US Lawmakers Reach Budget Agreement

     U.S. President Barack Obama and Republican lawmakers reached a last-minute budget agreement late Friday, averting¹ a potential government shutdown.

    Less than two hours before the deadline, Democrats³ and Republicans（共和党） agreed, in principle, on a federal budget for the remaining six months of this fiscal⁴ year.  They also reached a deal on a short-term spending plan to fund the government until the full budget gets final approval, probably next week.

    The Senate and House of Representatives approved the plan a short time later.

    The agreement prevents a partial government shutdown, in which hundreds of thousands of federal workers would have been furloughed, and government services curtailed⁶.

    Shortly after the deal was announced, President Obama said it includes $39 billion in cuts from his original budget plan.

    "This agreement between Democrats and Republicans, on behalf of all Americans, is on a budget that invests in our future while making the largest annual spending cut in our history," the president said.

    Leaders of both parties on Capitol Hill congratulated each other on the deal, which followed days of tough and sometimes bitter debate.

    The top Republican in the House of Representatives, Speaker John Boehner, said the budget cuts will help speed the nation’s economic recovery.

    "As you all know, this has been a lot of discussion and a long fight.  But we fought to keep government spending down, because it really will, in fact, help create a better environment for job creators in our country," said the House leader.

    Boehner had been under pressure from some lawmakers in the Republican Party’s "Tea Party" faction⁷ to reject a compromise and insist on greater spending cuts.  However, public opinion polls indicated that almost 60% of Americans wanted a deal.

    The top Senate Democrat², Majority Leader Harry⁸ Reid, said reaching the agreement was difficult but important for the country.  He said lawmakers have a responsibility to lead through the even more difficult debates to come.

    "But if the American people have to make tough choices and they are doing it every day, so should their leaders," said Reid.

    Democratic and Republican lawmakers have blamed each other for bringing the government to the brink⁹ of partial closure.

    Two of the most contentious¹⁰ issues involved funding for Planned Parenthood, the nation's largest reproductive health care provider, and the Environmental Protection Agency, which, among other things, regulates the amount of pollutants¹¹ that can be emitted into the environment.

    Planned Parenthood gives abortion¹² counseling, among other services.  Many Republicans believe abortions¹³ should not be legal.  Federal law prohibits government money from paying for abortions.

    Republicans also say Environmental Protection Agency regulations inhibit¹⁴ business activity and curtail⁵ the ability to create jobs.

    Democrats contended that Republicans’ insistence¹⁵ on cutting funding for Planned Parenthood and the Environmental Protection Agency was holding up an agreement.  Republicans said the disagreement was over the size of the budget cuts, not social programs.

    Friday’s deal did not include controversial cuts proposed for those two programs.  But it did call for Senate votes on rescinding¹⁶ funding for Planned Parenthood and for the health care reform legislation President Obama signed in 2010.

    The president said the agreement rightly focuses on budget issues.

    Mr. Obama said, "We also made sure that, at the end of the day, this was a debate about spending cuts, not social issues like women’s health and the protection of our air and water.  These are important issues that deserve discussion, just not during a debate about our budget."Mr. Obama was accused of allowing the budget debate to drag on too long by not involving himself in the negotiations¹⁷ early enough.

    However, he held several meetings with congressional leaders this week, and made numerous phone calls to the lawmakers as the deadline approached.

    The president postponed¹⁸ a trip to the central state of Indiana, which had been planned for Friday.  And he and his family delayed a weekend visit to the historic town of Williamsburg, Virginia.

