VOA慢速英语:US Congressional Committee Fails to Identify Budget Cuts

An American congressional committee reported failure earlier this week. The committee failed in its effort to cut the federal budget deficit by one point two trillion dollars over ten years.
一个美国国会委员会在本周早些时候报告了失败。该委员会未能就未来十年削减1.2万亿美元联邦预算赤字达成协议。

The Co-Chairs of the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction released a statement.  It said, “we have come to the conclusion today that it will not be possible to make any bipartisan agreement available to the public before the committee’s deadline.”
削减赤字的联合专责委员会联席主席发表了一项声明。 该声明称，“我们今天得出结论，在最后期限前，委员会无法向公众提供任何两党合作的协议。”

The twelve-member committee was created under the Budget Control Act of Twenty Eleven. The group was equally divided between the two main parties. The goal was to find acceptable ways to cut federal deficits. But, without an agreement, that will fall to involuntary cuts through the act of sequestration.
这个有12名成员的委员会是根据2011预算控制法案而成立的，席位由两个主要政党平分。目标是是要找到可被接受的方式来削减联邦赤字。但是如果没有达成协议，根据查封法案将开始非自愿削减程序。

The budgetary terms, sequester and sequestration, mean that the Treasury Department will withhold or cancel a set amount of spending.
预算术语：sequester和sequestration意味着财政部将中止或取消设置的支出金额。

By law, equal cuts in both civilian and military spending will begin in twenty thirteen. A total of one point two trillion dollars needs to be cut. This is in addition to cuts of about nine hundred billion dollars required by the budget law that created the congressional supercommittee.
根据法律规定，从2013年开始，将平等的削减民用和军用开支，一共需要削减1.2万亿。这是预算法规定的约9000亿削减之后的额外削减要求，国会超级委员会就是根据这个预算法成立的。

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has warned the combination of cuts could hurt his department.
国防部长Leon Panetta警告称，该组合削减措施可能会伤害其部门。

LEON PANETTA:  “If the sequester goes into effect and it doubles the number of cuts, then it will truly devastate our national defense.”
LEON PANETTA：“如果封存生效，削减数额翻倍。那么它将真正摧毁我们的国防。”

This has made some lawmakers feel uneasy. Representative Howard McKeon of California opposes new cuts in military spending.
这使得一些国会议员感到不安。加州众议员Howard McKeon反对新的军费削减。

HOWARD MCKEON:“National defense has contributed enough to deficit reduction.”
HOWARD MCKEON：“国防对赤字削减已经做出了足够的贡献。”

Many lawmakers are concerned that, with elections next year, programs important to voters in their areas will be cut. That would add to increasing voter anger over what they consider a lack of action by lawmakers.
由于明年的选举，许多国会议员都担心对各自选区支持自己的选民非常重要的项目将被削减。这将导致认为立法者缺乏行动而不断增加民愤。

Many voters share the feelings of this man in Houston, Texas, when asked about Congress.
当被问及关于国会时，许多选民都和得克萨斯州休斯敦的这位男子有着共同感受。

HOUSTON MAN: “They all need to be replaced -- every last one of them.”
HOUSTON MAN：“他们全部都需要被更换，一个不剩。”

REPORTER: “How would you do that?"
REPORTER：“你会怎么做呢？”

HOUSTON MAN: “Don't vote for them next time; vote for somebody else.”
HOUSTON MAN：“下次不给他们投票，投给其他人。”

But President Obama has warned Congress that he will block any efforts to cancel the spending cuts.
但是，奥巴马总统警告国会称，他将阻止任何试图取消削减开支的措施。

BARACK OBAMA:  “Already, some in Congress are trying to undo these automatic spending cuts. My message is simple: No. I will veto any effort to get rid of those automatic spending cuts.”
BARACK OBAMA：“目前，国会的一些人试图撤销这些自动削减开支法令。我要传达的信息很简单：不，我将否决任何撤销自动削减开支的法案。”

Experts say that Congress and the Obama administration could still reach agreement on budget cuts and taxes before the sequestration takes effect.
专家称，美国国会和奥巴马政府仍然可以在封存效前就削减预算和税收达成协议。