2006年VOA标准英语-Foreigners Spend Hundreds of Millions of D

By Stephanie Ho
Washington
11 February 2006
 
The issue of lobbying, which is the process of trying to influence policy-makers in favor of a specific cause, has been under intense scrutiny¹ in the United States because of a recent corruption³ scandal that is expected to involve lawmakers on Capitol Hill. One aspect of lobbying that has so far escaped close attention, however, is the efforts of foreign entities⁴ to affect U.S. policy.

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Dennis Hastert (file photo)   
  

There is bipartisan unanimity⁵ in Washington on at least one issue. According to both Republican House Majority leader Dennis Hastert and Democratic Senator Joseph Lieberman, lobbying abuse is a problem.

HASTERT: "I have been deeply disturbed by those who have broken the rules of the House and in some instances have pleaded guilty to breaking the law."

 
Senator Joe Lieberman
  
LIEBERMAN: 

"Now is our opportunity and really our responsibility to restore the trust of the American people in their elected government and, to the best of our ability, scrub clean the point where money, politics and government meet in America."

So far, though, most of the media attention has focused on the corrupt² lobbying activities of domestic interests. But, the Center for Public Integrity, a nonprofit organization that investigates public policy issues, says lobbying by foreign entities is also a problem.

"It's a very big issue," said Alex Knott, the Center's political editor. "We've found that nearly 100 countries have spent money lobbying our federal government. And, since 1998, they've spent $624 million. That's a very large amount."

Knott says the bulk of the money from foreign companies that lobby the U.S. government comes from other developed countries.

"Your top five countries are the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Germany, Japan and France," he said. "And together, they've spent $423 million lobbying the federal government since 1998."

Knott says the remaining lobby money comes from many other countries - some expected, some not.

"Well, there's definitely some countries that people often bat their eyes at [raise questions] when they see it," explained Alex Knott. "Saudi Arabia lobbies our federal government. South Africa lobbied our federal government. Countries like Vietnam lobbies our federal government. Kenya, Sri Lanka, Haiti, Pakistan."

One country that has come under scrutiny is Israel, which the Center for Public Integrity says spent more than $3.6 million to lobby the U.S. government, from 1998 to 2004. At the same time, though, there is controversy⁶ surrounding the well-known group AIPAC, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, which is an American organization, but spends millions of dollars to lobby exclusively on behalf of Israel.

For American citizens, the Constitution guarantees the right to lobby.

"It's in the First Amendment⁷. There's a right to petition to redress⁸ grievances⁹, and that's where lobbying comes from," said University at Buffalo¹⁰ finance professor Michael Rozeff.

He says he believes it is natural for foreign companies and governments to also want to lobby Washington, to promote their country's commercial interests or to try to affect U.S. policy.

One way they do this is by hiring prominent former U.S. politicians to act on their behalf. In 2004, Bob Dole¹¹, former senator and presidential candidate, lobbied on behalf of Indonesia.

"You cannot condemn¹² that," he said. "It makes sense. If the United States has gotten involved with Taiwan, then it's natural for Mainland China to want to influence the outcome. Or if the United States has jawboned [criticized] about the value of the [Chinese currency, the] yuan - it has done more than jawboned, it has made threats about what might happen if China didn't revalue the yuan, then it's natural for them [the Chinese] to lobby. You can't stop that."

Experts are mixed as to how successful lobbyists are. Rozeff adds, though, that as the United States has become a dominant¹³ world power, foreigners have taken greater interest in trying to influence U.S. decisions on a whole range of topics, from trade to arms sales to taxation¹⁴.

"The amount or extent of lobbying depends on the favors and the subsidies¹⁵ and the taxes and the regulations that the U.S. government can pass," said Rozeff. "And the bigger the government has got and the more activities it's gotten engaged in, the more the lobbying has done."

Rozeff says he is skeptical¹⁶ that any lobbying reforms ultimately passed by Congress will greatly affect foreign lobbying activities. He says the new regulations largely deal with issues like making all lobbying activities more transparent¹⁷. This will make it harder to lobby, but, he adds, it won't stop people, whether Americans or foreigners, from doing it.

