VOA常速英语2008年-Congress Preparing Defense Budget for Remainder

By Carolyn Presutti
Washington, DC
14 February 2008
 

Two top U.S. Defense¹ Department officials have testified before a Congressional committee in charge of military spending. The committee grilled² the officials about progress in Iraq and the status of America's military jets. VOA's Carolyn Presutti reports.

Right now U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan do not have enough money from Congress to keep fighting for the rest of the year. But Florida Republican Bill Young and others promise to fix that next month. Mr. Young says, "The hardware that you need, the equipment that you need, the training facilities that you need -- we are going to do that."

But getting cash from the government is seldom so easy, especially when a divided Congess holds the purse strings³ [money].

Democratic Congressman⁴ James Moran wanted proof of progress in Iraq. "The surge [increased troops] has quelled⁵ the violence, but the real question is: has it achieved the political reconciliation⁶ that does constitute the victory that we are looking for? I don't see it," he said. 

The chairman of the Joint⁷ Chiefs of Staff, Michael Mullen, agreed it is not a military victory, but he pointed⁸ out recent political successes, starting with a law allowing former Baath Party Sunnis back into the government. "They recently passed the de-Baathification law that will go into effect in a month. This morning, I was told the national government passed the amnesty law, their budget, as well as a provincial⁹ powers act. That to me, is a lot of progress nationally, given the challenges they have and the competition at that level," he said. 

Iraqi lawmakers approved the $48 billion budget after weeks of delays and threats to dissolve parliament over the deadlock¹⁰.

Several representatives wanted to know about the U.S. fighter fleet -- specifically the time it takes to develop these jets -- five years for the F-15, up to 19 for the F-22 and an uncertain number for the still unfinished Joint Strike Fighter.

Committee Chairman John Murtha also questioned the price tag. He says,"The maintenance costs for the F-15 have gone up 236 percent. The flying hour costs have gone up 87 percent. And the man hours per depot¹¹ maintenance per airplane have gone up 800 [percent]."

Democratic Committee member Norman Dicks asked Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England about aircraft reliability¹². "Aren't you concerned about this aging aircraft issue?"

England responded, "In the case of the Air Force having an aging fighter fleet, but on the other hand, we spent $65 million and we have 183 F-22s. At some point, we have to decide not to buy the very costly¹³, high end airplane and buy the quantity."

England testified in place of Defense Secretary Robert Gates. Gates canceled his appearance after slipping on icy pavement and fracturing his shoulder.

1 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。

2 grilled   

adj. 烤的, 炙过的, 有格子的 动词grill的过去式和过去分词形式

参考例句：

• He was grilled for two hours before the police let him go. 他被严厉盘查了两个小时后，警察才放他走。
• He was grilled until he confessed. 他被严加拷问，直到他承认为止。

3 strings   

n.弦

参考例句：

• He sat on the bed,idly plucking the strings of his guitar.他坐在床上，随意地拨着吉他的弦。
• She swept her fingers over the strings of the harp.她用手指划过竖琴的琴弦。

4 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。

5 quelled   

v.（用武力）制止，结束，镇压( quell的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Thanks to Kao Sung-nien's skill, the turmoil had been quelled. 亏高松年有本领，弹压下去。 来自汉英文学 - 围城
• Mr. Atkinson was duly quelled. 阿特金森先生被及时地将了一军。 来自辞典例句

6 reconciliation   

n.和解，和谐，一致

参考例句：

• He was taken up with the reconciliation of husband and wife.他忙于做夫妻间的调解工作。
• Their handshake appeared to be a gesture of reconciliation.他们的握手似乎是和解的表示。

7 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

8 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。

9 provincial   

adj.省的，地方的；n．外省人，乡下人

参考例句：

• City dwellers think country folk have provincial attitudes.城里人以为乡下人思想迂腐。
• Two leading cadres came down from the provincial capital yesterday.昨天从省里下来了两位领导干部。

10 deadlock   

n.僵局，僵持

参考例句：

• The negotiations reached a deadlock after two hours.两小时后，谈判陷入了僵局。
• The employers and strikers are at a deadlock over the wage.雇主和罢工者在工资问题上相持不下。

11 depot   

n.仓库，储藏处；公共汽车站；火车站

参考例句：

• The depot is only a few blocks from here.公共汽车站离这儿只有几个街区。
• They leased the building as a depot.他们租用这栋大楼作仓库。

12 reliability   

n.可靠性，确实性

参考例句：

• We mustn't presume too much upon the reliability of such sources.我们不应过分指望这类消息来源的可靠性。
• I can assure you of the reliability of the information.我向你保证这消息可靠。

13 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。