美国国家公共电台 NPR--Debt ceiling talks to resume between Biden and top congressional leaders

Debt ceiling talks to resume between Biden and top congressional leaders

Transcript¹

This second discussion comes as the U.S. is quickly approaching the deadline by which the Department of Treasury² believes the federal government will run out of money to pay its bills.

A MART?NEZ, HOST:

President Biden plans to meet with congressional leaders today to talk about raising the debt ceiling. The federal government is only about two weeks away from running out of money to pay its bills, by a Treasury Department estimate. NPR congressional reporter Barbara Sprunt. is here to talk us through all this. Barbara, this is going to be the second debt ceiling discussion between the president and the Senate and House leaders. So what happened since they met a week ago?

BARBARA SPRUNT, BYLINE³: White House aides and congressional leadership staff have been meeting to chart out possible courses here before the leaders were to meet again. Staff worked through the weekend on this. But yesterday, Speaker McCarthy told reporters he's not seeing what he sees as sufficient progress.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

KEVIN MCCARTHY: It's very concerning to me. Look, I look at the days that it'd take to get to the House and to the Senate. You'd have to have something done by this - end of this week, and I just don't see the progress happening.

SPRUNT: And that's very different from what the president is saying. Over the weekend, President Biden told reporters he remains⁴ optimistic.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: It never is good to characterize a negotiation⁶ in the middle of a negotiation. I remain optimistic because I'm a congenital optimist⁵, but I really think there's a desire on their part, as well as ours, to reach an agreement. And I think we'll be able to do it.

SPRUNT: So quite a divide here between the two leaders. A source familiar with the discussions, who spoke⁷ on the condition of anonymity⁸ to describe these private negotiations⁹, said it's not expected there will be a major breakthrough at today's meeting. Leaders will talk about where staff have found common ground and where they haven't.

MART?NEZ: I know Republicans passed a debt relief bill last month. How do the proposals in that bill fit into these negotiations?

SPRUNT: The legislation that House Republicans passed, which rolls back spending levels and limits the growth of federal spending, it would also repeal¹⁰ key provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act. That's Biden's signature bill that funds climate, health care and energy programs. The White House is trying hard to avoid any cuts to that. Top allies of Speaker McCarthy have signaled there are four areas which could serve as a framework for a compromise - spending caps for federal programs, clawing back roughly $60 billion in unspent COVID-19 funds, permitting reform that would speed up the approval for new energy projects and adding work requirements for adults without dependents who receive support from safety net programs like food stamps.

Now, the source familiar with discussions said there's potential areas for common ground on the unspent COVID aid and permitting reform, but said the president and McCarthy are still very far apart on spending caps, those new work requirements for Medicaid and food assistance, along with revenue raisers like closing loopholes in the tax code. And it's worth noting that Biden is leaving on Wednesday for the G-7 in Japan. So he's expected to receive daily updates while he's in Asia.

MART?NEZ: OK. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, though, has been warning that the U.S. could run out of money as early as June 1. Does that deadline still hold?

SPRUNT: It does. She sent a letter to all members of congressional leadership yesterday regarding the debt limit. She reiterated¹¹ that timeline, saying the X date could come as early as June 1 and went on to say that concerns about a debt default can raise short-term borrowing costs and negatively impact the U.S. credit rating.

MART?NEZ: That's NPR congressional reporter Barbara Sprunt. Barbara, thanks.

SPRUNT: Thank you.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 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。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 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。

5 optimist   

n.乐观的人，乐观主义者

参考例句：

• We are optimist and realist.我们是乐观主义者，又是现实主义者。
• Peter,ever the optimist,said things were bound to improve.一向乐观的皮特说，事情必定是会好转的。

6 negotiation   

n.谈判，协商

参考例句：

• They closed the deal in sugar after a week of negotiation.经过一星期的谈判，他们的食糖生意成交了。
• The negotiation dragged on until July.谈判一直拖到7月份。

7 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。

8 anonymity   

n.the condition of being anonymous

参考例句：

• Names of people in the book were changed to preserve anonymity. 为了姓名保密，书中的人用的都是化名。
• Our company promises to preserve the anonymity of all its clients. 我们公司承诺不公开客户的姓名。

9 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。

10 repeal   

n.废止，撤消；v.废止，撤消

参考例句：

• He plans to repeal a number of current policies.他计划废除一些当前的政策。
• He has made out a strong case for the repeal of the law.他提出强有力的理由，赞成废除该法令。

11 reiterated   

反复地说，重申( reiterate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• "Well, I want to know about it,'she reiterated. “嗯，我一定要知道你的休假日期，"她重复说。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
• Some twenty-two years later President Polk reiterated and elaborated upon these principles. 大约二十二年之后，波尔克总统重申这些原则并且刻意阐释一番。