1 scrutiny   

n.详细检查，仔细观察

参考例句：

• His work looks all right,but it will not bear scrutiny.他的工作似乎很好，但是经不起仔细检查。
• Few wives in their forties can weather such a scrutiny.很少年过四十的妻子经得起这么仔细的观察。

2 corrupt   

v.贿赂，收买；adj.腐败的，贪污的

参考例句：

• The newspaper alleged the mayor's corrupt practices.那家报纸断言市长有舞弊行为。
• This judge is corrupt.这个法官贪污。

3 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。

4 entities   

实体对像； 实体，独立存在体，实际存在物( entity的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Our newspaper and our printing business form separate corporate entities. 我们的报纸和印刷业形成相对独立的企业实体。
• The North American continent is made up of three great structural entities. 北美大陆是由三个构造单元组成的。

5 unanimity   

n.全体一致，一致同意

参考例句：

• These discussions have led to a remarkable unanimity.这些讨论导致引人注目的一致意见。
• There is no unanimity of opinion as to the best one.没有一个公认的最好意见。

6 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。

7 amendment   

n.改正，修正，改善，修正案

参考例句：

• The amendment was rejected by 207 voters to 143.这项修正案以207票对143票被否决。
• The Opposition has tabled an amendment to the bill.反对党已经就该议案提交了一项修正条款。

8 redress   

n.赔偿，救济，矫正；v.纠正，匡正，革除

参考例句：

• He did all that he possibly could to redress the wrongs.他尽了一切努力革除弊端。
• Any man deserves redress if he has been injured unfairly.任何人若蒙受不公平的损害都应获得赔偿。

9 grievances   

n.委屈( grievance的名词复数 )；苦衷；不满；牢骚

参考例句：

• The trade union leader spoke about the grievances of the workers. 工会领袖述说工人们的苦情。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• He gave air to his grievances. 他申诉了他的冤情。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 buffalo   

n.(北美)野牛；(亚洲)水牛

参考例句：

• Asian buffalo isn't as wild as that of America's. 亚洲水牛比美洲水牛温顺些。
• The boots are made of buffalo hide. 这双靴子是由水牛皮制成的。

11 dole   

n.救济，（失业）救济金；vt.（out）发放，发给

参考例句：

• It's not easy living on the dole.靠领取失业救济金生活并不容易。
• Many families are living on the dole since the strike.罢工以来，许多家庭靠失业救济金度日。

12 condemn   

vt.谴责，指责；宣判(罪犯)，判刑

参考例句：

• Some praise him,whereas others condemn him.有些人赞扬他，而有些人谴责他。
• We mustn't condemn him on mere suppositions.我们不可全凭臆测来指责他。

13 dominant   

adj.支配的，统治的；占优势的；显性的；n.主因，要素，主要的人(或物)；显性基因

参考例句：

• The British were formerly dominant in India.英国人从前统治印度。
• She was a dominant figure in the French film industry.她在法国电影界是个举足轻重的人物。

14 taxation   

n.征税，税收，税金

参考例句：

• He made a number of simplifications in the taxation system.他在税制上作了一些简化。
• The increase of taxation is an important fiscal policy.增税是一项重要的财政政策。

15 subsidies   

n.补贴，津贴，补助金( subsidy的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• European agriculture ministers failed to break the deadlock over farm subsidies. 欧洲各国农业部长在农业补贴问题上未能打破僵局。
• Agricultural subsidies absorb about half the EU's income. 农业补贴占去了欧盟收入的大约一半。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 skeptical   

adj.怀疑的，多疑的

参考例句：

• Others here are more skeptical about the chances for justice being done.这里的其他人更为怀疑正义能否得到伸张。
• Her look was skeptical and resigned.她的表情是将信将疑而又无可奈何。

17 transparent   

adj.明显的，无疑的；透明的

参考例句：

• The water is so transparent that we can see the fishes swimming.水清澈透明，可以看到鱼儿游来游去。
• The window glass is transparent.窗玻璃是透明的。