Senate Votes to Kill House Debt Ceiling Bill

 　　In another dramatic evening on Capitol Hill, the Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill to cut spending and raise the debt ceiling. The Democratic-controlled Senate moved quickly, however, to vote to kill the House bill. It's a high-stakes political battle to avoid the United States' first ever national default on its $14.3 trillion debt by August 2.

　　Friday evening got off to a good start for congressional Republicans. The result of the vote tally¹ in House of Representatives likely came as a relief to House Speaker John Boehner. Congressman² Charles Bass³ was in the chair to announce the vote results.

　　“The yeas are 218, the nays⁴ are 210, the bill is passed. Without objection, a motion to reconsider is laid upon the table,” said Bass.

　　The revised “Budget Control” bill calls for raising the U.S. borrowing limit in a exchange for more than $900 billion in spending cuts over the next 10 years. The vote passed without a single Democratic vote and 22 Republican lawmakers voted against it.

　　Minutes before late Friday’s vote, an impassioned Boehner was cheered by most of his Republican caucus⁵, as he challenged Democrats⁶ to come forward with their plan.

　　“This House has acted," said Boehner. "And it is time for the administration, and time for our colleagues across the aisle⁷, put something on the table! Tell us where you are! [Cheers and applause]

　　Boehner had scheduled a vote on his bill Thursday, but he had to pull it from the floor after failing to convince enough Tea Party members of his caucus to support it. To avert⁸ a potential political disaster, Boehner added a provision which would force both houses of Congress to pass a balanced budget amendment¹⁰ before the debt ceiling is raised again early next year- something analysts¹¹ say is very unlikely to happen.

　　But just two hours after the House vote, Senate Majority leader Harry¹² Reid moved to hold a vote to kill the House bill, and it passed with 59 Senators voting for it and 41 voting against it. Senator Reid is pushing the Senate to pass his own separate version of a bill that would cut spending and raise the debt ceiling until after the 2012 elections.

　　Earlier, Democratic senators warned that requiring that a balanced budget amendment pass both chambers¹³ of Congress would virtually guarantee that the nation defaults on its debt when the proposed second vote on raising the debt ceiling is held in six months time.

　　Democratic Senator Dick Durbin from Illinois blasted Republicans for adding what Democrats described as a “poison pill” to the bill.

　　“Not enough that they [Republicans] are willing to hold our economy hostage with the debt ceiling extension. Not enough that we stop the workings of this government on so many issues that we should be working on," said Durbin. "But now, now the speaker has brought in the requirement to extend the debt ceiling we have to amend⁹ the Constitution of the United States of America. This is the most outrageous¹⁴ suggestion I have heard.”

　　Reid has called on Republican Minority leader Mitch McConnell to join with him to put forward a bipartisan bill which can avert a default.

　　“The security of our nation, literally¹⁵ the security of our nation, every family, is at stake here," said Reid. "If the debt ceiling is not increased, every American family will feel an increase in their taxes, in various ways, higher payments on all their debts, credit cards, loans they take out to put their kids through school, car payments, mortgages on their houses.”

　　The White House issued a statement saying the House bill would have the United States face another debt ceiling crisis in just a few months. President Barack Obama called on Congress to use the Reid bill as a basis to agree on a bipartisan solution to prevent what he called an avoidable crisis early next week. The president again called on Americans to call their congressman’s office if they want a compromise bill that he can sign before Tuesday, resulting in a high volume of phone calls coming in to congressional offices on Capitol Hill.

1 tally   

n.计数器，记分，一致，测量；vt.计算，记录，使一致；vi.计算，记分，一致

参考例句：

• Don't forget to keep a careful tally of what you spend.别忘了仔细记下你的开支账目。
• The facts mentioned in the report tally to every detail.报告中所提到的事实都丝毫不差。

2 Congressman   

n.（美）国会议员

参考例句：

• He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman.他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。
• The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics.这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。

3 bass   

n.男低音(歌手)；低音乐器；低音大提琴

参考例句：

• He answered my question in a surprisingly deep bass.他用一种低得出奇的声音回答我的问题。
• The bass was to give a concert in the park.那位男低音歌唱家将在公园中举行音乐会。

4 nays   

n.反对票，投反对票者( nay的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The tally was two ayes and three nays. 投票结果是两票赞成，三票反对。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The tally was three yeas and two nays, so the yeas have it. 投票结果是三票赞成两票反对，投赞成票者胜利。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

5 caucus   

n.秘密会议；干部会议；v.（参加）干部开会议

参考例句：

• This multi-staged caucus takes several months.这个多级会议常常历时好几个月。
• It kept the Democratic caucus from fragmenting.它也使得民主党的核心小组避免了土崩瓦解的危险。

6 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》

7 aisle   

n.（教堂、教室、戏院等里的）过道，通道

参考例句：

• The aisle was crammed with people.过道上挤满了人。
• The girl ushered me along the aisle to my seat.引座小姐带领我沿着通道到我的座位上去。

8 avert   

v.防止，避免；转移(目光、注意力等)

参考例句：

• He managed to avert suspicion.他设法避嫌。
• I would do what I could to avert it.我会尽力去避免发生这种情况。

9 amend   

vt.修改，修订，改进；n.[pl.]赔罪，赔偿

参考例句：

• The teacher advised him to amend his way of living.老师劝他改变生活方式。
• You must amend your pronunciation.你必须改正你的发音。

10 amendment   

n.改正，修正，改善，修正案

参考例句：

• The amendment was rejected by 207 voters to 143.这项修正案以207票对143票被否决。
• The Opposition has tabled an amendment to the bill.反对党已经就该议案提交了一项修正条款。

11 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

12 harry   

vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼

参考例句：

• Today,people feel more hurried and harried.今天，人们感到更加忙碌和苦恼。
• Obama harried business by Healthcare Reform plan.奥巴马用医改掠夺了商界。

13 chambers   

n.房间( chamber的名词复数 )；（议会的）议院；卧室；会议厅

参考例句：

• The body will be removed into one of the cold storage chambers. 尸体将被移到一个冷冻间里。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Mr Chambers's readable book concentrates on the middle passage: the time Ransome spent in Russia. Chambers先生的这本值得一看的书重点在中间：Ransome在俄国的那几年。 来自互联网

14 outrageous   

adj.无理的，令人不能容忍的

参考例句：

• Her outrageous behaviour at the party offended everyone.她在聚会上的无礼行为触怒了每一个人。
• Charges for local telephone calls are particularly outrageous.本地电话资费贵得出奇。

15 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。