U.S. President Barack Obama has hailed the Senate vote on health-care reform, calling it a landmark 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 spoke 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 sweeping 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 chambers 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 sector, both mandate health insurance for all. They also set new rules for insurance companies and provide subsidies to some Americans to help cover the cost of coverage.
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 legislative 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。
Negotiations 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。 |