2007年VOA标准英语-Experts Debate US War Powers as Senate Debates

By Jim Fry
Washington
18 September 2007
 

The U.S. Senate this week is considering whether to restrict President Bush's conduct of the war in Iraq.  It is a long awaited showdown between Mr. Bush and Democrats¹ who say they want to impose firm timetables for the withdrawal² of U.S. troops. While a president and Congress share war powers under the U.S. Constitution, some experts say the advantage now favors the chief executive. VOA's Jim Fry takes a closer look.

The commander-in-chief on Friday joined Marines for lunch at a military base near Washington, D.C.

President Bush sought the company of soldiers the same week that his top general in Iraq -- David Petreaus -- and his chief diplomat³ there -- Ambassador Ryan Crocker -- proposed to Congess modest troop reductions. They argued against rapid withdrawal.

Even though Mr. Bush urged Congress to agree to the general's plan, Democrats in the U.S. Senate said they would not.  Senator Harry⁴ Reid leads the opposition⁵ party. He said, "There will be amendments⁶ offered to change the course of the war."

"It's futile," says University of Virginia scholar Larry Sabato. He says because Democrats hold only a one vote majority, they will not win the two-thirds they need to force Senate action.

Many political experts say voters expressed their impatience⁷ in 2006 with Mr. Bush's conduct of the war.  Yet just two months later, Mr. Bush ordered more soldiers into Iraq.

Sabato proposes the Constitution be changed to give Congress the power to end any war by simple majority vote. "We need to rearrange these powers and bring Congress back into the equation after a war begins."

The Constitution gives Congress the power to declare war, as it did in 1941 after Japan bombed Pearl Harbor ,a U.S. Naval⁸ base on Hawaii. But since Franklin Roosevelt, theU.S. president at the time, no president has sought a formal declaration.

Sabato says the House and Senate should be given the power to end military action by a simple majority vote.

Charles Stevenson, Johns Hopkins University Professor disagree. "I don't think you need it," he said. Stevenson served two decades as a defense⁹ and foreign policy adviser¹¹ to the Senate. He argues that Congress is powerful enough to reign¹⁰ in a president.

In 1973, near the end of the Vietnam War, Congress voted to stop bombing ordered by President Richard Nixon. "It cut off the money.  President Nixon obeyed that."

After a U.S. helicopter was downed in Somalia in a raid that left 18 U.S. soldiers dead, Stevenson says President Bill Clinton agreed to a congressional limit on U.S. involvement. "Presidents have accepted Congress acting¹² on the power of the purse, but that's a pretty drastic action and I'm not sure the anti-war folks are anywhere near the votes they need to pass something like that."

The president ordered U.S. troops into Iraq after the Congress authorized¹³ military action five years ago.  Congress has taken no such vote since.  And unless anti-war senators can win more votes, Mr. Bush will continue running the war as he sees fit.

1 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》

2 withdrawal   

n.取回，提款；撤退，撤军；收回，撤销

参考例句：

• The police were forced to make a tactical withdrawal.警方被迫进行战术撤退。
• They insisted upon a withdrawal of the statement and a public apology.他们坚持要收回那些话并公开道歉。

3 diplomat   

n.外交官，外交家；能交际的人，圆滑的人

参考例句：

• The diplomat threw in a joke, and the tension was instantly relieved.那位外交官插进一个笑话，紧张的气氛顿时缓和下来。
• He served as a diplomat in Russia before the war.战前他在俄罗斯当外交官。

4 harry   

vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼

参考例句：

• Today,people feel more hurried and harried.今天，人们感到更加忙碌和苦恼。
• Obama harried business by Healthcare Reform plan.奥巴马用医改掠夺了商界。

5 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

6 amendments   

（法律、文件的）改动( amendment的名词复数 )； 修正案； 修改； （美国宪法的）修正案

参考例句：

• The committee does not adequately consult others when drafting amendments. 委员会在起草修正案时没有充分征求他人的意见。
• Please propose amendments and addenda to the first draft of the document. 请对这个文件的初稿提出修改和补充意见。

7 impatience   

n.不耐烦，急躁

参考例句：

• He expressed impatience at the slow rate of progress.进展缓慢，他显得不耐烦。
• He gave a stamp of impatience.他不耐烦地跺脚。

8 naval   

adj.海军的，军舰的，船的

参考例句：

• He took part in a great naval battle.他参加了一次大海战。
• The harbour is an important naval base.该港是一个重要的海军基地。

9 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。

10 reign   

n.统治时期，统治，支配，盛行；v.占优势

参考例句：

• The reign of Queen Elizabeth lapped over into the seventeenth century.伊丽莎白王朝延至17世纪。
• The reign of Zhu Yuanzhang lasted about 31 years.朱元璋统治了大约三十一年。

11 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

12 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

13 authorized   

a.委任的，许可的

参考例句：

• An administrative order is valid if authorized by a statute.如果一个行政命令得到一个法规的认可那么这个命令就是有效的。