万花筒 2012-04-19&04-21 中国公司抢夺美国基建项目？

 And as you know, ABC News is always looking for ways to bring American jobs back to America.  So, this week, it was shocking to learn so many great infrastructure¹ projects are under way in America, rebuilding bridges and roads in American cities, but they've hired Chinese firms and Chinese workers.  Why?

20/20" anchor Chris Cuomo is the captain of our bringing America back team and he decided² to track down those people who made these decisions. Rebuilding America's crumbling³ infrastructure is now a priority. Help us rebuild this bridge, help us rebuild America, help us put construction workers back to work.

In New York, a $400 million renovation⁴ of Alexander Hamilton Bridge;In California, a whopper, a $7.2 billion new bridge to connect San Francisco and Oakland; In Alaska, a proposed $190 million bridge project.Sounds like a great opportunity for government spending to actually lead to real jobs. The problem: Much of the work is going to Chinese government-owned contracting firms.

When we're subsidizing jobs in China, we're not creating any wealth in the United States.

In Alaska, outraged⁵ union workers took to the airwaves with an obvious point : This is not the time to send more jobs to China, our tax dollars provide hundreds of jobs there, not at home. US law actually requires major infrastructure projects to buy America when the cost difference is reasonable. In California, US firms say they would have met those guidelines but state officials decided to turn down federal money for a major part of the bridge, allowing a Chinese company at cost of almost 3,000 American jobs, and potential $1 billion boost to the struggling California economy. It would've had a multiplying effect, because it would have not only given thousands of Californians jobs ,but also the subsequent spending would have been reinvested back in our economy. Is this the best way to bring America back? We went to Californian officials who claimed the Chinese could do the work faster and cheaper.

Why can't the Americans do it as quickly as Chinese, what makes them so special? One issue that you will consistently hear, every time you go to a fabrication site this country is that they struggle at this point in time to obtain welders⁶. That is an issue in this country. So can you say that you guys have done everything you can to keep jobs here and building this bridge? Absolutely.

But would American companies have done it, Chris, for a little less money and tried to race it along.

The US firms say absolutely.  They say they could have done this job.  And there's a bigger point here. It's not a level playing field, the Chinese firms are state-owned. They don't pay their workers as much. That's why the Buy America laws were passed, if states can get around them, Diane, we never bring America back, you have to enforce the laws to let American companies play.

1 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

2 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

3 crumbling   

adj.摇摇欲坠的

参考例句：

• an old house with crumbling plaster and a leaking roof 一所灰泥剥落、屋顶漏水的老房子
• The boat was tied up alongside a crumbling limestone jetty. 这条船停泊在一个摇摇欲坠的石灰岩码头边。

4 renovation   

n.革新，整修

参考例句：

• The cinema will reopen next week after the renovation.电影院修缮后，将于下星期开业。
• The building has undergone major renovation.这座大楼已进行大整修。

5 outraged   

a.震惊的，义愤填膺的

参考例句：

• Members of Parliament were outraged by the news of the assassination. 议会议员们被这暗杀的消息激怒了。
• He was outraged by their behavior. 他们的行为使他感到愤慨。

6 welders   

n.焊接工( welder的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Fifty welders were declared redundant. 已公布削减五十名焊工。 来自辞典例句
• Arcs more readily than AC welders, with longer arcing. 起弧比交流电容易，电弧加长一倍。 来自互联网