VOA标准英语2008年-US Congress Demands Changes to Bush Bailout Pla

Members of Congress are demanding more taxpayer¹ protections and more congressional oversight² be included in the $700 billion bailout plan that is being debated to rescue failing U.S. financial institutions. VOA's Dan Robinson reports from Capitol Hill, Democrats⁵ and some Republicans voiced displeasure with the original plan proposed by the Bush administration.

Lawmakers voiced their concerns as negotiations⁶ with the Bush administration continue, and drafts of legislation Congress could consider as early as Wednesday circulated on Capitol Hill.

Under legislation Congress will consider, the federal government would spend hundreds of billions to purchase de-valued assets, particularly U.S. mortgage debt, that has weighed down key financial companies.

Holding a copy of the three page proposal originally given to Congress by Treasury⁷ Secretary Henry Paulson, Oregon Democrat⁴ Peter DeFazio said it would have placed American taxpayers⁸ in a vulnerable position:

"Secretary Paulson wants to set it up so that the taxpayers at best, and in all likelihood this couldn't happen, might break even some day. No, we need to take an equity⁹ assurance in these firms or we need to extend them loans. Have them mark down this junk to market it, there is a market for it, it's about 22 cents on the dollar, make them mark it down."

Congress needs to apply a more targeted and deliberative approach requiring more than a few days of work, DeFazio said, adding the world will wait for a thoughtful plan.

Criticism was also heard from Republicans, such as Florida Republican Cliff Stearns, who said the original proposal gave the Treasury Secretary unprecedented¹⁰ authority while offering virtually no oversight. Stearns expressed alarm over the cost:

"This plan increases our excessively high national debt to $11.3 trillion while also allowing foreign banks which hold U.S. mortgage debt to benefit from the billions provided by this bail³ out. This plan constitutes the largest government bailout in history yet it does nothing to protect the taxpayers," he said.

Describing the administration's initial proposal as a starting point but by no means the final product, Senate Democratic leader Harry¹¹ Reid echoed calls for more accountability in any legislation Congress approves. "We will not let haste abandon good judgment¹² in the process. The Bush administration has called on Congress to rubber stamp its bailout bill without serious debate or efforts to improve it. We can't let that happen," he said.

Amid public anger over multi-million dollar salaries paid to executives of failing financial firms, lawmakers have also added provisions that would place limits on executive compensation.
　
House Financial Services Committee chairman Barney Frank, 22 Sep 2008

Briefing reporters Monday, House Financial Services Committee chairman Barney Frank agreed that the initial bill gave the Treasury Secretary much too much authority.

He says lawmakers are building in provisions to provide more accountability, including judicial¹³ review of government asset purchase decisions, and creation of a special board which have a powerful oversight although not operational role. "We are talking about a very powerful board with its own budget and funding that will get all of the reports and all the information, but won't have any operational role, [but will ask] what are you buying, what is your assumption about how you are buying, what kind of companies are you buying it [assets] in?"

Representative Frank says differences remain with the Bush administration over the executive pay issue and provisions on corporate¹⁴ governance, saying lawmakers intend to eliminate "golden parachutes", or large payment packages for executives who leave a company.

However, the administration has agreed to provisions aimed at preventing foreclosures on property mortgages the government acquires from companies as part of the bail out plan.

Lawmakers say they hope the House and Senate will be able to consider and pass identical pieces of legislation, hopefully in the next few days.

However, in Wall Street trading Monday, the key Dow Jones average lost 371 points, reflecting continuing market volatility¹⁵ in the absence of a final deal and legislation to address the U.S. financial crisis.

 

1 taxpayer   

n.纳税人

参考例句：

• The new scheme will run off with a lot of the taxpayer's money.这项新计划将用去纳税人许多钱。
• The taxpayer are unfavourably disposed towards the recent tax increase.纳税者对最近的增加税收十分反感。

2 oversight   

n.勘漏，失察，疏忽

参考例句：

• I consider this a gross oversight on your part.我把这件事看作是你的一大疏忽。
• Your essay was not marked through an oversight on my part.由于我的疏忽你的文章没有打分。

3 bail   

v.舀（水），保释；n.保证金，保释，保释人

参考例句：

• One of the prisoner's friends offered to bail him out.犯人的一个朋友答应保释他出来。
• She has been granted conditional bail.她被准予有条件保释。

4 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。

5 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》

6 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。

7 treasury   

n.宝库；国库，金库；文库

参考例句：

• The Treasury was opposed in principle to the proposals.财政部原则上反对这些提案。
• This book is a treasury of useful information.这本书是有价值的信息宝库。

8 taxpayers   

纳税人，纳税的机构( taxpayer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Finance for education comes from taxpayers. 教育经费来自纳税人。
• She was declaiming against the waste of the taxpayers' money. 她慷慨陈词猛烈抨击对纳税人金钱的浪费。

9 equity   

n.公正，公平，（无固定利息的）股票

参考例句：

• They shared the work of the house with equity.他们公平地分担家务。
• To capture his equity,Murphy must either sell or refinance.要获得资产净值，墨菲必须出售或者重新融资。

10 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。

11 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。

12 judgment   

n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见

参考例句：

• The chairman flatters himself on his judgment of people.主席自认为他审视人比别人高明。
• He's a man of excellent judgment.他眼力过人。

13 judicial   

adj.司法的，法庭的，审判的，明断的，公正的

参考例句：

• He is a man with a judicial mind.他是个公正的人。
• Tom takes judicial proceedings against his father.汤姆对他的父亲正式提出诉讼。

14 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。

15 volatility   

n.挥发性，挥发度，轻快，（性格）反复无常

参考例句：

• That was one reason why volatility was so low last year.这也是去年波动性如此低的原因之一。
• Yet because volatility remained low for so long,disaster myopia prevailed.然而，由于相当长的时间里波动性小，灾难短视就获胜了。