立法如未通过 美国可能面临“关门”

We're starting in Washington, D.C. where lawmakers are grappling with some major pieces of legislation this week. One of them is funding for the U.S. government. That's expected to expire on September 30th.

我们从华盛顿特区的事情开始讲起，本周立法者正在努力解决一些主要的立法问题。其中之一是为美国政府提供资金。该法案预计将于9月30日到期。

If lawmakers can't push that through before the end of this week, a government shutdown is possible.

如果立法者不能在本周末之前通过该法案，政府可能会关门。

That doesn't mean the country shuts down, but it can send hundreds of thousands of Federal workers home without pay, and it can suspend some government services until Congress passes a funding bill.

这并不意味着国家关门，但它可以让数十万联邦工作人员身无分文归家，并可以暂停一些政府服务，直到国会通过一项拨款法案。

One hold up with the current funding bill is that it would raise the U.S. debt ceiling.

目前的融资法案面临的一个障碍是，它将提高美国的债务上限。

That's the limit on what the government is allowed to borrow as it spends more money than it takes in.

这是政府允许借贷的上限，因为它花的钱比赚的钱多。

Congress has always raised the limit when the U.S. reached it, but it's not a politically popular thing to do.

当美国达到上限时，国会总是会提高上限，但这在政治上不受欢迎。

So, Democrats want Republicans to help raise that ceiling, while Republicans want Democrats to raise the limit on their own.

因此，民主党人希望共和党人帮助提高这一上限，而共和党人希望民主党人自己提高这一上限。

What remains to be seen is whether Democrats who control Congress will separate the debt ceiling vote from the government spending vote, in an effort to get the bills passed.

控制国会的民主党人是否会将债务上限投票与政府支出投票分离开来，以努力使法案获得通过，这还有待观察。

There are two other spending bills that Congress is debating. One of them is a $1 trillion infrastructure package, money for roads, bridges, waterways, railroads, electric vehicles and charging stations.

国会正在讨论另外两项开支法案。其中之一是1万亿美元的基础设施一揽子计划，资金用于道路、桥梁、水路、铁路、电动汽车和充电站。

Some Republicans have joined Democrats in supporting this bill. The other piece of legislation is a larger $3.5 trillion social policy bill.

一些共和党人和民主党人一起支持这项法案。另一项立法是3.5万亿美元的社会政策法案。

It would spend more on immigration reform, universal pre-school, free community college, climate related policies and public housing.

它将在移民改革、普及学前教育、免费社区大学、气候相关政策和公共住房方面投入更多资金。

No Republicans support this bill, and there's some disagreement among Democrats over it as well.

没有共和党人支持这项法案，民主党人对此也存在一些分歧。

The reason why all of this is being so closely watched, is because these packages include major legislative priorities of President Joe Biden.

这一切之所以受到如此密切的关注，是因为这些方案包括了乔·拜登总统的主要立法重点。

If they don't get passed, the fallout could effect his presidency in the coming years.

如果法案未能通过，其后果可能会影响到他未来几年的总统任期。