计划生育拨款争议或可导致政府关闭

Planned Parenthood Debate Could Trigger US Government Shutdown 计划生育拨款争议或可导致政府关闭

CAPITOL HILL—

Members of Congress, heading back to Washington after their August recess¹, will have just a few days in which to pass legislation that will keep the government funded after a current measure expires September 30. With some Republicans saying they want to use the spending bill to defund Planned Parenthood, another budget showdown may be in the works.

The last time a budget battle between the major parties triggered a government shutdown, the fight was over Democratic President Barack Obama’s sweeping² health care reform law, which Republicans bitterly opposed.  That partial shutdown lasted 16 days.

This time, the issue that has many Republican lawmakers and voters upset is the release of several undercover videos showing some Planned Parenthood employees talking about providing aborted⁴ fetal tissue for medical research.

Presidential race

The controversy⁵ is compounded by the 2016 presidential race, which is already underway, said budget analyst⁶ Stan Collender, executive vice⁷ president of public relations firm Qorvis MSLGROUP in Washington and a contributor to Forbes magazine.

“It is a particular problem in the Senate, where you have got four Republican candidates running for president, all of whom are vying⁸ for the anti-Planned Parenthood vote in the Republican primaries, all of whom are saying they are not voting for any continuing resolution [spending measure] if it includes funding [for Planned Parenthood],” he said.

One of those candidates is Republican Senator Ted³ Cruz of Texas. Speaking on the One America Network, he said Republicans have majorities in both houses of Congress, and "in my view, we should act like it, and we should stand together and say we are going to fund the entire federal government, but we're not going to fund the ongoing⁹ murder and the sale of the body parts of unborn children.”

Planned Parenthood strongly denies that it profits from the sale of donated fetal tissue.

McConnell's pledge

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said Republicans have “been down this path before" and get blamed no matter what the issue. He pledged that "we are not doing government shutdowns, and we are not threatening to default on the national debt.”

Obama has already appealed to Congress, saying that when lawmakers return, "they should prevent a shutdown, pass a responsible budget and prove that this is a country that looks forward.”

But Collender is skeptical¹⁰ that cooler heads will prevail.

“You have got to remember, in American politics now, compromising on issues like Planned Parenthood is the equivalent of and considered collaborating¹¹ with the enemy,” he said.

Collender said that on an emotional issue like Planned Parenthood and abortion¹², it will take every bit of leadership House and Senate leaders can muster¹³ to prevent another government shutdown.

1 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。

2 sweeping   

adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的

参考例句：

• The citizens voted for sweeping reforms.公民投票支持全面的改革。
• Can you hear the wind sweeping through the branches?你能听到风掠过树枝的声音吗？

3 ted   

vt.翻晒，撒，撒开

参考例句：

• The invaders gut ted the village.侵略者把村中财物洗劫一空。
• She often teds the corn when it's sunny.天好的时候她就翻晒玉米。

4 aborted   

adj.流产的，失败的v.（使）流产( abort的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）（某事物）中止；（因故障等而）（使）（飞机、宇宙飞船、导弹等）中断飞行；（使）（飞行任务等）中途失败

参考例句：

• The rocket flight had to be aborted because of difficulties with computer. 因电脑出故障，这次火箭飞行只好中辍。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They aborted the space flight finally. 他们最后中止了这次宇航飞行。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。

6 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

7 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

8 vying   

adj.竞争的；比赛的

参考例句：

• California is vying with other states to capture a piece of the growing communications market.为了在日渐扩大的通讯市场分得一杯羹，加利福尼亚正在和其他州展开竞争。
• Four rescue plans are vying to save the zoo.4个拯救动物园的方案正争得不可开交。

9 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

10 skeptical   

adj.怀疑的，多疑的

参考例句：

• Others here are more skeptical about the chances for justice being done.这里的其他人更为怀疑正义能否得到伸张。
• Her look was skeptical and resigned.她的表情是将信将疑而又无可奈何。

11 collaborating   

合作( collaborate的现在分词 )； 勾结叛国

参考例句：

• Joe is collaborating on the work with a friend. 乔正与一位朋友合作做那件工作。
• He was not only learning from but also collaborating with Joseph Thomson. 他不仅是在跟约瑟福？汤姆逊学习，而且也是在和他合作。

12 abortion   

n.流产，堕胎

参考例句：

• She had an abortion at the women's health clinic.她在妇女保健医院做了流产手术。
• A number of considerations have led her to have a wilful abortion.多种考虑使她执意堕胎。

13 muster   

v.集合，收集，鼓起，激起；n.集合，检阅，集合人员，点名册

参考例句：

• Go and muster all the men you can find.去集合所有你能找到的人。
• I had to muster my courage up to ask him that question.我必须鼓起勇气向他问那个问题。