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　　U.S. President Barack Obama has hailed the Senate vote on health-care reform, calling it a landmark¹ piece of legislation. The measure is a top priority for the Obama administration.
美国总统奥巴马称赞参议院投票通过医疗保险改革法案，并称这是一项具有里程碑意义的立法。医疗保险改革是奥巴马政府的重点工作之一。
On Christmas Eve, the Senate gave President Barack Obama a very welcome gift.
美国参议院在圣诞节前一天送给奥巴马总统一件非常受欢迎的礼物。
"In a historic vote that took place this morning members of the Senate joined their colleagues in the House of Representatives to pass a landmark health-insurance reform package," President Obama said.
奥巴马总统说：“在今天早上举行的具有历史意义的表决中，参议员们跟众议院的同事们一样，通过了具有里程碑意义的医保改革法案。”
It was a big victory for the president. In brief remarks at the White House about an hour after the Senate vote, he spoke² of the impact reform will have on the American people.
这对奥巴马总统来说是重要的胜利。参议院通过医保改革法案大约一个小时之后，奥巴马谈到医保改革对美国人的影响。
"With today's vote we are now incredibly close to making health insurance reform a reality in this country," said Mr. Obama. "Our challenge now is to finish the job."
“有了今天的表决，我们现在非常接近让医保改革在我们国家成为现实。眼下我们面临的挑战是完成这项工作。”
He acknowledged the toughest part of the process may lie ahead; melding the House and Senate versions of the sweeping³ health care reform bill into one.
奥巴马承认，医保改革过程最艰苦的阶段可能还在前头，那就是把众议院和参议院各自的医保改革法案文本进行协调，合并成一个最终的文本。
"Having passed reform bills in both the House and the Senate we now to have to take up the last and most important step and reach an agreement on a final reform bill that I can sign into law," he said. "I look forward to working with members of Congress in both chambers⁴ over the coming weeks to do exactly that."
“众议院和参议院都通过了医保改革法案之后，我们现在必须要迈出最后一步，也是最重要的一步，就最终的改革法案达成一致，以便我将它签署成为法律。我期待着在今后几个星期跟国会两院成员共同努力，完成这项工作。”
The House and Senate versions agree on core principles. In a country where most medical care is provided by the private sector⁵, both mandate⁶ health insurance for all. They also set new rules for insurance companies and provide subsidies⁷ to some Americans to help cover the cost of coverage⁸.
众议院和参议院的版本在核心原则上是一致的。在一个主要以私营部门提供医疗保险的国家，众议院和参议院的改革文本都强制规定每个人都必须有保险。两院的医保改革文本还为保险公司制定新规则，并为一些美国人提供补贴，帮助他们支付保费。
But while both the House and Senate bills aim to help the roughly 30 million Americans with no health care insurance, there are big differences in legislative⁹ language. The House wants a government-run health insurance plan to compete with private insurers. The Senate does not.
不过，尽管参众两院医保改革文本都意在帮助大约3000万没有医疗保险的美国人得到保险，两个文本在立法语言上存在一些重大分歧。众议院希望有一个政府经办医保的计划，跟私人保险公司竞争。参议院的文本里没有这项内容。
Negotiations¹⁰ on compromise legislation will begin in January after Congress and the president return to Washington after the holiday break.
国会议员和奥巴马总统结束节日休假回到华盛顿之后，就妥协法案进行的磋商将于明年1月开始。
The Obama family will be spending Christmas in Hawaii - the president's home state. They left the White House shortly after the Senate vote, and plan to return to Washington on January 3.
奥巴马一家在他的故乡夏威夷州渡过圣诞节和新年之后，计划1月3日回到华盛顿。