VOA慢速英语2021--拜登签署1.2万亿美元基础建设法案

Biden Signs $1.2 Trillion Infrastructure¹ Spending Plan

American President Joe Biden signed into law Monday a $1.2 trillion spending plan to provide money for a wide group of purposes. They include developing roads, bridges, ports, transportation, water projects, internet service and other things across the United States.

Speaking from the White House in Washington, D.C. Biden said, "For too long, we've talked about having the best economy in the world. We've talked about asserting American leadership around the world with the best and safest roads, railways, ports, and airports... today, we are finally getting it done."

Biden thanked Republican Senator Rob Portman of Ohio and Democratic Senator Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona for their work to get bipartisan support for the bill.

In order to reach the deal in a divided Congress, Biden had to reduce his spending request of $2.3 trillion by more than half. The $1.2 trillion spending plan will be partly paid for by using $210 billion in COVID-19 aid that was not spent and $53 billion in unemployment aid money that was not released.

What's in the spending plan:

The Biden administration called the law a historic investment and compared it to the building of the transcontinental railroad and the Interstate Highway System.

For roads and bridges

The legislation will provide $110 billion to repair the country's aging highways, bridges and roads. The Biden administration said nearly 280,000 kilometers of America's highways and major roads and 45,000 bridges are in poor condition.

Public transportation

The legislation will give $66 billion to improve Amtrak rail service. There will be $39 billion to fix thousands of kilometers of public transportation railways and expand other transportation systems. The law also aims to improve accessibility for people with disabilities. There will also be money for state and local governments to buy new zero- and low-emission² buses.

Electric vehicles

The law calls for spending $7.5 billion on electric vehicle charging stations. The Biden administration says this will increase the use of electric vehicles to limit climate change. It will also provide $5 billion for buying electric school buses and hybrids³ which run on both electricity and gasoline.

Internet access

The legislation's $65 billion for broadband service aims to improve internet services for rural areas, low-income families and tribal⁴ communities.

Modernizing⁵ the power grid⁶

To protect against electrical power outages that have become common in recent years, the law calls for spending $65 billion to upgrade the nation's power system. It will also provide money for carbon capture technologies and clean electricity production.

Airports

The law approves spending $25 billion to improve airport runways and structures. It will also be used for updated passenger areas and air traffic control centers.

Water and wastewater

Fifty-five billion dollars are aimed at water and wastewater infrastructure systems. Infrastructure is a word for the many structures and systems needed to operate a country. The law includes $15 billion to replace lead pipes and $10 billion to deal with polluted water.

How big is $1 trillion

The $1.2 trillion spending plan is about one-twentieth the size of the United States' GDP in 2020. The GDP is the measure of the total value of goods and services in the country. But, it is much larger than the GDP of many countries, including Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Sweden, Thailand and Nigeria.

American experts welcomed the deal. But they said $1 trillion was not enough to take care of and update the nation's infrastructure.

Yale University economist⁷ Ray Fair said there has been a sharp decrease in infrastructure spending as a percentage of the U.S. economy starting in 1970. He wrote in September that the new infrastructure spending plan only covered about 10 percent of the $5.2 trillion he said is needed. "The bottom line is that the current infrastructure bill is quite modest," Fair said.

David Van Slyke is head of the Maxwell School of Citizenship⁸ and Public Affairs at Syracuse University in New York. He told the Associated Press, "This is not going to solve our infrastructure problems across the nation."

Words in This Story

accessibility –n. the ability to be used, gotten or entered by someone (for example, someone with a disability)

assert –v. to state something in a strong way

emission — n. (often pl.) something that is sent out, given off or released (for example, gasses that are released)

charge –v. to put electricity into a device so that it will operate

bipartisan –adj. relating to or involving members of two political parties

bottom line –idiom the most important part of something : the most important thing to consider

modest –adj. not very large in size or amount

1 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

2 emission   

n.发出物，散发物；发出，散发

参考例句：

• Rigorous measures will be taken to reduce the total pollutant emission.采取严格有力措施，降低污染物排放总量。
• Finally,the way to effectively control particulate emission is pointed out.最后，指出有效降低颗粒排放的方向。

3 hybrids   

n.杂交生成的生物体( hybrid的名词复数 )；杂交植物（或动物）；杂种；（不同事物的）混合物

参考例句：

• All these brightly coloured hybrids are so lovely in the garden. 花园里所有这些色彩鲜艳的杂交花真美丽。 来自辞典例句
• The notion that interspecific hybrids are rare is ill-founded. 有一种看法认为种间杂种是罕见的，这种看法是无根据的。 来自辞典例句

4 tribal   

adj.部族的，种族的

参考例句：

• He became skilled in several tribal lingoes.他精通几种部族的语言。
• The country was torn apart by fierce tribal hostilities.那个国家被部落间的激烈冲突弄得四分五裂。

5 modernizing   

使现代化，使适应现代需要( modernize的现在分词 )； 现代化，使用现代方法

参考例句：

• Modernizing a business to increase its profitability and competitiveness is a complicated affair. 使企业现代化，从而达到增加利润，增强竞争力的目的，是一件复杂的事情。
• The young engineer had a large share in modernizing the factory. 这位年轻工程师在工厂现代化的过程中尽了很大的“力”。

6 grid   

n.高压输电线路网；地图坐标方格；格栅

参考例句：

• In this application,the carrier is used to encapsulate the grid.在这种情况下，要用载体把格栅密封起来。
• Modern gauges consist of metal foil in the form of a grid.现代应变仪则由网格形式的金属片组成。

7 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

8 citizenship   

n.市民权，公民权，国民的义务(身份)

参考例句：

• He was born in Sweden,but he doesn't have Swedish citizenship.他在瑞典出生，但没有瑞典公民身分。
• Ten years later,she chose to take Australian citizenship.十年后，她选择了澳大利亚国籍。