奥巴马签署临时议案结束关门

 　　奥巴马签署临时议案结束关门

　　WASHINGTON, Oct. 17 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Barack Obama signed a last-minute deal early Thursday to end the partial government shutdown and raise the debt ceiling.

　　Obama signed the bill into law without further comment after both the House and Senate approved it late Wednesday.

　　Speaking shortly after the Senate vote, the president said he would sign the bill as soon as it came to his desk and the process of reopening government would begin "immediately."

　　He thanked leaders from both the Democrats¹ and the Republicans for working out an agreement to end the government shutdown and raise the debt ceiling.

　　"Hopefully next time it won't be in the 11th hour," he said. "We've got to get out of the habit of governing by crisis."

　　Minutes after Obama signed the bill, White House budget director Sylvia Mathews Burwell issued a directive to employees, saying the government would try and make the transition back to fully² operational as smooth as possible.

　　"All employees who were on furlough due to the absence of appropriations³ may now return to work. You should reopen offices in a prompt and orderly manner," she said.

　　"This has been a particularly challenging time for Federal employees and I want to thank our Nation's dedicated⁴ civil servants for their continued commitment to serving the American people," Burwell added.

　　The bill ended weeks of tension and stalemate between the two parties, which lurched the federal government into the first partial shutdown in 17 years and pushed the country to the brink⁵ of an historic default.

　　Congress defused the risk just one day before the deadline set by the U.S. Treasury⁶ Department, which said it would exhaust the "extraordinary measures" it had taken to keep paying bills on Oct. 17, with merely 30 billion U.S. dollars cash on hand.

　　The short-term bill provides a temporary fix for the country's fiscal⁷ issues, but will not resolve the fundamental divide between the Democrats and the Republicans over Obamacare, which caused the standoff between the two parties.

　　The deal also raises the possibility of another battle early next year when the government runs out of funds and the Treasury's borrowing authority ends again.

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 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

3 appropriations   

n.挪用（appropriation的复数形式）

参考例句：

• More commonly, funding controls are imposed in the annual appropriations process. 更普遍的作法是，拨款控制被规定在年度拨款手续中。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法
• Should the president veto the appropriations bill, it goes back to Congress. 假如总统否决了这项拨款提案，就把它退还给国会。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件

4 dedicated   

adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的

参考例句：

• He dedicated his life to the cause of education.他献身于教育事业。
• His whole energies are dedicated to improve the design.他的全部精力都放在改进这项设计上了。

5 brink   

n.(悬崖、河流等的)边缘，边沿

参考例句：

• The tree grew on the brink of the cliff.那棵树生长在峭壁的边缘。
• The two countries were poised on the brink of war.这两个国家处于交战的边缘。

6 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。

7 fiscal   

adj.财政的，会计的，国库的，国库岁入的

参考例句：

• The increase of taxation is an important fiscal policy.增税是一项重要的财政政策。
• The government has two basic strategies of fiscal policy available.政府有两个可行的财政政策基本战略。