    Shortly after the 2011 budget is settled, Congress will start haggling¹⁹ over the spending plan for fiscal 2012, which begins this October.(本文由在线英语听力室整理编辑)

1 averting   

防止，避免( avert的现在分词 )； 转移

参考例句：

• The margin of time for averting crisis was melting away. 可以用来消弥这一危机的些许时光正在逝去。
• These results underscore the value of rescue medications in averting psychotic relapse. 这些结果显示了救护性治疗对避免精神病复发的价值。

2 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

3 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》

4 fiscal   

adj.财政的，会计的，国库的，国库岁入的

参考例句：

• The increase of taxation is an important fiscal policy.增税是一项重要的财政政策。
• The government has two basic strategies of fiscal policy available.政府有两个可行的财政政策基本战略。

5 curtail   

vt.截短，缩短；削减

参考例句：

• The government hopes to curtail public spending.政府希望缩减公共事业开支。
• The minister had to curtail his visit.部长不得不缩短访问日期。

6 curtailed   

v.截断，缩短( curtail的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Spending on books has been severely curtailed. 购书开支已被大大削减。
• Their public health programme had to be severely curtailed. 他们的公共卫生计划不得不大大收缩。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 faction   

n.宗派，小集团；派别；派系斗争

参考例句：

• Faction and self-interest appear to be the norm.派系之争和自私自利看来非常普遍。
• I now understood clearly that I was caught between the king and the Bunam's faction.我现在完全明白自己已陷入困境，在国王与布纳姆集团之间左右为难。

8 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。

9 brink   

n.(悬崖、河流等的)边缘，边沿

参考例句：

• The tree grew on the brink of the cliff.那棵树生长在峭壁的边缘。
• The two countries were poised on the brink of war.这两个国家处于交战的边缘。

10 contentious   

adj.好辩的，善争吵的

参考例句：

• She was really not of the contentious fighting sort.她委实不是好吵好闹的人。
• Since then they have tended to steer clear of contentious issues.从那时起，他们总想方设法避开有争议的问题。

11 pollutants   

污染物质（尤指工业废物）( pollutant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Pollutants are constantly being released into the atmosphere. 污染物质正在不断地被排放到大气中去。
• The 1987 Amendments limit 301(g) discharges to a few well-studied nonconventional pollutants. 1987年的修正案把第301条（g）的普通排放限制施加在一些认真研究过的几种非常规污染物上。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

12 abortion   

n.流产，堕胎

参考例句：

• She had an abortion at the women's health clinic.她在妇女保健医院做了流产手术。
• A number of considerations have led her to have a wilful abortion.多种考虑使她执意堕胎。

13 abortions   

n.小产( abortion的名词复数 )；小产胎儿；（计划）等中止或夭折；败育

参考例句：

• The Venerable Master: By not having abortions, by not killing living beings. 上人：不堕胎、不杀生。 来自互联网
• Conclusion Chromosome abnormality is one of the causes of spontaneous abortions. 结论：染色体异常是导致反复自然流产的原因之一。 来自互联网

14 inhibit   

vt.阻止，妨碍，抑制

参考例句：

• Don't let ego and greed inhibit clear thinking and hard work.不要让自我和贪婪妨碍清晰的思维和刻苦的工作。
• They passed a law to inhibit people from parking in the street.他们通过一项法令以阻止人们在街上停车。

15 insistence   

n.坚持；强调；坚决主张

参考例句：

• They were united in their insistence that she should go to college.他们一致坚持她应上大学。
• His insistence upon strict obedience is correct.他坚持绝对服从是对的。

16 rescinding   

v.废除，取消( rescind的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• You realize this effectively kills any chance we have of rescinding that order. 你意识到了这样我们就没机会废除这一命令？ 来自电影对白

17 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

18 postponed   

vt.& vi.延期，缓办，（使）延迟vt.把…放在次要地位；[语]把…放在后面（或句尾）vi.（疟疾等）延缓发作（或复发）

参考例句：

• The trial was postponed indefinitely. 审讯无限期延迟。
• The game has already been postponed three times. 这场比赛已经三度延期了。

19 haggling   

v.讨价还价( haggle的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• I left him in the market haggling over the price of a shirt. 我扔下他自己在市场上就一件衬衫讨价还价。
• Some were haggling loudly with traders as they hawked their wares. 有些人正在大声同兜售货物的商贩讲价钱。 来自辞典例句