美国国会两党就2016年预算达成协议

美国国会两党就2016年预算达成协议

From funding the U.S. government to upgrading America's overburdened highways to boosting the nation's cyber security, the Republican-led Congress passed a flurry of bills that President Barack Obama, a Democrat¹, enthusiastically signed into law.

从资助美国政府到升级为推动这个国家不堪重负的网络安全发展,共和党人领导的国会通过了一系列法案,而作为民主党人的美国总统巴拉克·奥巴马热情将它们签署成为法律。

“I feel good about what we've been able to accomplish in just a few short weeks. And I feel very good about where we are going in the next year.”

“能够在短短几周内完成，我觉得很好。而且对于明年将要做的，我也觉得很好。”

“When the American people elect divided government, they are not saying don't do anything. They are saying,look for the things you can agree on.”

“当美国人民选举分治的政府时,他们不是希望什么事情都不做。他们期望的是你们之间可以达成共识。”

Democrats², who lost their Senate majority in 2014, claimed some of the credit.

在2014年失去了参议院多数党的民主党人也邀了一些功劳。

“When Republicans were in the minority, their goal was obstruction³. Now that Democrats are in the minority, our goal is helping⁴ the middle class, and we are willing to work with Republicans to achieve that.”

“当共和党人占少数席位的时候,他们的目标是妨碍议事。而现在民主党人占少数,我们的目标是帮助中产阶级,而且我们愿意与共和党人合作达成这一目标。”

“If you see a candidate who Washington embraces, run and hide. For some Republican presidential contenders, a Washington that works is a Washington up to no good. If you think Washington is fundamentally broken, that there is a bipartisan corruption⁵ of career politicians in both parties that get in bed with the lobbyists and special interests and grow and grow and grow Washington…that is what this campaign is all about!”

“如果你看到华盛顿接纳的一名候选人，那就赶快跑，然后藏起来。对于一些共和党总统竞选人而言,华盛顿方面的所作所为往往是不怀好意。如果你觉得华盛顿彻底出现了问题,那是因为两党中出现了职业政治家的腐败,他们与说客同流合污而且这样的特殊利益集团在华盛顿不断膨胀壮大…这才是这次总统竞选所要解决的根本问题!”

The congressional leaders are on the turn.

国会领导人正在改变当中。

“As Congress works in the new year, I want to make sure that we get back to what is called regular order so that we have a system that operates like the founders⁶ intended.”

“随着国会在新的一年里返回,我希望确保我们回归常态,这样我们就会有创始人希望那样的体系。”

“The speaker and I had a number of conversations. He wants to do appropriation⁷ bills; I want to do appropriation bills. And there is no reason we can't.”

“议长和我曾有过很多对话。他希望通过拨款法案,我也想这样做。因此没什么理由能阻挡我们的。”

Congress has not funded the governments through committee by committee spending bills since Bill Clinton was president.

自比尔·克林顿担任总统以来国会还没有通过委员会资助政府支出法案。

“This big bill we just passed was $1.1 trillion (of spending) in one bill. That's not the way to do business. And so we are going to try our best not to end up in that situation again.”

“而我们刚刚通过了1.1万亿美元的一项法案。这不是做生意的方式。因此我们竭尽所能希望不要以那样的方式结束。”

McConnell will need help from Democrats, who have designs of their own for next year.

麦康奈尔将需要民主党人的帮助,他对明年有着自己的期望。

“We can only hope that our Republican colleagues will be as cooperative a minority as we were this year when Democrats take back the Senate in 2016.”

“在2016年民主党夺回参议院时，我们只能寄希望于共和党同僚会像我们今年所合作的少数人那样。”

 

Republican leaders aim to keep that prediction from coming true, and see a functional⁸ Congress as key to that goal.

共和党领导人希望阻止这样的预言成真,而且将多功能的国会视为这一目标的关键。

1 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

2 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 obstruction   

n.阻塞，堵塞；障碍物

参考例句：

• She was charged with obstruction of a police officer in the execution of his duty.她被指控妨碍警察执行任务。
• The road was cleared from obstruction.那条路已被清除了障碍。

4 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

5 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

6 founders   

n.创始人( founder的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He was one of the founders of the university's medical faculty. 他是该大学医学院的创建人之一。 来自辞典例句
• The founders of our religion made this a cornerstone of morality. 我们宗教的创始人把这看作是道德的基石。 来自辞典例句

7 appropriation   

n.拨款，批准支出

参考例句：

• Our government made an appropriation for the project.我们的政府为那个工程拨出一笔款项。
• The council could note an annual appropriation for this service.议会可以为这项服务表决给他一笔常年经费。

8 functional   

adj.为实用而设计的，具备功能的，起作用的

参考例句：

• The telephone was out of order,but is functional now.电话刚才坏了，但现在可以用了。
• The furniture is not fancy,just functional.这些家具不是摆着好看的，只是为了实用。