美国国家公共电台 NPR--House approves the debt ceiling measure as the default deadline looms

House approves the debt ceiling measure as the default deadline looms¹

Transcript²

After weeks of wrangling³ over whether Washington could find common ground, the House passed a compromise bill to avert⁴ a historic default. The bill faces a final legislative⁵ test in the Senate.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

With overwhelming bipartisan support, the House of Representatives passed that bill last night.

A MART?NEZ, HOST:

So the compromise negotiated by President Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy moves ahead, putting the U.S. one step closer to avoiding a potentially disastrous⁶ debt default. The legislation now heads to the Senate. And if passed, it would defer⁷ the federal debt limit for two years.

FADEL: NPR congressional reporter Barbara Sprunt was there and joins us now. Good morning, Barbara.

BARBARA SPRUNT, BYLINE⁸: Good morning.

FADEL: So Barbara, it took weeks and weeks of what seemed like relentless⁹ negotiations¹⁰ to get to this bill. What did its passage look like last night?

SPRUNT: Well, the bill passed by an overwhelming margin¹¹ with bipartisan support. The important numbers to focus on are actually about the party breakdown¹². There had been this question going into the vote about whether Democrats¹³ would supply just enough votes for it to pass and avoid a default, or if they'd want to bring a large show of force in support of President Biden. So that margin was always a question. In the end, more Democrats actually voted for the bill than Republicans. Now, very conservative Republicans and progressive Democrats had lots of complaints about this bill, saying it either didn't go far enough on spending cuts or it went too far. All that was expected. That's the nature of a compromise bill.

FADEL: So what does this vote say about McCarthy as speaker?

SPRUNT: Well, you know, I've been talking to members in his conference throughout this process and many really praise him for, in their view, really driving the negotiations with the White House and sort of forcing President Biden to negotiate on things that he initially¹⁴ said he wouldn't, like spending caps and expanding work requirements for federal safety net programs like food stamps, for example. There was speculation¹⁵, you know, given the amount of time that it took him to become speaker back in January - everyone remembers those epic¹⁶ days of voting, one after another. You know, there was a sense, there was some speculation that, like, maybe his hold on his conference is a little more tenuous¹⁷. But he's emerging, you know, having just negotiated a pretty significant compromise deal. And, you know, McCarthy himself was pretty elated about that last night.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

KEVIN MCCARTHY: This is one of the best nights I've ever been here. I thought it would be hard. I thought it'd be almost impossible just to get to 218.

SPRUNT: He's talking about the number of votes needed for passage there. You know, he told reporters he doesn't think it's a big deal that more Democrats backed this bill than Republicans. He said he promised two-thirds of his conference would support it. He delivered on that. But some Freedom Caucus¹⁸ members who didn't vote for the deal have expressed concerns that this ended up being more of a win for Democrats than Republicans. So this could fuel some more unrest among conservative Republicans who were against this deal to begin with. Now, there have been questions, you know, in light of that about whether there could be a motion to vacate, which is essentially¹⁹ a member calling for a snap vote to oust²⁰ McCarthy. But McCarthy was asked about this last night directly. He said he's not worried about losing his gavel at all.

FADEL: OK, so now it goes to the Senate. Is it a foregone conclusion that this deal will pass before Monday, which is when Treasury²¹ Secretary Janet Yellen predicts the U.S. will no longer be able to pay its bills?

SPRUNT: Well, Republicans and Democrats on the Senate side are working to see if they can reach an agreement to speed up the process and get this moving as early as today. Now, of course, the Senate won't be without its own drama on this, of course. Yesterday we saw Utah Republican Mike Lee and Vermont Independent Bernie Sanders on the Senate floor sort of blasting the legislation, pledging to vote against it. But as you said, that deadline is real. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has said senators will stay over the weekend if they have to in order to vote in time.

FADEL: That's NPR congressional reporter Barbara Sprunt. Thank you, Barbara.

SPRUNT: Thank you.

1 looms   

n.织布机( loom的名词复数 )v.隐约出现，阴森地逼近( loom的第三人称单数 )；隐约出现，阴森地逼近

参考例句：

• All were busily engaged,men at their ploughs,women at their looms. 大家都很忙，男的耕田，女的织布。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The factory has twenty-five looms. 那家工厂有25台织布机。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 wrangling   

v.争吵，争论，口角( wrangle的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The two sides have spent most of their time wrangling over procedural problems. 双方大部分时间都在围绕程序问题争论不休。 来自辞典例句
• The children were wrangling (with each other) over the new toy. 孩子为新玩具（互相）争吵。 来自辞典例句

4 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。

5 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。

6 disastrous   

adj.灾难性的，造成灾害的；极坏的，很糟的

参考例句：

• The heavy rainstorm caused a disastrous flood.暴雨成灾。
• Her investment had disastrous consequences.She lost everything she owned.她的投资结果很惨，血本无归。

7 defer   

vt.推迟，拖延；vi.(to)遵从，听从，服从

参考例句：

• We wish to defer our decision until next week.我们希望推迟到下星期再作出决定。
• We will defer to whatever the committee decides.我们遵从委员会作出的任何决定。

8 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

9 relentless   

adj.残酷的，不留情的，无怜悯心的

参考例句：

• The traffic noise is relentless.交通车辆的噪音一刻也不停止。
• Their training has to be relentless.他们的训练必须是无情的。

10 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

11 margin   

n.页边空白；差额；余地，余裕；边，边缘

参考例句：

• We allowed a margin of 20 minutes in catching the train.我们有20分钟的余地赶火车。
• The village is situated at the margin of a forest.村子位于森林的边缘。

12 breakdown   

n.垮，衰竭；损坏，故障，倒塌

参考例句：

• She suffered a nervous breakdown.她患神经衰弱。
• The plane had a breakdown in the air,but it was fortunately removed by the ace pilot.飞机在空中发生了故障，但幸运的是被王牌驾驶员排除了。

13 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》

14 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。

15 speculation   

n.思索，沉思；猜测；投机

参考例句：

• Her mind is occupied with speculation.她的头脑忙于思考。
• There is widespread speculation that he is going to resign.人们普遍推测他要辞职。

16 epic   

n.史诗，叙事诗；adj.史诗般的，壮丽的

参考例句：

• I gave up my epic and wrote this little tale instead.我放弃了写叙事诗，而写了这个小故事。
• They held a banquet of epic proportions.他们举行了盛大的宴会。

17 tenuous   

adj.细薄的，稀薄的，空洞的

参考例句：

• He has a rather tenuous grasp of reality.他对现实认识很肤浅。
• The air ten miles above the earth is very tenuous.距离地面十公里的空气十分稀薄。

18 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。

19 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

20 oust   

vt.剥夺，取代，驱逐

参考例句：

• The committee wanted to oust him from the union.委员会想把他从工会中驱逐出去。
• The leaders have been ousted from power by nationalists.这些领导人被民族主义者赶下了台。

21 treasury   

n.宝库；国库，金库；文库

参考例句：

• The Treasury was opposed in principle to the proposals.财政部原则上反对这些提案。
• This book is a treasury of useful information.这本书是有价值的信息宝库。