2006年VOA标准英语-Vietnam Trade Measure Fails Ahead of Bush Visit

By Dan Robinson
Capitol Hill
15 November 2006

Hopes President Bush may have had of signing Vietnam trade legislation before departing for the Asia economic summit in Hanoi have faded as Republican leaders in the House of Representatives have decided¹ to temporarily not re-submit a bill that unexpectedly failed a House vote Monday.

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The setback² involves legislation to establish permanent normal trade relations [PNTR], once known as Most Favored Nation status, with Vietnam.

Monday, the president's hopes that the legislation would clear Congress in time for his trip to Hanoi and the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation [APEC] summit in Hanoi, received an unexpected blow.

While the bill received a majority of votes, with 228 members voting for it and 168 opposed, it failed to achieve the required two-thirds majority to pass under a legislative³ method used to consider bills considered "non-controversial", falling short by 32 votes.

In the Monday vote, 94 Democrats⁴ voted against the bill, joined by 66 Republicans and one Independent, while 90 Democrats joined 138 Republicans in supporting it.

Though House Republicans said they might make another attempt, Majority Leader John Boehner now says the measure will not be brought up again this week, adding he expects the House will revisit it before the Republican-controlled 109th Congress adjourns⁵.

Granting Vietnam permanent normal trade relations has been near the top of the president's trade agenda, which also includes hopes that another trade pact⁶ involving Peru and Andean countries would pass in coming weeks.

PNTR would normalize trade ties with Vietnam more than a decade after the countries established diplomatic relations in 1995, and five years after Vietnam and the U.S. signed a bilateral⁷ trade deal.

Congressional approval is necessary if Vietnam is to obtain full benefits of eventual⁸ membership in the World Trade Organization.

On Monday, Democrats and Republicans echoed the Bush administration position that PNTR could help promote change in other areas such as democratization and human rights in Vietnam.
 
 
Bill Thomas
  
Congressman⁹ Bill Thomas managed the debate for Republicans:

"There is still concern on Vietnam's record on human rights and religious freedom," said Bill Thomas. "Just because it decides to join the World Trade Organization doesn't mean that it has decided in all aspects to join the world's civilized¹⁰ nations, in its behavior not only to its people, and to others."

But discussion also focused on the question of safeguards against potential dumping of textiles on the U.S. market, a key concern of lawmakers from textile-producing states.

Supporters said they thought concerns about dumping were resolved by changes in the bill, but Democratic Congressman Sander Levin disagreed:

"The Bush administration did not negotiate a general surge provision here, nor a textile surge provision," said Sander Levin. "There were both in the China [WTO] accession agreement. This is a serious, or at least, an omission¹¹ that should not be replicated¹²."

Trade between the U.S. and Vietnam reached about $8 billion in 2005, and advocates of PNTR point to what they say would be advantages of opening Vietnam's market to U.S. manufactured goods and agricultural commodities.

Republican's decision not to bring the bill up again immediately came amid reports that PNTR for Vietnam still faced obstacles in the Senate, where two senators were still considering a U.S. Trade Representative plan to monitor Vietnamese apparel imports once Vietnam joins the WTO.

1 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

2 setback   

n.退步，挫折，挫败

参考例句：

• Since that time there has never been any setback in his career.从那时起他在事业上一直没有遇到周折。
• She views every minor setback as a disaster.她把每个较小的挫折都看成重大灾难。

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 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》

5 adjourns   

（使）休会， （使）休庭( adjourn的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Congress adjourns in 3 weeks, we can't do this alone. 距国会开会只有3个星期，我们不能单干。
• And so, at six in the morning, a victorious Convention adjourns. 这样，早上六点，胜利的国民议会休会了。

6 pact   

n.合同，条约，公约，协定

参考例句：

• The two opposition parties made an electoral pact.那两个反对党订了一个有关选举的协定。
• The trade pact between those two countries came to an end.那两国的通商协定宣告结束。

7 bilateral   

adj.双方的，两边的，两侧的

参考例句：

• They have been negotiating a bilateral trade deal.他们一直在商谈一项双边贸易协定。
• There was a wide gap between the views of the two statesmen on the bilateral cooperation.对双方合作的问题，两位政治家各自所持的看法差距甚大。

8 eventual   

adj.最后的，结局的，最终的

参考例句：

• Several schools face eventual closure.几所学校面临最终关闭。
• Both parties expressed optimism about an eventual solution.双方对问题的最终解决都表示乐观。

9 Congressman   

n.（美）国会议员

参考例句：

• He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman.他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。
• The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics.这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。

10 civilized   

a.有教养的，文雅的

参考例句：

• Racism is abhorrent to a civilized society. 文明社会憎恶种族主义。
• rising crime in our so-called civilized societies 在我们所谓文明社会中日益增多的犯罪行为

11 omission   

n.省略，删节；遗漏或省略的事物，冗长

参考例句：

• The omission of the girls was unfair.把女孩排除在外是不公平的。
• The omission of this chapter from the third edition was a gross oversight.第三版漏印这一章是个大疏忽。

12 replicated   

复制( replicate的过去式和过去分词 )； 重复； 再造； 再生

参考例句：

• Later outplant the seedlings in a replicated permanent test plantation. 以后苗木出圃栽植成重复的永久性试验林。
• The phage has replicated and the donor cells have lysed. 噬菌体已复制和给体细胞已发生裂解。