US Senators Want Iraq to Spend Oil Revenue on Reconstruction
美议员要伊拉克用利润资助重建

　 
U.S. lawmakers want Iraq to use bigger oil profits to pay for more of its own reconstruction. Iraq's parliament has approved a supplementary budget that raises this year's spending to more than $70 billion.

美国国会议员要求伊拉克用更大量的石油利润来支付它更多的重建项目。伊拉克国民议会已批准一项补充预算案，把今年的开支提高到700多亿美元。

The U.S. Government Accountability Office says higher oil prices could earn Iraq up to $79 billion this year. That is twice its average annual oil revenue from 2005 to 2007.

美国政府问责局说，高油价使得伊拉克今年的石油收入高达790亿美元 。这个数字是2005年至2007年伊拉克年石油平均收入的两倍。

Higher oil earnings could give the government in Baghdad a budget surplus of up to $50 billion - a windfall that has been noticed by senior senators in both U.S. political parties.

较高的石油收入给巴格达政府带来了高达5百亿美元的预算盈余，这笔巨额收入已经受到了美国国会中两党资深议员的注意。

Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Michigan Democrat Carl Levin and the committee's ranking Republican Virginia Senator John Warner say Iraq should use some of that money to repay American taxpayers who have already spent approximately $48 billion stabilizing and rebuilding Iraq.

美国参议院军事委员会主席、密歇根州民主党议员卡尔.列文和该委员会的共和党资深议员、弗吉尼亚州参议员约翰.华纳说，伊拉克应用这些钱偿还美国纳税人为伊拉克的稳定和重建而支出的大约480亿美元。

The GAO report says Iraq's central ministries last year spent just 11 percent of their capital investment budget - less than $900 million.

美国政府问责局报告说，伊拉克的中央政府各部去年花费了他们资本投资预算的百分之11 ，还不到9亿美元。

Since the 2003 invasion, the report says the United States has spent more than $23 billion restoring Iraqi security, oil, electricity and water. From 2005 to April of this year, Iraq's government has spent less than $4 billion on similar services.

该报告说，自2003年美军进军伊拉克以来，美国已在恢复伊拉克的安全、石油、电力和供水方面花费了230亿美元。从2005年到今年4月，伊拉克政府花在同样项目中的支出还不到40亿美元。

Levin says it is inexcusable that U.S. taxpayers are continuing to pay for projects that Iraqis are fully capable of funding themselves.

列文说，让美国的纳税人继续支付伊拉克人完全有能力自己支付的项目，这是不可接受的。

Warner says it is time for Baghdad to use its revenue and surplus to fully assume responsibility for providing essential services instead of relying on American taxpayers who have been the overwhelming source of reconstruction funds so far.

华纳说，现在是巴格达用自己的收入和盈余充分承担起提供基本服务的责任的时候了，而不是继续依赖美国纳税人的金钱。直到目前为止，美国纳税人一直是伊拉克绝大部分重建资金的来源。

In March of 2003, then-U.S. Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz estimated rebuilding costs in the tens of billions of dollars and told Congress that Iraq could finance its own reconstruction through oil revenue.

2003年3月，前美国国防部副部长沃尔福威茨估计，伊拉克重建费用需要数十亿美元。他告诉国会说，伊拉克政府可以通过石油收入支付本国的重建。

Acting State Department Spokesman Gonzalo Gallegos says it is wrong to conclude from the new GAO report that U.S. taxpayers alone are paying to rebuild Iraq.

美国国务院代理发言人加莱格斯说，要是根据美国政府问责局的新报告得出结论说：重建伊拉克的费用全部是美国纳税人的钱支付的，这一结论是错误的。

"The truth is that we spent a lot of money after liberation to help the country get on its feet, after years of dictatorship," he said. "The large-scale reconstruction-focussed assistance started winding down several years ago as Iraqi revenues and capabilities began to grow. Since last year, we have been focusing our aid not on capital projects but capacity-building, helping to address many of the issues raised in the GAO report."

“事实的真相是，我们在解放伊拉克之后花了很多钱以帮助该国在经过多年独裁统治之后重新站立起来。随著伊拉克的收入和能力开始增长，几年前我们以大型重建为重点的援助项目已经开始减少。去年以来，我们开始把提供援助的重点从资本项目转移到能力培养项目，从而有助于解决美国政府问责局提出的很多问题。”

Parliament's passage of a $21 billion supplementary budget will reduce Iraq's overall surplus, some of which is earning millions of dollars in interest at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Iraqi Finance Minister Bayan Jabr says the additional spending is needed for food rations, fuel for power plants, and higher salaries for civil servants.

伊拉克议会通过了一项210亿美元的额外拨款预算，从而减少伊拉克的盈余总额，这些盈余中部分是存在纽约的联邦储备银行中的资本衍生出来的数百万美元的利息。伊拉克财政部长长贾布尔说， 额外支出用于口粮、发电厂的燃料，以及公务员工资的提高，这些都是必需的。

White House Spokewoman Dana Perino says Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's government has made a lot of progress getting money directly to people living under what she calls terrible conditions in Sadr City, Basra, and Mosul. She says the Bush administration is also working with Baghdad to eliminate corruption to make sure they are spending their money responsibly.

白宫女发言人佩里诺说，马利基总理的政府在把资金直接用在资助萨德尔城、巴士拉城和摩苏尔城“生活困窘”的民众方面，已经取得了很大的进展。她说，布什政府正在与巴格达一道努力，消除腐败，确保他们以负责任的方式来消费他们的金钱。

The GAO report says obstacles to Iraq spending more of its own money include a shortage of trained budgetary and procurement staff, a weak accounting system, and sectarian violence.

美国政府问责局的报告说，伊拉克更多花费本国资金方面存在的障碍包括：缺乏受过训练的预算和采购人员、会计制度薄弱、以及宗派暴力。