美国核裁军新条约获批难

【英文原文】

The US Congress starts its lame-duck session on Monday, with the Obama administration sweating bullets over whether one of its few landmark foreign policy achievements, the New Start treaty, will be put to a vote. If not, it would be kicked forward into the next Senate, with its much reduced Democratic majority, where the 67 votes necessary for ratification look like a dauntingly steep climb.

In theory, this should not be a hard sell, with all the Pentagon's top brass lining up to tell Congress that failure to ratify would undermine national security by further delaying the return of US inspectors to Russian nuclear sites. They have not been on the ground since last December when the old Start treaty expired.

But there are also financial considerations behind the Senate's foot-dragging on ratification. America's nuclear laboratories have teamed up with Senate Republicans led by minority whip, Jon Kyl, to squeeze extra funding out of an administration that is short of cash but desperate to bank some solid achievements.

【参考译文】

随着美国国会下周一进入跛脚鸭会期，奥巴马政府对其为数不多的重大外交成就之一——《削减和限制进攻性战略武器新条约》能否付诸表决深感担忧。若该条约遭到搁置，将交由下一届参议院表决，那时民主党在参议院的多数党优势已被大幅削弱，要确保条约获批所需的67票或将难如登天。

按理说新条约获批并非难事，因为五角大楼的高官们正竞相游说国会，如果该条约得不到批准，将进一步推迟美国监察员赴俄检查核设施，进而危及美国的国家安全。从去年12月原条约到期至今，俄罗斯的核设施一直处于不受美方监控的状态。

但参议院迟迟不批条约还有其财政方面的考虑。美国核实验室已与少数党党鞭乔恩·凯尔领导的共和党参议员通力合作，试图从一个极需政绩却囊中羞涩的政府手中榨取发展核项目所需的财政拨款。