纽约时报 特朗普决定废除《平价医疗法案》 民主党人陷入混乱(2)

A judge in Texas agreed and invalidated the entire law,

德克萨斯州一名法官也同意这一说法，还废除了有关《平价医疗法案》的所有规定，

including its expansion of Medicaid and subsidies¹ to help many low- and middle-income people buy insurance.

包括为帮助许多中低收入人群购买保险而扩充的医疗补助和补贴。

The Justice Department initially² said that only parts of the law, including its protections for pre-existing conditions, should be struck down.

司法部最初表示只有部分条款需要废除，保护已存在伤病人群的条款也包括在内。

But on Monday, it expanded its attack to say the whole law should be invalidated.

然而，周一时，他们扩大了攻击的范围，称整套法律都应该废除。

The Justice Department's move caught both parties by surprise, and put Republicans in a very awkward position.

司法部的举动不仅打了民主党一个措手不及，也打了共和党一个措手不及，还将共和党人置于了一个非常尴尬的境地。

"Not only is this a poor political move,

他们的这一决定不仅在政治上是一次蹩脚的举措，

this decision hurts real people who will unfairly lose their health insurance coverage³ as a result,

还伤害了那些将因此遭受不公，失去医疗保险保护的人，”

said Representative Tom Reed, Republican of New York.

纽约州共和党众议员汤姆·里德说。

"We need to work to find ways to fix our health care system — not blow it up."

“我们需要的是想办法整改我们的医疗体系，而不是把它搞砸。”

Representative Kevin McCarthy of California, the House Republican leader, at first said,

众议院共和党领袖、加州众议员凯文·麦卡锡起初表示，

"I haven't read through what they — was it last night?"

“我还没有看完他们拟定的——是昨天晚上拟的吗?”

He then added, "I think the president has always been very clear that he wanted to repeal⁴ Obamacare,

之后他又补充道，“在我看来，总统一直都是非常明确地要废除奥巴马医改，

and to put a system in that actually lowers the cost and protects individuals' pre-existing conditions."

重新建立一个能够真正降低医疗成本，保护已存在伤病人群利益的医疗体系的。”

Other Republicans were more pointed⁵.

其他共和党人的回应比汤姆·里德还要尖锐。

Senator Susan Collins, Republican of Maine, whose vote helped sink the 2017 repeal effort and who is up for re-election in 2020,

缅因州共和党参议员苏珊·柯林斯，2017年时，挫败废除该法案的努力就有她的功劳，2020年她还将竞选连任，

pronounced herself "very disappointed," with the Justice Department's position.

就表示，她对司法部的行为“非常失望”。

"I thought it was bad enough when last year they wouldn't defend parts of the law,

“去年，他们不肯为该法律的部分条款——包括保护已存在伤病人群的条款——

including the parts protecting people with pre-existing conditions," Ms.Collins said."

辩护时，我觉得就已经很过分了，”柯林斯女士说，

This goes far beyond that and I think was a huge mistake."

（没想到他们）这次的举措比上次还要过分得多，这是极其错误的。”

But Mr. Trump⁶ wholeheartedly embraced the new position on Tuesday,

但无论是从推特还是从国会大厦的情况来看，

both on Twitter and in the Capitol, shortly before joining Senate Republicans at a closed-door luncheon⁷.

特朗普都在周二即将参加和参议院共和党人的非公开午宴之际欣然接受了这一新立场，

"The Republican Party will soon become the party of health care,"

“共和党将很快就会成为一个医疗保健党，”

he told a throng⁸ of reporters and photographers, echoing what he had already written on social media.

他对一群记者和摄影师说到，此举也印证了他之前在社交媒体上发布的消息。

The president used the closed-door meeting in the Capitol for a rambling⁹, unscripted recitation of his legislative¹⁰ priorities,

他还把国会大厦的这次非公开会议变成了他漫无边际地即兴背诵他在立法方面的当务之急的地方，

and repeated his intention to make the subject of health care a major issue over the next two years.

以及重申他把医疗保健问题作为未来两年的一个主要议题的打算的地方。

That pronouncement elicited¹¹ a muted response, according to a person in the room.

据一位在场人士透露，面对特朗普的这一举措，议员们纷纷陷入了沉默。

After the luncheon, Senator Lamar Alexander, Republican of Tennessee and chairman of the Senate health committee,

午宴结束后，田纳西州共和党参议员、参议院卫生委员会主席拉马尔·亚历山大，

echoed Mr. Trump's message: "We have to become more the party of health care."

附和了特朗普的话：“我们必须往医疗保健党的方向靠拢。”

1 subsidies   

n.补贴，津贴，补助金( subsidy的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• European agriculture ministers failed to break the deadlock over farm subsidies. 欧洲各国农业部长在农业补贴问题上未能打破僵局。
• Agricultural subsidies absorb about half the EU's income. 农业补贴占去了欧盟收入的大约一半。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。

3 coverage   

n.报导，保险范围，保险额，范围，覆盖

参考例句：

• There's little coverage of foreign news in the newspaper.报纸上几乎没有国外新闻报道。
• This is an insurance policy with extensive coverage.这是一项承保范围广泛的保险。

4 repeal   

n.废止，撤消；v.废止，撤消

参考例句：

• He plans to repeal a number of current policies.他计划废除一些当前的政策。
• He has made out a strong case for the repeal of the law.他提出强有力的理由，赞成废除该法令。

5 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

6 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

7 luncheon   

n.午宴，午餐，便宴

参考例句：

• We have luncheon at twelve o'clock.我们十二点钟用午餐。
• I have a luncheon engagement.我午饭有约。

8 throng   

n.人群，群众；v.拥挤，群集

参考例句：

• A patient throng was waiting in silence.一大群耐心的人在静静地等着。
• The crowds thronged into the mall.人群涌进大厅。

9 rambling   

adj.[建]凌乱的，杂乱的

参考例句：

• We spent the summer rambling in Ireland. 我们花了一个夏天漫游爱尔兰。
• It was easy to get lost in the rambling house. 在布局凌乱的大房子里容易迷路。

10 legislative   

n.立法机构，立法权；adj.立法的，有立法权的

参考例句：

• Congress is the legislative branch of the U.S. government.国会是美国政府的立法部门。
• Today's hearing was just the first step in the legislative process.今天的听证会只是展开立法程序的第一步。

11 elicited   

引出，探出( elicit的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Threats to reinstate the tax elicited jeer from the Opposition. 恢复此项征税的威胁引起了反对党的嘲笑。
• The comedian's joke elicited applause and laughter from the audience. 那位滑稽演员的笑话博得观众的掌声和笑声。