The U.S. Senate has followed the lead of the House of Representatives and approved a $410 billion bill to fund the federal government through September 30. President Barack Obama is expected to sign the measure into law.
美国国会参议院批准了一项4100亿美元的预算议案，为政府在今年9月30日之前的运作提供经费。在此之前，众议院也通过了这个议案。预计奥巴马总统将在议案上签字，使之成为法律。
The Democratic-led Senate passed the bill by voice vote, after voting 62 to 35 to end debate.
民主党人主导的参议院以唱票的方式通过了这项议案，投票结果是62票支持，35票反对。
Senator Daniel Inouye, a Hawaii Democrat and chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, led the debate in support of the measure.
参议员拨款委员会主席、来自夏威夷的民主党参议员丹尼尔.井上在辩论中支持这项法案。
"Will the United States be better off in the next year and will the federal government be in a better position to help lead our country out of this deep recession if we pass this bill? The answer is obviously yes," said Senator Inouye.
井上说：“如果我们通过这项议案的话，那么美国明年的状况是不是会好一些？联邦政府会不会更有能力带领我们国家走出这场经济衰退？答案是肯定的。”
But Republicans said the bill contained too much spending, much of it on projects to benefit lawmakers' home states, and they urged President Obama to veto it.
但是共和党人表示，议案的支出过多，包括了太多让国会议员们自己的州获益的项目。他们敦促奥巴马总统否决这项议案。
Senator John McCain, an Arizona Republican, lost his White House bid to Mr. Obama last year.
去年在总统选举中败给奥巴马的亚利桑那州参议员约翰.麦凯恩也发表了意见。
"Let's get down to business of saving taxpayers' dollars rather than the profligate spending spree that we have been on for so long, which has mortgaged our children's futures and committed generational theft," said Senator McCain.
他说：“让我们行动起来，为纳税人节省金钱，而不是继续大把大把地花钱。因为我们这是在把子孙后代未来的钱抵押了出去，也就是偷窃了子孙后代的钱。”
The Senate action came after the Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner assured Democratic Senators Bill Nelson of Florida and Robert Menendez of New Jersey that language in the bill to ease limits on trade and travel with Cuba did not amount to a reversal of a decades-old embargo against the communist-led nation. Senators Nelson and Menendez represent states with large vocal Cuban-American constituencies.
在参议院通过这项法案之前，财政部长盖特纳曾向佛罗里达州民主党参议员比尔.纳尔逊和新泽西州的罗伯特.门奈德兹保证，议案中有关缓和对古巴贸易以及旅游限制的语言不会导致改变几十年来美国对古巴这个共产党国家进行制裁的政策。纳尔逊和门奈德兹代表着古巴裔美国人最多的两个州。
Senator Nelson accepted Geithner's assurances somewhat reluctantly:
不过，纳尔逊是相当犹豫地接受盖特纳的担保的。
"The better course is that we should allow our new president to undertake his own review of U.S. policy towards Cuba before pushing hasty and ill-advised language through an omnibus bill," said Senator Nelson.
他说：“一个更好的作法应当是，在我们匆匆忙忙地把并不明智的语言写进综合开支法案里面之前，我们应当允许我们的新总统对美国对古巴政策进行审查。”
The spending bill completes last year's budget process, which stalled as Democrats clashed with former President George Bush over spending priorities.
这项支出法案的通过完成了去年的预算过程。民主党人曾因为这项法案和前总统布什争斗不休，从而使法案陷入僵局。
Now that that measure has been approved, a more difficult battle awaits Mr. Obama and Congress - passage of his budget for next year. Democrats and Republicans have already begun sparring over such policy issues as health care reform and efforts to control climate change.
法案通过以后，奥巴马和国会面临着一个更加艰巨的任务，那就是，让明年的政府预算获得通过。现在，民主党人和共和党人已经就医疗保健改革以及控制气候变化等政策性问题展开了辩论。 |