美国有线新闻 CNN 美政府关门僵局持续 民共两党互相指责

 

CARL AZUZ, CNN 10 ANCHOR: The U.S. government has been partially¹ shutdown for almost two weeks. A down the middle explanation of what that means and what people are saying about it, our first subjects today on CNN 10. I'm Carl Azuz.

Since 1976 the Federal government has been partially shutdown more than 20 times. The most recent one began on December 22nd. Shutdowns occur when Congress and the president can't agree on how the government should be funded, what money should go where and the big sticking point in the current impasse² is over a proposed border wall between the U.S. and Mexico.

President Donald Trump³ wants Congress to approve about $5 billion in funding for the wall. In December, the House of Representatives passed a bill that would provide that but the legislation was held up in the Senate where there weren't enough votes to pass it. When the deadline was up for a funding agreement and the government didn't have one, the partial shutdown began. So what does that mean? Most Americans aren't directly effected by government shutdowns but about 800,000 Federal workers are.

A little over half of them continue to work but don't get their paychecks on time. The others are sent home on furlough. They're forced to take time off without pay. Museums are closed in Washington, D.C., U.S. National Parks are open but mostly without workers. The agency that handles small business loans isn't processing applications. The IRS is mostly closed and some inspections⁴ by environmental and food and drug workers have stopped. Who's responsible for it? Democrats⁵ and Republicans blame each other.

DICK DURBIN: The president has made the decision that despite his responsibility to manage and lead this government, he would rather shut it down and hold it hostage for his beloved wall.

CARL AZUZ: And other Democrats like House Speaker Nancy Pelosi have called the wall immoral⁶, ineffective and expensive. President Trump says it's necessary.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: This is national security we're talking about. You know, just like we talk about the military. Just like we're talking about Syria or Afghanistan or all these different places. It's too important a subject to walk away from.

CARL AZUZ: And other Republicans like Senator Lindsey Graham say the president needs to keep his promise to secure America's southern border.

How long could the shutdown go on? We don't know. The longest which happened at around this same time in 1995 and 1996, stretched for 21 days.

1 partially   

adv.部分地，从某些方面讲

参考例句：

• The door was partially concealed by the drapes.门有一部分被门帘遮住了。
• The police managed to restore calm and the curfew was partially lifted.警方设法恢复了平静，宵禁部分解除。

2 impasse   

n.僵局；死路

参考例句：

• The government had reached an impasse.政府陷入绝境。
• Negotiations seemed to have reached an impasse.谈判似乎已经陷入僵局。

3 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。

4 inspections   

n.检查( inspection的名词复数 )；检验；视察；检阅

参考例句：

• Regular inspections are carried out at the prison. 经常有人来视察这座监狱。
• Government inspections ensure a high degree of uniformity in the standard of service. 政府检查确保了在服务标准方面的高度一致。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 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》

6 immoral   

adj.不道德的，淫荡的，荒淫的，有伤风化的

参考例句：

• She was questioned about his immoral conduct toward her.她被询问过有关他对她的不道德行为的情况。
• It is my belief that nuclear weapons are immoral.我相信使核武器是不邪恶的。