver   

n.策略[pl.]演习；v.(巧妙)控制；用策略

参考例句：

• All the fighters landed safely on the airport after the military maneuver.在军事演习后，所有战斗机都安全降落在机场上。
• I did get her attention with this maneuver.我用这个策略确实引起了她的注意。

2 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

3 partisan   

adj.党派性的；游击队的；n.游击队员；党徒

参考例句：

• In their anger they forget all the partisan quarrels.愤怒之中，他们忘掉一切党派之争。
• The numerous newly created partisan detachments began working slowly towards that region.许多新建的游击队都开始慢慢地向那里移动。

4 wary   

adj.谨慎的，机警的，小心的

参考例句：

• He is wary of telling secrets to others.他谨防向他人泄露秘密。
• Paula frowned,suddenly wary.宝拉皱了皱眉头，突然警惕起来。

5 waive   

vt.放弃，不坚持(规定、要求、权力等)

参考例句：

• I'll record to our habitat office waive our claim immediately.我立即写信给咱们的总公司提出放弃索赔。
• In view of the unusual circumstances,they agree to waive their requirement.鉴于特殊情况，他们同意放弃他们的要求。

6 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

7 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。

8 fingerprints   

n.指纹( fingerprint的名词复数 )v.指纹( fingerprint的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Everyone's fingerprints are unique. 每个人的指纹都是独一无二的。
• They wore gloves so as not to leave any fingerprints behind (them). 他们戴着手套，以免留下指纹。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 contentious   

adj.好辩的，善争吵的

参考例句：

• She was really not of the contentious fighting sort.她委实不是好吵好闹的人。
• Since then they have tended to steer clear of contentious issues.从那时起，他们总想方设法避开有争议的问题。

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 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

12 coverage   

n.报导，保险范围，保险额，范围，覆盖

参考例句：

• There's little coverage of foreign news in the newspaper.报纸上几乎没有国外新闻报道。
• This is an insurance policy with extensive coverage.这是一项承保范围广泛的保险。

13 diplomats   

n.外交官( diplomat的名词复数 )；有手腕的人，善于交际的人

参考例句：

• These events led to the expulsion of senior diplomats from the country. 这些事件导致一些高级外交官被驱逐出境。
• The court has no jurisdiction over foreign diplomats living in this country. 法院对驻本国的外交官无裁判权。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 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》

15 tenure   

n.终身职位；任期；(土地)保有权，保有期

参考例句：

• He remained popular throughout his tenure of the office of mayor.他在担任市长的整个任期内都深得民心。
• Land tenure is a leading political issue in many parts of the world.土地的保有权在世界很多地区是主要的政治问题。