VOA慢速英语:Deal Reopens Government, Extends Debt Limit

Late Wednesday night, the United States Congress approved a deal to end a partial government shutdown. The deal also increases the nation's debt limit. President Obama signed the bill into law shortly after midnight. The shutdown lasted 16 days and affected hundreds of thousands of federal employees. It was the first shutdown in 17 years.
周三深夜，美国国会批准了一项协议，以结束政府部分关门。该协议还提高了美国的债务限额。午夜后不久，奥巴马总统签署该法案为法律。此次政府关闭历时16天，受影响的联邦雇员达数十万，它也是近17年以来美国政府第一次停摆。

However, the deal to reopen the government will only pay for operations through January 15. And it only extends the debt limit until February 7. Extending the debt limit will let the government borrow enough money to pay for programs already approved by Congress.
然而，此次政府重开的协议只承担明年1月15日前的政府运营费用，并扩大债务上限至明年2月7日。扩大债务限额将使得政府能筹够资金支付国会已经批准的项目。

The Treasury Department said the limit needed to rise by October 17 so that the United States could borrow enough money to pay all its bills.
美国财政部称，该限额必须在10月17日提高，从而使美国有足够的资金支付其所有账单。

Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen announced the results of the vote in the House of Representatives.
众议员Ileana Ros-Lehtinen揭晓了众议院的投票结果。

"On this vote the yeas are 285, the nays are 144, the motion is adopted."
“此次投票获得285张赞成票，144张反对票，议案被采纳。”

The pressure had been on House Speaker John Boehner. Earlier in the day, Mr. Boehner talked about what Republicans had been seeking. He spoke to radio station WLW in his hometown of Cincinnati, Ohio.
此前压力都集中于众议院院长约翰•博纳身上。当天早些时候，博纳先生谈到了共和党人一直在寻求什么。他对自己家乡俄亥俄州辛辛那提市的WLW电台称：

"We have been locked in a fight over here, trying to bring government down to size, trying to do our best to stop Obamacare. We fought the good fight, we just did not win."
“我们在此陷入恶战，试图削减政府规模，试图努力阻止奥巴马医保法案。我们打了一场漂亮的战，只是没有赢而已。”

The shutdown began October 1 after House Republicans linked passage of a spending bill to an effort to block the health care law.
政府关门开始于10月1日众议院共和党将通过开支法案与阻止医疗保健法联系起来。

Republicans hold the majority in the 435-member House. But the bill passed mostly with the votes of Democrats. Fewer than 90 Republicans voted for the bill. And none of their leaders came to the House floor to speak in the final debate. Democrats supported the bill after Speaker Boehner agreed to allow a vote without changing Obamacare.
共和党在435名成员组成的众议院占多数。但是，该法案的通过主要是借助民主党的投票。只有不到90名共和党人对该法案投赞成票，共和党领袖也没人到众议院现场的最后辩论中发言。在议长博纳同意不改变奥巴马医保法案的前提下，民主党投票支持了该法案。

Earlier the Senate passed the same bill by a vote of 81 to 18, with strong support from Democrats and Republicans.
早些时候，参议院在民主党和共和党的大力支持下，以81票对18票通过了类似法案。

Hours after signing the bill into law, President Obama noted "there are no winners here."在将之签署为法律几个小时后，奥巴马总统指出，“这里没有赢家。”

"The last few weeks have inflicted completely, unnecessary damage on our economy. We don't know yet the full scope of the damage, but every analyst out there believes it slowed our growth. We know that families have gone without paychecks or services they depend on. We know that potential home buyers have gotten fewer mortgages and small business loans have been put on hold. We know that consumers have cut back on spending and that half of all CEOs say that the shutdown and the threat of shutdown set back their plans to hire over the next six months."
“在过去几周，我国经济遭受了完全没有必要的损害。我们还不清楚损失整体达到了什么程度，但每一位分析人士都认为我们的增长放缓了。我们知道，每个家庭都得不到他们所依靠的薪资支票或服务。我们知道，准备买房的人得到的抵押贷款缩减，小企业贷款已被搁置。我们知道，消费者削减开支，半数公司老总称，政府关闭和停摆的威胁已经让他们推迟今后6个月的雇人计划。”

Congress agreed to pay government workers for the time away from their jobs. But economists say some businesses affected by the shutdown will not be able to recover their losses. For example, the shutdown closed national parks. That cost nearby businesses when people canceled park visits.
美国国会同意支付政府雇员离职期间的薪水。但经济学家称，一些受政府停摆影响的企业将无法弥补其损失。例如，政府停摆导致国家公园关闭，人们取消公园参观让附近商家蒙受损失。

As part of the deal, House and Senate leaders have appointed a joint budget committee to negotiate a compromise spending plan. The goal is to reach an agreement by December 13.
作为协议的一部分，参、众两院领导人已经任命了一个联合预算委员会，就一项妥协的支出方案进行磋商。目标是在12月13日前达成协议。

President Obama says, "We've got to get out of the habit of governing by crisis." He says with the shutdown over, attention should now turn to long-term budget concerns and issues like passing an immigration reform bill.
奥巴马总统称，“我们必须摆脱危机执政的习惯。”他说，随着政府停摆结束，美国应该将注意力转向长期预算问题，和通过移民改革法案等问题。