2006年VOA标准英语-Key US Congressional Committee Advances Da

By Dan Robinson
Washington
08 March 2006

A key committee of the U.S. Congress has approved legislation aimed at stepping up pressure on the government of Sudan because the situation in Darfur. A measure calling for sanctions against the government in Khartoum now goes to the full House of Representatives for consideration.

---------------------------------------------

If enacted¹, the Darfur Peace and Accountability Act would put more pressure on Sudan because of its support for Arab militias² killing³ civilians⁴ in Darfur.

Since the situation in Darfur came to light, U.S. lawmakers have advocated stronger action to deal with what the Bush administration has recognized as genocide in Darfur.

Such action would include more energetic U.S. efforts to hold specific members of the government in Khartoum responsible for atrocities⁵.

The Darfur legislation would block assets of and deny visas to individuals responsible for acts of genocide, war crimes or crimes against humanity in Sudan. It would also deny entry at U.S. ports to certain cargo⁶ ships or oil tankers⁷.

"At the core of it is the amending⁸ of the Comprehensive Peace Act in Sudan of 2004 to block the assets and to restrict the travel of any individual whom the president has determined⁹ is responsible, whether by commission or omission¹⁰, for acts of genocide, war crimes or crimes against humanity in the Darfur region," said Republican Congressman¹¹ Chris Smith, who heads the House Africa Subcommittee.

African Union peacekeeper and colleagues in background (2005 file photo)   
  
It also contains provisions to step up U.S. assistance to the 7,000-member Africa Union Peacekeeping Mission, support expansion of the force so it can effectively prevent more violence, and encourage NATO to reinforce AU troops.

Congressman Donald Payne is one of the most outspoken¹² members of Congress on the situation in Darfur.

"We must hold accountable those persons who are responsible for genocide at all levels, especially at the highest level in the National Congress Party, to ensure that they are not free to commit these atrocities again," he said.

The House bill also contains what is called sense of the Congress language designating the Janjaweed as a foreign terrorist organization.

Also addressing the Darfur situation Wednesday was Democratic Congresswoman Barbara Lee, who had this comment on C-SPAN television.

"Anywhere between 200,000 and 400,000 individuals have died. This is in the last few years. 200,000 to 400,000 people," she said. "Also when you look at the two million who have been displaced, there are two million people not living at home not living in their villages. This is a crisis of enormous proportions. It is an emergency and it requires our immediate¹³ attention. I mean immediate attention, not six months from now, but now."

A number of House lawmakers who recently visited Darfur and Khartoum met this week with U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan to discuss their findings.

Similar Darfur-related legislation pending¹⁴ in the Senate would make U.S. assistance to Sudan, other than that required to implement¹⁵ the North-South peace accord, dependent on a number of conditions.

These include concrete steps by Khartoum to demobilize Janjaweed militias, provide full access by humanitarian¹⁶ groups, permit the voluntary repatriation¹⁷ of refugees and displaced persons, and cooperate with efforts to bring those responsible for genocide to justice.

The latest congressional attention on Darfur coincided with a new report by Human Rights Watch accusing the Khartoum government of failing to undertake key reforms under the North-South Peace agreement to expand democratization and end human rights abuses.

1 enacted   

制定（法律），通过（法案）( enact的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• legislation enacted by parliament 由议会通过的法律
• Outside in the little lobby another scene was begin enacted. 外面的小休息室里又是另一番景象。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

2 militias   

n.民兵组织，民兵( militia的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The troops will not attempt to disarm the warring militias. 部队并不打算解除战斗中的民兵武装。 来自辞典例句
• The neighborhood was a battleground for Shiite and Sunni militias. 那里曾是什叶派和逊尼派武装分子的战场。 来自互联网

3 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

4 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

5 atrocities   

n.邪恶，暴行( atrocity的名词复数 )；滔天大罪

参考例句：

• They were guilty of the most barbarous and inhuman atrocities. 他们犯有最野蛮、最灭绝人性的残暴罪行。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The enemy's atrocities made one boil with anger. 敌人的暴行令人发指。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

6 cargo   

n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物

参考例句：

• The ship has a cargo of about 200 ton.这条船大约有200吨的货物。
• A lot of people discharged the cargo from a ship.许多人从船上卸下货物。

7 tankers   

运送大量液体或气体的轮船[卡车]( tanker的名词复数 )； 油轮； 罐车； 油槽车

参考例句：

• They should stop offloading waste from oil tankers into the sea. 他们应当停止从油轮上往海里倾倒废弃物。
• The harbour admits large tankers and freighters. 这个港口容得下巨型油船和货轮。

8 amending   

改良，修改，修订( amend的现在分词 )； 改良，修改，修订( amend的第三人称单数 )( amends的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Amending acts in 1933,1934, and 1935 attempted to help honest debtors rehabilitate themselves. 一九三三年，一九三四年和一九三五年通过的修正案是为了帮助诚实的债务人恢复自己的地位。
• Two ways were used about the error-amending of contour curve. 采用两种方法对凸轮轮廓曲线进行了修正。

9 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

10 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。

11 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。

12 outspoken   

adj.直言无讳的，坦率的，坦白无隐的

参考例句：

• He was outspoken in his criticism.他在批评中直言不讳。
• She is an outspoken critic of the school system in this city.她是这座城市里学校制度的坦率的批评者。

13 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

14 pending   

prep.直到，等待…期间；adj.待定的；迫近的

参考例句：

• The lawsuit is still pending in the state court.这案子仍在州法庭等待定夺。
• He knew my examination was pending.他知道我就要考试了。

15 implement   

n.(pl.)工具，器具；vt.实行，实施，执行

参考例句：

• Don't undertake a project unless you can implement it.不要承担一项计划，除非你能完成这项计划。
• The best implement for digging a garden is a spade.在花园里挖土的最好工具是铁锹。

16 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。

17 repatriation   

n.遣送回国，归国

参考例句：

• The Volrep programme is the preferred means of repatriation. 政府认为自愿遣返计划的遣返方法较为可取。 来自互联网
• Arrange the cargo claiming and maritime affairs,crews repatriation,medical treatment,traveling so on. （六）洽办货物理赔，船舶海事处理，办理船员遣返，就医，旅游等。 来自互联网