美国有线新闻 CNN 众议院通过1.9万亿美元经济刺激计划

It was over that weekend that the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Biden Administration's proposed stimulus¹ package for the U.S. economy.

上周末，美国众议院通过了拜登政府提出的美国经济刺激方案。

It is not yet law. It must first pass the Senate and President Joe Biden has asked that chamber² to take quick action on the legislation. This is the third major spending effort by the U.S. government to try to confront the economic problems triggered by the coronavirus pandemic.

这尚未成为法律。该法案必须先在参议院获得通过，总统乔·拜登已要求参议院迅速对该法案采取行动。这是美国政府为应对冠状病毒疫情引发的经济问题而采取的第三次重大支出努力。

The two other stimulus packages came last year under then President Donald Trump³. In March he signed one costing $2.2 trillion. In December, he signed another costing $900 million. President Biden's proposed stimulus plan would cost $1.9 trillion.

另外两个刺激方案在去年时任总统唐纳德·特朗普执政期间通过。去年3月，特朗普签署了一项2.2万亿美元的经济刺激法案。去年12月，他又签署了一项9亿美元的刺激法案。拜登总统提出的刺激计划将耗资1.9万亿美元。

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We have no time to waste. If we act now, decisively, quickly and boldly, we can finally get ahead of this virus. We can finally get our economy moving again and the people of this country have suffered far too much for too long. We need to relieve that suffering.

美国总统乔·拜登：我们没有时间去浪费。如果我们现在果断、迅速并大胆地采取行动，我们最终就能够战胜病毒。我们终于可以让我们的经济重新运转起来，美国人民已经遭受了太久、太多的痛苦。我们需要减轻痛苦。

AZUZ: On Saturday, the House voted 219 to 212 to move the bill forward. All of the votes to pass it came from Democrats⁴, but two Democrats joined all 210 Republicans in voting against the bill.

阿祖兹：上周六，众议院以219票赞成、212票反对的投票结果通过了该法案。所有投票支持的议员都来自民主党，但有两名民主党议员和全部210名共和党议员一起投票反对该法案。

REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY (R-CA): Will it help people get back to work? No. Will it help students get back in the classroom immediately? No. Will it help get vaccines⁵ to those who want it? The answer is no. It is entirely⁶ partisan⁷ and has the wrong priorities.

加州共和党众议员凯文·麦卡锡：这项法案能帮助人们重返工作岗位吗？不能。该法案能帮助学生马上回到教室上课吗？不能。它能帮助想接种疫苗的人打上疫苗吗？答案依然是不能。这完全是党派之争，而且优先次序也是错误的。

AZUZ: This proposal is likely to see some changes before the Senate votes on it. As it stands now though, it would include direct payments of $1,400 to many Americans, extra assistance for people who've lost their jobs, money for state and local governments and schools, funding to distribute vaccines and more COVID tests.

阿祖兹：在参议院表决之前，这项提案可能会有一些变化。但现在的情况是，法案将包括直接向众多美国人发放1400美元补贴，为失业者提供额外援助，为各州、地方政府和学校提供资金，为分发疫苗以及增加新冠肺炎检测提供资金。

That's all part of it. So is a controversial part of the legislation that would raise the U.S. Federal minimum wage. Since 2009, it has been set at $7.25 per hour. States and local governments can require a higher minimum wage and many of them do but the Federal one is the lowest wage employers can pay in the United States.

这些都是法案的内容。法案中存在争议的部分是提高美国联邦最低工资。从2009年起，联系最低工资被设定为每小时7.25美元。各州和地方政府可以要求提高最低工资，许多州和地方政府也确实这样做了，但联邦政府的标准是美国雇主可以支付的最低工资。

The Biden Administration's proposal would more than double the minimum wage to $15 per hour by the year 2025. But political experts say that's one part of the legislation that'?s likely to be removed by the Senate. The Congressional Budget Office, a non-partisan government agency, estimates that increasing the minimum wage would help 900 million Americans by raising their earnings⁸ above the poverty level.

拜登政府提出，在2025年前将最低工资提高一倍以上，达到每小时15美元。但政治专家认为，法案中的这部分内容很可能会被参议院删除。无党派政府机构美国国会预算办公室估计，提高最低工资将帮助9亿美国人增加收入，摆脱贫困线。

But the CBO also estimates that doing this would come at a cost of 1.4 million jobs. This is why Federal minimum wage proposals are difficult to get passed through Congress. If the Senate does remove that part of the stimulus plan, the bill would then go back to the House for another vote before it can get to President Biden's desk for his signature.

但国会预算办公室同时估计，这样做将损失140万个工作岗位。这就是联邦最低工资提案很难在国会获得通过的原因。如果参议院确实删除刺激计划的这部分内容，那该法案将返回众议院进行再次表决，然后才能送到拜登总统的办公桌上让他签字。

1 stimulus   

n.刺激，刺激物，促进因素，引起兴奋的事物

参考例句：

• Regard each failure as a stimulus to further efforts.把每次失利看成对进一步努力的激励。
• Light is a stimulus to growth in plants.光是促进植物生长的一个因素。

2 chamber   

n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所

参考例句：

• For many,the dentist's surgery remains a torture chamber.对许多人来说，牙医的治疗室一直是间受刑室。
• The chamber was ablaze with light.会议厅里灯火辉煌。

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 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》

5 vaccines   

疫苗，痘苗( vaccine的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His team are at the forefront of scientific research into vaccines. 他的小组处于疫苗科研的最前沿。
• The vaccines were kept cool in refrigerators. 疫苗放在冰箱中冷藏。

6 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

7 partisan   

adj.党派性的；游击队的；n.游击队员；党徒

参考例句：

• In their anger they forget all the partisan quarrels.愤怒之中，他们忘掉一切党派之争。
• The numerous newly created partisan detachments began working slowly towards that region.许多新建的游击队都开始慢慢地向那里移动。

8 earnings   

n.工资收人；利润，利益，所得

参考例句：

• That old man lives on the earnings of his daughter.那个老人靠他女儿的收入维持生活。
• Last year there was a 20% decrease in his earnings.去年他的收入减少了20%。