2006年VOA标准英语-US House of Representatives Approves Iraq Spend

By Dan Robinson
Capitol Hill
13 June 2006

The House of Representatives has approved, by a vote of 351 to 67, $70 billion in new funding in support of U.S. military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. The vote comes a few days before a House debate on Iraq that majority Republicans hope will convey a message of support for the new government in Baghdad.

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For several years, U.S. military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan have been funded through special emergency supplemental spending bills Congress approves after receiving requests from the White House.

The legislation approved Tuesday is no exception, with just over $70 billion of the total $94.5 billion devoted¹ to the needs of American soldiers fighting to support the new governments in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The bill is the product of difficult negotiations² with the Senate to produce a compromise resolving differences between versions passed much earlier by both chambers³ of Congress.

A Senate version had included additional money for U.S. port and border security and other purposes, exceeding a limit set by President Bush, who threatened to veto any final measure that did not keep spending to about the $94 billion level.

Although most House Democrats⁵ supported the compromise legislation, many used the occasion to renew complaints about how the Bush administration has funded the war, and its overall handling of Iraq.

"The very idea that we are once again funding the conflict through a supplemental spending bill is both dishonest and dishonorable," said Louise Slaughter⁶, a Democrat⁴ from New York. "It is part of a massive effort to hide the true cost of the war from the public because supplemental spending bills are not counted in the [regular] budget. They therefore don't increase our national deficits⁷ on paper, even though they do increase them in reality."

In defense⁸, Republicans pointed⁹ to the recent killing¹⁰ of the al-Qaida leader in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, by the U.S. military as progress, saying the United States has no choice but to remain engaged in Iraq.

"We have to realize that the action that was taken last week was in fact a blow to the issue of terrorism, which is one we have to deal with on a regular basis, and daily," said David Dreier, a California Republican.

House approval of the supplemental bill, which also contains money for hurricane victims in the U.S. Gulf¹¹ Coast, sends the compromise measure back to the Senate which is expected to quickly approve and then send the measure to President Bush for signature.

Debate on the Iraq-Afghanistan spending measure provided a preview of what is expected to be a heated separate debate on Iraq that majority Republicans have scheduled for the House on Thursday.

Republicans have drafted a resolution declaring that the United States will complete the mission in Iraq and prevail in the global war on terror, and stating that setting an arbitrary date for withdrawing troops is not in the interest of the United States.

Last year, Republicans forced a similar debate in an attempt to blunt the impact of a call by a prominent pro-defense Democrat, Congressman¹² John Murtha, for U.S. troops to begin withdrawing from Iraq within six months.

1 devoted   

adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的

参考例句：

• He devoted his life to the educational cause of the motherland.他为祖国的教育事业贡献了一生。
• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。

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 chambers   

n.房间( chamber的名词复数 )；（议会的）议院；卧室；会议厅

参考例句：

• The body will be removed into one of the cold storage chambers. 尸体将被移到一个冷冻间里。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Mr Chambers's readable book concentrates on the middle passage: the time Ransome spent in Russia. Chambers先生的这本值得一看的书重点在中间：Ransome在俄国的那几年。 来自互联网

4 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

5 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》

6 slaughter   

n.屠杀，屠宰；vt.屠杀，宰杀

参考例句：

• I couldn't stand to watch them slaughter the cattle.我不忍看他们宰牛。
• Wholesale slaughter was carried out in the name of progress.大规模的屠杀在维护进步的名义下进行。

7 deficits   

n.不足额( deficit的名词复数 )；赤字；亏空；亏损

参考例句：

• The Ministry of Finance consistently overestimated its budget deficits. 财政部一贯高估预算赤字。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Many of the world's farmers are also incurring economic deficits. 世界上许多农民还在遭受经济上的亏损。 来自辞典例句

8 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。

9 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

10 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。

11 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

12 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。