VOA标准英语2008年-House Rejects Emergency Financial Bill; Democra

In a 228 to 205 vote, the U.S. House of Representatives voted down a $700 billion measure aimed at addressing the nation's financial crisis, as lawmakers from both major political parties defied their leadership and voted against the bill. VOA's Dan Robinson reports the outcome has left Democrats¹ and Republicans trading accusations² about who was responsible for the defeated bill.

When the final vote was announced, the measure had gone down in defeat, with 133 Republicans and 95 Democrats voting against it.

Afterward³, as lawmakers and Americans nervously⁴ watched a sharp drop in stock prices on Wall Street, Republican leaders told reporters that remarks on the House floor by Speaker Nancy Pelosi had insulted Republicans, robbing the bill of important votes.
　
House Minority Leader John Boehner, speaks to reporters on Capitol Hill , after the House vote on the financial bailout package failed, 29 Sept. 2008

"We put everything we had into getting the votes to get there today, but the Speaker had to give a partisan⁵ voice that poisoned our conference, caused a number of our members that we thought we could get, to go South [vote against the measure]," said Minority Leader John Boehner.

Appearing with Democratic leaders, Speaker Pelosi said lines of communication remain open to Republicans and the administration, adding that she had spoken with Treasury⁷ Secretary Paulson.

"I said, 'Mr. Secretary, we delivered on our side of the bargain," she said. "You impressed our members, and the president impressed our members about the gravity of the situation, but action was necessary to stabilize⁸ the markets and to protect the taxpayer⁹.' Clearly that message has not been received yet by the Republican caucus¹⁰."
　
Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson briefs reporters at the White House after his meeting with President Bush regarding the defeated $700 billion bailout bill, 29 Sept. 2008

Emerging from a meeting with President Bush at the White House, Paulson said he was very disappointed after so much bipartisan work on the bill, saying the administration and Congress need to work as quickly as possible on a revised plan that can be implemented¹¹ as soon as possible.

"I will continue to work with congressional leaders to find a way forward to pass a comprehensive plan to stabilize our financial system and protect the American people by limiting the prospects¹² of further deterioration¹³ in our economy," he said. "We have got much work to do and this is simply too important to let fail."

President Bush expressed disappointment with the House rejection¹⁴. He had this comment during an appearance at the White House with the visiting President of Ukraine.

"The Republicans and the Democrats will come together to get this piece of legislation passed which is necessary to address the financial situation and to provide a rescue plan to make sure that there is some stability in the markets," he said.

In the Senate, which would have acted on a House-passed bill, Republican Judd Gregg spoke⁶ to reporters.

"I think the bottom line is this: If we don't act promptly¹⁵ around here, and effectively, then a lot of people are going to lose their jobs, and Main Street [America] is going to be put into dire¹⁶ straits," he said.
　
House Financial Services Committee Chairman Rep. Barney Frank talks with reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington, 29 Sept. 29

Asked about next steps, House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank said Congress has no alternative but to keep working on a bipartisan solution that will pass. But he had this response to Republican criticisms.

"Here's the story. There is a terrible crisis affecting the American economy," he said. "We have come together on a bill to alleviate¹⁷ the crisis and because somebody hurt their feelings, they decided¹⁸ to punish the country."

As revised by Congress, the measure would have authorized¹⁹ the government to purchase in stages as much as $700 billion worth of troubled assets and acquire equity²⁰ in threatened financial firms. It also would have created a strong oversight²¹ board, taken steps to help Americans avoid home foreclosures, and placed limits on executive compensation.

During debate, Republicans asserted that the proposed massive government intervention²² failed to address fundamental market problems, calling it "corporate²³ welfare," while Democratic opponents said it contained too few protections for American taxpayers²⁴.

"I fear this legislation is fraught²⁵ with unintended consequences," said Texas Republican Representative Jeb Hensarling. "I fear that ultimately it may not work. I fear it is too much bailout and not enough work out. I fear that taxpayers may end up inheriting the mother of all debts."

Democratic Congressman²⁶ Brad Sherman was among the Democrats who opposed the legislation.

"Some 400 eminent²⁷ economists²⁸, including three Nobel laureates, are asking us to come back and do our job and write a good bill in the next week or so," he said.

The fate of the financial market bailout plan is now in question, with the Jewish holiday Rosh Hashana interrupting a congressional session that had already been extended beyond its planned adjournment²⁹ to prepare for the November general elections.

