美国国家公共电台 NPR POLL: Most Americans Want Congress To Make Zika Funding A High Priority

POLL: Most Americans Want Congress To Make Zika Funding A High Priority 

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Many voters would like to see action against the Zika virus. They'll be watching what Congress does once it returns from a long summer recess². That's according to a new survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation. Here's NPR's Alison Kodjak.

ALISON KODJAK, BYLINE³: The poll shows that three quarters of people say new funding to deal with the Zika outbreak should be an important or top priority for Congress. Mollyann Brodie is with the Kaiser Family Foundation.

MOLLYANN BRODIE: People generally do value spending money when there is sort of a public health emergency.

KODJAK: And that's because they're worried about the disease. Half of the people in the poll said they'd be uncomfortable traveling to Florida, where Zika has flared⁴ up. And 77 percent say pregnant women are not safe in those areas.

BRODIE: It is something that the local officials have to take really seriously because in many of those areas, the tourism industry is a big part of those communities.

KODJAK: President Obama asked for $1.9 billion to fight Zika back in February. So far, Congress hasn't allocated⁵ anything. The administration has been shifting money from other parts of the budget to address the Zika threat. Some was for Ebola, and some was for states to prepare for emergencies. Mark Harkins is a senior fellow at Georgetown's Government Affairs Institute.

MARK HARKINS: As part of the appropriations⁶ bills themselves, there's always a provision that says you may transfer money or reprogram money based on certain levels.

KODJAK: But, he says, there's an even bigger money-shifting loophole.

HARKINS: They also put in a little out that says, you can move money at any point, at any amount, as long as you give us 15 days' notice.

KODJAK: And now some Republican lawmakers, rather than add to the budget, seem to want the administration to use that loophole. Senator Chuck Grassley, along with some colleagues, sent a letter to the Department of Health and Human Services pointing to $20 billion sitting in its account and the State Department's, that could be used for Zika. But Harkins says much of that money is meant for other programs, like fighting AIDS in Africa and just hasn't been spent yet.

HARKINS: He doesn't care if that money is supposed to be used for multiple different things. He's just saying, since you think some money should come out of that account, take any money that's still left in that account.

KODJAK: But the administration says there won't be any money left for Zika by the end of this month. Meantime, state health officials are scrambling⁷. Frank Welch, the head of preparedness at Louisiana's Health Department, says his federal grant to prepare for all kinds of health emergencies was cut and replaced with money that can only be used for Zika.

FRANK WELCH: None of those other threats or emergencies that are very real possibilities have gone away, and we took about a $700,000 cut.

KODJAK: So federal and state health officials are likely to keep playing accounting⁸ games if Congress fails to approve a new budget to deal with the virus. Alison Kodjak, NPR News, Washington.

1 browser   

n.浏览者

参考例句：

• View edits in a web browser.在浏览器中看编辑的效果。
• I think my browser has a list of shareware links.我想在浏览器中会有一系列的共享软件链接。

2 recess   

n.短期休息，壁凹（墙上装架子，柜子等凹处）

参考例句：

• The chairman of the meeting announced a ten-minute recess.会议主席宣布休会10分钟。
• Parliament was hastily recalled from recess.休会的议员被匆匆召回开会。

3 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。

4 Flared   

adj. 端部张开的, 爆发的, 加宽的, 漏斗式的 动词flare的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• The match flared and went out. 火柴闪亮了一下就熄了。
• The fire flared up when we thought it was out. 我们以为火已经熄灭，但它突然又燃烧起来。

5 allocated   

adj. 分配的 动词allocate的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• The Ford Foundation allocated millions of dollars for cancer research. 福特基金会拨款数百万美元用于癌症研究。
• More funds will now be allocated to charitable organizations. 现在会拨更多的资金给慈善组织。

6 appropriations   

n.挪用（appropriation的复数形式）

参考例句：

• More commonly, funding controls are imposed in the annual appropriations process. 更普遍的作法是，拨款控制被规定在年度拨款手续中。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法
• Should the president veto the appropriations bill, it goes back to Congress. 假如总统否决了这项拨款提案，就把它退还给国会。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件

7 scrambling   

v.快速爬行( scramble的现在分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞

参考例句：

• Scrambling up her hair, she darted out of the house. 她匆忙扎起头发，冲出房去。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• She is scrambling eggs. 她正在炒蛋。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 accounting   

n.会计，会计学，借贷对照表

参考例句：

• A job fell vacant in the accounting department.财会部出现了一个空缺。
• There's an accounting error in this entry.这笔账目里有差错。