US Congressional Vote on Debt Issue Delayed

 　　The White House says it remains¹ confident that congressional leaders can come together and work out a way to raise the U.S. debt ceiling before an August 2 deadline. A top aide to President Obama spoke² as Republicans controlling the House of Representatives struggled to gain the 216 votes needed to pass a measure that the White House and Democrats⁴ oppose.

　　The remarks by Chief of Staff, William Daley, in a CNN interview came as the Republican Speaker of the House John Boehner struggled to secure the votes needed to pass a measure opposed by the White House and congressional Democrats.

　　The legislation would cut government spending by $917 billion over 10 years, and require two separate votes to raise the debt ceiling before next year's general elections.

　　Democrats controlling the Senate have declared the measure dead on arrival there.

　　In the CNN interview, Daley said House passage of the Boehner legislation, and it's expected defeat in the Senate, would open a "whole new stage" in which House and Senate lawmakers could then come together to avoid a debt default.

　　Earlier, Press Secretary Jay Carney answered reporter's questions in the White House media briefing. "We continue to believe and remain optimistic that Congress will come to its senses, that cooler heads will prevail, and that a compromise will be achieved," Carney said.

　　Saying Congress needs to "get beyond voting on dead on arrival measures that aren't going to become law" Carney called the vote in the House of Representatives "political theater" with so few days left before the August 2 deadline.

　　Lawmakers engaged in fierce partisan⁵ debate over the Boehner legislation. Oregon Democrat³ Earl Blumenauer and Michigan Republican Dave Camp both used the word "reckless" to drive home their opposing points.

　　BLUMENAUER: This proposal that has been brought to us today can be characterized by three words: reckless, hypocritical, and abusive."

　　CAMP: "This reckless pattern of borrowing and spending has put our country on the road to bankruptcy⁶. Washington needs to show the American people that we can deal with these challenges today and in the future."

　　In the wake of the fifth straight decline in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the White House has also been addressing concerns about the impact of continuing uncertainty⁷ on financial markets.

　　Noting this, Daley in his CNN interview said "real people are losing money" but added the White House is confident lawmakers will abide⁸ by their pledge to prevent a debt default by next Tuesday.

　　President Obama has not spoken publicly about the debt impasse⁹ since his nationally televised speech on Monday.

　　Asked whether Mr. Obama would call lawmakers back to the White House Carney said only that he had no scheduling announcements to make.

1 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

2 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

3 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。

4 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》

5 partisan   

adj.党派性的；游击队的；n.游击队员；党徒

参考例句：

• In their anger they forget all the partisan quarrels.愤怒之中，他们忘掉一切党派之争。
• The numerous newly created partisan detachments began working slowly towards that region.许多新建的游击队都开始慢慢地向那里移动。

6 bankruptcy   

n.破产；无偿付能力

参考例句：

• You will have to pull in if you want to escape bankruptcy.如果你想避免破产，就必须节省开支。
• His firm is just on thin ice of bankruptcy.他的商号正面临破产的危险。

7 uncertainty   

n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物

参考例句：

• Her comments will add to the uncertainty of the situation.她的批评将会使局势更加不稳定。
• After six weeks of uncertainty,the strain was beginning to take its toll.6个星期的忐忑不安后，压力开始产生影响了。

8 abide   

vi.遵守；坚持；vt.忍受

参考例句：

• You must abide by the results of your mistakes.你必须承担你的错误所造成的后果。
• If you join the club,you have to abide by its rules.如果你参加俱乐部，你就得遵守它的规章。

9 impasse   

n.僵局；死路

参考例句：

• The government had reached an impasse.政府陷入绝境。
• Negotiations seemed to have reached an impasse.谈判似乎已经陷入僵局。