 

1 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》

2 accusations   

n.指责( accusation的名词复数 )；指控；控告；（被告发、控告的）罪名

参考例句：

• There were accusations of plagiarism. 曾有过关于剽窃的指控。
• He remained unruffled by their accusations. 对于他们的指控他处之泰然。

3 afterward   

adv.后来；以后

参考例句：

• Let's go to the theatre first and eat afterward. 让我们先去看戏，然后吃饭。
• Afterward,the boy became a very famous artist.后来，这男孩成为一个很有名的艺术家。

4 nervously   

adv.神情激动地，不安地

参考例句：

• He bit his lip nervously,trying not to cry.他紧张地咬着唇，努力忍着不哭出来。
• He paced nervously up and down on the platform.他在站台上情绪不安地走来走去。

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 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。

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 stabilize   

vt.（使）稳定，使稳固，使稳定平衡；vi.稳定

参考例句：

• They are eager to stabilize currencies.他们急于稳定货币。
• His blood pressure tended to stabilize.他的血压趋向稳定。

9 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。

10 caucus   

n.秘密会议；干部会议；v.（参加）干部开会议

参考例句：

• This multi-staged caucus takes several months.这个多级会议常常历时好几个月。
• It kept the Democratic caucus from fragmenting.它也使得民主党的核心小组避免了土崩瓦解的危险。

11 implemented   

v.实现( implement的过去式和过去分词 )；执行；贯彻；使生效

参考例句：

• This agreement, if not implemented, is a mere scrap of paper. 这个协定如不执行只不过是一纸空文。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The economy is in danger of collapse unless far-reaching reforms are implemented. 如果不实施影响深远的改革，经济就面临崩溃的危险。 来自辞典例句

12 prospects   

n.希望，前途(恒为复数)

参考例句：

• There is a mood of pessimism in the company about future job prospects. 公司中有一种对工作前景悲观的情绪。
• They are less sanguine about the company's long-term prospects. 他们对公司的远景不那么乐观。

13 deterioration   

n.退化；恶化；变坏

参考例句：

• Mental and physical deterioration both occur naturally with age. 随着年龄的增长，心智和体力自然衰退。
• The car's bodywork was already showing signs of deterioration. 这辆车的车身已经显示出了劣化迹象。

14 rejection   

n.拒绝，被拒，抛弃，被弃

参考例句：

• He decided not to approach her for fear of rejection.他因怕遭拒绝决定不再去找她。
• The rejection plunged her into the dark depths of despair.遭到拒绝使她陷入了绝望的深渊。

15 promptly   

adv.及时地，敏捷地

参考例句：

• He paid the money back promptly.他立即还了钱。
• She promptly seized the opportunity his absence gave her.她立即抓住了因他不在场给她创造的机会。

16 dire   

adj.可怕的，悲惨的，阴惨的，极端的

参考例句：

• There were dire warnings about the dangers of watching too much TV.曾经有人就看电视太多的危害性提出严重警告。
• We were indeed in dire straits.But we pulled through.那时我们的困难真是大极了，但是我们渡过了困难。

17 alleviate   

v.减轻，缓和，缓解(痛苦等)

参考例句：

• The doctor gave her an injection to alleviate the pain.医生给她注射以减轻疼痛。
• Nothing could alleviate his distress.什么都不能减轻他的痛苦。

18 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

19 authorized   

a.委任的，许可的

参考例句：

• An administrative order is valid if authorized by a statute.如果一个行政命令得到一个法规的认可那么这个命令就是有效的。

20 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。

21 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。

22 intervention   

n.介入，干涉，干预

参考例句：

• The government's intervention in this dispute will not help.政府对这场争论的干预不会起作用。
• Many people felt he would be hostile to the idea of foreign intervention.许多人觉得他会反对外来干预。

23 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。

24 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。

25 fraught   

adj.充满…的，伴有(危险等)的；忧虑的

参考例句：

• The coming months will be fraught with fateful decisions.未来数月将充满重大的决定。
• There's no need to look so fraught!用不着那么愁眉苦脸的！

26 Congressman   

n.（美）国会议员

参考例句：

• He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman.他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。
• The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics.这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。

27 eminent   

adj.显赫的，杰出的，有名的，优良的

参考例句：

• We are expecting the arrival of an eminent scientist.我们正期待一位著名科学家的来访。
• He is an eminent citizen of China.他是一个杰出的中国公民。

28 economists   

n.经济学家，经济专家( economist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The sudden rise in share prices has confounded economists. 股价的突然上涨使经济学家大惑不解。
• Foreign bankers and economists cautiously welcomed the minister's initiative. 外国银行家和经济学家对部长的倡议反应谨慎。 来自《简明英汉词典》

29 adjournment   

休会； 延期； 休会期； 休庭期

参考例句：

• The adjournment of the case lasted for two weeks. 该案休庭期为两周。
• The solicitor moved for an adjournment of the case. 律师请求将这个案件的诉讼延期。