Obama vows action on healthcare

President Barack Obama has said he intends "to get something done this year" on healthcare reform.

In an interview for ABC News ahead of his key speech to Congress, he said he was open to new ideas and would not be "rigid¹ or ideological²".

Mr Obama said the speech would offer "a lot of clarity（清晰度） about what I think is the best way to move forward".

Members of Congress are preparing to fight over the details of the reforms, as they return after the summer recess³.

The president is expected to speak about the politically divisive option of having a publicly run insurance scheme.

 

When asked if Americans will find out in his speech whether or not he is willing to sign a healthcare reform bill without a public scheme, he said:

"Well, I think the country is going to know exactly what I think will solve our healthcare crisis."

Mr Obama said the speech will be directed at the American people, as well as members of Congress.

"The intent of the speech is to, A, make sure that the American people are clear exactly what it is that we are proposing," Mr Obama said.

"And B, to make sure that Democrats⁵ and Republicans understand that I'm open to new ideas, that we're not being rigid and ideological about this thing, but we do intend to get something done this year."

Top priority

In the senate, Finance Committee chairman Max Baucus has drawn⁶ up a new compromise proposal.

 

And in the House of Representatives, a prominent（突出） Democrat⁴ has signalled he will not support any bill that includes a publicly run insurance scheme.

Passing a healthcare bill is Mr Obama's top political priority for 2009.

Earlier in the year he called on both chambers⁷ of Congress to pass healthcare bills before the summer recess, so that they could spend the autumn reconciling their different versions.

But neither house met Mr Obama's deadline, amid disagreements over the specifics of healthcare reform.

Bipartisan

In the Senate, the Health Committee approved a plan that would have forced all Americans to get health insurance, while providing subsidies⁸ （赠款）to the less well-off.

It would also have given Americans without employer-provided coverage⁹ the chance to sign up for a new publicly-run insurance scheme, the so-called "public option".

But the other senate committee with responsibility for health legislation - Mr Baucus's Finance Committee - was unable to agree on a bill.

Mr Baucus was keen to win support from Republicans as well as Democrats for a bill, but the Republicans on the committee, and some moderate Democrats, objected to the proposals to create a "public option".

Now, Mr Baucus has drawn up a new "framework for consideration", without a public option, which he hopes will attract bipartisan support.

In the House of Representatives, Democratic leaders made an informal agreement with moderate Democrats - the so-called "Blue-Dog Democrats" - before the summer recess on a healthcare bill that included a public option.

But one of the architects of the deal, "Blue Dog" Mike Ross, announced on Tuesday that he could no longer support a bill that contained a public option because his constituents¹⁰ appeared to oppose this overwhelmingly. (本文由在线英语听力室整理编辑)

1 rigid   

adj.严格的，死板的；刚硬的，僵硬的

参考例句：

• She became as rigid as adamant.她变得如顽石般的固执。
• The examination was so rigid that nearly all aspirants were ruled out.考试很严，几乎所有的考生都被淘汰了。

2 ideological   

a.意识形态的

参考例句：

• He always tries to link his study with his ideological problems. 他总是把学习和自己的思想问题联系起来。
• He helped me enormously with advice on how to do ideological work. 他告诉我怎样做思想工作，对我有很大帮助。

3 recess   

n.短期休息，壁凹（墙上装架子，柜子等凹处）

参考例句：

• The chairman of the meeting announced a ten-minute recess.会议主席宣布休会10分钟。
• Parliament was hastily recalled from recess.休会的议员被匆匆召回开会。

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 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

7 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

8 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》

9 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。

10 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》