VOA标准英语2009年-US House Approves Health Care Reform Measu

By Dan Robinson
08 November 2009

 
President Barack Obama stands with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi after caucus¹ meeting on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, 07 Nov 2009
The House of Representatives has approved a more than $1 trillion plan by majority Democrats³ to overhaul⁴ the U.S. health care system.

More than three dozen Democrats broke with their party, and all but one Republican opposed the measure, which marks a major victory in President Barack Obama's effort to improve the U.S. health care system.

About 12 hours after the House began its debate, the final tally⁵ late Saturday was 220 to 215, with 39 Democrats choosing to vote against their leadership, despite personal lobbying by President Obama to keep Democrats on board.

But Democrats were still able to assemble the 218 vote majority in the 435 member House required for passage.

Republicans decry⁶ cost

Republican opposition⁷ was not a surprise, with all but Louisiana Congressman⁸ Joseph Cao rejecting the bill on grounds that it would sharply increase the federal deficit⁹, raise insurance costs, and give the government control of the health care system.

Estimated at more than $1 trillion over 10 years, the measure would require most employers to offer health insurance to employees, and prohibit insurance companies from denying coverage¹⁰ based on existing medical problems or impose limits on coverage.

Most contentious¹¹ was the proposal for a government-run insurance option, also known as a public option, to give Americans a choice over private insurance companies.

Joe Barton of Texas was among Republicans framing the debate as a question of individual freedoms versus¹² bigger government, saying, "So, there is a choice.  Bigger government, more mandates¹³, more control, less freedom, or lower costs, more opportunity, more freedom or more choice. I vote for more freedom."

Democrat² Jim Moran of Virginia pointed¹⁴ out that the U.S. lags behind many other nations when it comes to health care. He said, "We are a great nation, a prosperous and compassionate¹⁵ one, but our health care system doesn't measure up to that greatness."

Republican alternative defeated

 
House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH)
 
Before the final vote, the House voted 258 to 176 to reject an alternative from Republicans. Democrats noted¹⁶ that it would insure only 3 million Americans, versus the 36 million helped by their measure.

Republican leader John Boehner said, "The bill that we are offering is a common sense approach that does take major steps in the right direction to bring down the cost of health care and to expand access."

After meeting with lawmakers and before leaving for the presidential retreat at Camp David, Maryland, President Obama described the House vote as a historic opportunity to fix a broken system.

"What is in our grasp right now is the chance to prevent a future where every day 14,000 Americans lose their health insurance and every year 18,000 Americans die because they don't have it," said the president.

 
Speaker of the US House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi
 
At a news conference, Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she had just received a phone call from the president, and she paid tribute to the president's leadership. She said, "I thanked the president for his tremendous leadership, because without President Obama in the White House this victory would not have been possible. He provided the vision and the momentum¹⁷ for us to get the job done for the American people."

To ensure support, Democratic leaders agreed to a bipartisan amendment¹⁸, approved 240 to 194, prohibiting a future government-run insurance plan from offering abortion¹⁹ services, and barring anyone receiving federal subsidies²⁰ from purchasing private plans that cover abortion.

Final bill still needs work

Approval switches the focus to the Senate, where Democrats face the difficult task of achieving a 60-seat majority to approve a version there. No date has been set yet for a health care debate in the Senate.

If both chambers²¹ can pass legislation, lawmakers would still have to work out differences between the versions before they could send a final bill to President Obama for signature, something he has said he wants to do before the year ends.

1 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。

2 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。

3 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》

4 overhaul   

v./n.大修，仔细检查

参考例句：

• Master Worker Wang is responsible for the overhaul of this grinder.王师傅主修这台磨床。
• It is generally appreciated that the rail network needs a complete overhaul.众所周知，铁路系统需要大检修。

5 tally   

n.计数器，记分，一致，测量；vt.计算，记录，使一致；vi.计算，记分，一致

参考例句：

• Don't forget to keep a careful tally of what you spend.别忘了仔细记下你的开支账目。
• The facts mentioned in the report tally to every detail.报告中所提到的事实都丝毫不差。

6 decry   

v.危难，谴责

参考例句：

• Some people will decry this,insisting that President Obama should have tried harder to gain bipartisan support.有些人会对此表示谴责，坚持说奥巴马总统原本应该更加努力获得两党的支持。
• Now you decry him as another Hitler because he is a threat to the controlling interest of oil in the middle east.现在你却因为他对中东石油控制权益构成了威胁而谴责他为另一个希特勒。

7 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

8 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。

9 deficit   

n.亏空，亏损；赤字，逆差

参考例句：

• The directors have reported a deficit of 2.5 million dollars.董事们报告赤字为250万美元。
• We have a great deficit this year.我们今年有很大亏损。

10 coverage   

n.报导，保险范围，保险额，范围，覆盖

参考例句：

• There's little coverage of foreign news in the newspaper.报纸上几乎没有国外新闻报道。
• This is an insurance policy with extensive coverage.这是一项承保范围广泛的保险。

11 contentious   

adj.好辩的，善争吵的

参考例句：

• She was really not of the contentious fighting sort.她委实不是好吵好闹的人。
• Since then they have tended to steer clear of contentious issues.从那时起，他们总想方设法避开有争议的问题。

12 versus   

prep.以…为对手，对；与…相比之下

参考例句：

• The big match tonight is England versus Spain.今晚的大赛是英格兰对西班牙。
• The most exciting game was Harvard versus Yale.最富紧张刺激的球赛是哈佛队对耶鲁队。

13 mandates   

托管（mandate的第三人称单数形式）

参考例句：

• Individual mandates would require all people to purchase health insurance. 个人托管要求所有人都要购买健康保险。
• While I agree with those benefits, I'm not a supporter of mandates. 我同意上述好处，我不是授权软件的支持者。

14 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

15 compassionate   

adj.有同情心的，表示同情的

参考例句：

• She is a compassionate person.她是一个有同情心的人。
• The compassionate judge gave the young offender a light sentence.慈悲的法官从轻判处了那个年轻罪犯。

16 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

17 momentum   

n.动力，冲力，势头；动量

参考例句：

• We exploit the energy and momentum conservation laws in this way.我们就是这样利用能量和动量守恒定律的。
• The law of momentum conservation could supplant Newton's third law.动量守恒定律可以取代牛顿第三定律。

18 amendment   

n.改正，修正，改善，修正案

参考例句：

• The amendment was rejected by 207 voters to 143.这项修正案以207票对143票被否决。
• The Opposition has tabled an amendment to the bill.反对党已经就该议案提交了一项修正条款。

19 abortion   

n.流产，堕胎

参考例句：

• She had an abortion at the women's health clinic.她在妇女保健医院做了流产手术。
• A number of considerations have led her to have a wilful abortion.多种考虑使她执意堕胎。

20 subsidies   

n.补贴，津贴，补助金( subsidy的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• European agriculture ministers failed to break the deadlock over farm subsidies. 欧洲各国农业部长在农业补贴问题上未能打破僵局。
• Agricultural subsidies absorb about half the EU's income. 农业补贴占去了欧盟收入的大约一半。 来自《简明英汉词典》

21 chambers   

n.房间( chamber的名词复数 )；（议会的）议院；卧室；会议厅

参考例句：

• The body will be removed into one of the cold storage chambers. 尸体将被移到一个冷冻间里。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Mr Chambers's readable book concentrates on the middle passage: the time Ransome spent in Russia. Chambers先生的这本值得一看的书重点在中间：Ransome在俄国的那几年。 来自互联网