VOA标准英语2008年-Congress, White House Move Closer to Agreement

Leading members of the U.S. Congress say they have reached an agreement on the principles for the Bush administration's plan for a massive bailout of the nation's troubled financial sector¹. But, negotiations² continue on the specifics of the proposed $700 billion bailout. VOA's Dan Robinson reports from Capitol Hill.
　
Sen. Chris Dodd, surrounded by other members of Congress, talks with reporters after a meeting on market turmoil³ on Capitol Hill, 25 Sept. 2008

As around the clock talks continued behind closed doors on Capitol Hill Thursday, Democratic and Republican leaders gave their assessment⁵ of where efforts stand to produce bipartisan legislation that could attract enough votes to pass.

Lawmakers from both major parties have received a flood of messages from constituents⁶, most of them critical of the Bush administration proposal.

House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi says there are differences on both sides of the political aisle⁷ about what form a final measure should take. But she says Congress will act quickly.

"Everybody knows that we must intervene. So we will act and we will act deliberatively in a bipartisan way and soon," said Pelosi.

House Minority Leader John Boehner says he has been working with Pelosi to craft bipartisan legislation. He addressed concerns among Republicans. But despite news reports saying a deal was near, Boehner said no decisions have been made yet on a measure to bring to the House floor.

"Concern remains⁸ over the plan as presented by the Secretary of the Treasury⁹. And so there have been ideas kicked around and discussed about how that might be modified, but there are no decisions yet," said Boehner.

House Speaker Pelosi cited as progress President Bush's agreement with majority Democrats¹⁰ on the need to limit pay for executives of financial institutions.

She also addressed another proposal to allow the government to assume an ownership stake in troubled companies as part of efforts to ensure that taxpayers¹¹ have greater protections under the White House plan.

"The bill that is out there allows for the approach the administration wants to take of buying up the commercial and residential¹² [mortgage-based] paper, and also to be able to have warrants or an equity¹³ position," added Pelosi.

President Bush used a nationwide televised address on Wednesday to urge Americans to support the proposed $700 billion bailout plan, under which the government would purchase de-valued mortgage-based assets held by investment firms and banks threatened with collapse¹⁴.

Assessments¹⁵ by Representatives Pelosi and Boehner came ahead of an appearance at the White House by the two major presidential candidates - Republican John McCain and Democrat⁴ Barack Obama.

Key members of Congress involved in negotiations have been in daily contact with Senators Obama and McCain.

Obama has rejected a call by McCain, who announced a suspension of his campaign to return to Washington, to delay the first presidential debate set for Friday.

 

1 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

2 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。

3 turmoil   

n.骚乱，混乱，动乱

参考例句：

• His mind was in such a turmoil that he couldn't get to sleep.内心的纷扰使他无法入睡。
• The robbery put the village in a turmoil.抢劫使全村陷入混乱。

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 assessment   

n.评价；评估；对财产的估价，被估定的金额

参考例句：

• This is a very perceptive assessment of the situation.这是一个对该情况的极富洞察力的评价。
• What is your assessment of the situation?你对时局的看法如何？

6 constituents   

n.选民( constituent的名词复数 )；成分；构成部分；要素

参考例句：

• She has the full support of her constituents. 她得到本区选民的全力支持。
• Hydrogen and oxygen are the constituents of water. 氢和氧是水的主要成分。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 aisle   

n.（教堂、教室、戏院等里的）过道，通道

参考例句：

• The aisle was crammed with people.过道上挤满了人。
• The girl ushered me along the aisle to my seat.引座小姐带领我沿着通道到我的座位上去。

8 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。

9 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。

10 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》

11 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。

12 residential   

adj.提供住宿的；居住的；住宅的

参考例句：

• The mayor inspected the residential section of the city.市长视察了该市的住宅区。
• The residential blocks were integrated with the rest of the college.住宿区与学院其他部分结合在了一起。

13 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。

14 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

15 assessments   

n.评估( assessment的名词复数 )；评价；（应偿付金额的）估定；（为征税对财产所作的）估价

参考例句：

• He was shrewd in his personal assessments. 他总能对人作出精明的评价。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Surveys show about two-thirds use such assessments, while half employ personality tests. 调查表明，约有三分之二的公司采用了这种测评；而一半的公司则采用工作人员个人品质测试。 来自百科语句