2007年VOA标准英语-Bush Administration Faces Intensified Probes on

By Dan Robinson
Capitol Hill
09 March 2007

Democrats 1 controlling the U.S. Congress are confronting President Bush on a broad range of issues regarding his handling of the war in Iraq, and the larger war on terrorism, as well as domestic issues.  Congressional committees have launched investigations 3 on numerous topics, including U.S. efforts to train Iraqi military forces, waste by military contractors 4, and the treatment of terrorist suspects.  VOA's Dan Robinson reports from Capitol Hill.

When they assumed control of Congress after last November's congressional election, Democrats vowed 5 to use their new powers to investigate virtually every aspect of the Bush administration's handling of Iraq.

Now, three months after the convening 6 of the 110th Congress, key committees intensify 7 oversight 8, issue subpoenas 9, and call witnesses from government and the private sector 10 to Capitol Hill.

Jason Altmire, among newly-elected Democrats in the House, recognized the trend in a speech on the floor of the House.

"This level of oversight is part of the Democrat's effort to bring real change to Washington," he said.

In the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, Congressman 11 Henry Waxman is shining a spotlight 12 on one of the most sensational 13 stories in recent years, the CIA leak case which led to the recent conviction of Lewis Libby, former chief of staff to Vice 14 President Dick Cheney.

Waxman has summoned Valerie Plame, the former CIA officer whose covert 15 identify was revealed and whose husband, Joseph Wilson, accused the Bush administration of exaggerating the threat from Iraq to justify 16 a war.

However, the committee has also held extensive hearings on the issue of waste, fraud and abuse by contractors involved in reconstruction 17 efforts in Iraq.

"Taxpayers 18 all across our country are fed up and demanding that we bring real oversight to the anything-goes world of Iraq reconstruction," he said.

Coming months will see numerous hearings by other panels trying to determine where U.S. military efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan stand.

As Democrats attempt to use funding legislation to limit presidential flexibility 19 on troop deployments to Iraq, an armed services subcommittee is looking at the training of Iraqi army and police forces.

 
Congressman Todd Akin 20 (R-MO)
Congressman Marty Meehan says ongoing 21 turmoil 22 in Iraq suggests the U.S. is far from achieving its goals.

"We will seek to verify that the administration is taking the appropriate steps to ensure that the government of Iraq has the capacity to sustain its forces, to ensure the appropriate transition of security responsibility," he added.

Against a background of U.S. military and administration figures regarding the success of training, Republican Todd Akin says it's clear the Iraqi government is only in the early stages of gaining the crucial capability 23 of being able to provide full logistical support for its own forces, without U.S. help.

"The beginning of that logistical structure has been started with the Iraqis, but still they are mostly dependent on us," he said.

Democrats are also pushing back against the president on an issue related to the wider war on terrorism, the question of law governing the detention 24, interrogation and trial of suspected terrorists such as those at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Legislation has been introduced in the House and Senate to roll back some provisions of the Military Commissions Act approved by Congress, which gave the go ahead for military courts to try detainees.
 
Democrats want to restore Habeas Corpus rights, bar evidence gained through torture or coercion 25, and reinstate U.S. adherence 26 to the Geneva Conventions.

Congresswoman Jane Harman says action is required, because of what she calls unilateral actions by the Bush administration that ignored U.S. and international law.

"The United States has never been as unpopular in the world as it is now," she noted 27.  "We have flouted 28 the very legal protections that we have sought to export to the rest of the world, we have undermined international human rights standards that we helped create, and which we have used to press other nations to protect the rights of their citizens."

A key Senate Republican, Arlen Spector, supports the effort.

"It's a constitutional right, you cannot change that by statute," said Mr. Spector.

Democratic Congressman John Murtha has vowed hearings and legislation aimed at shutting down the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay.

House Republican minority Leader John Boehner says doing so would be a mistake and hurt efforts to bring terrorists to justice.

 
House Minority Leader John Boehner
"To close down that facility would again hamper 29 the ability of our military to glean 30 very useful information in fighting a worldwide terrorist network," said Mr. Boehner.

Democrats in the House have also renewed an effort, blocked when Republicans controlled Congress, to prohibit what is called extraordinary rendition, in which individuals suspected of being or having connections with terrorists have been sent to foreign countries for interrogation.

Both legislative 31 efforts have strong support from human rights groups and civil liberty organizations such as the American Civil Liberties Union.

At the end of the week, Democrats were pledging new investigations regarding the latest domestic controversy 32 to emerge:  the revelation that the Federal Bureau of Investigation 2 (FBI) improperly 33 and sometimes illegally used the USA Patriot 34 Act anti-terror law to obtain personal information about Americans.

The Democratic chairmen of the House and Senate judiciary committees, as well as the head of the House intelligence committee vowed to conduct vigorous oversight on the matter which was detailed 35 in an internal FBI audit 36.