美国国家公共电台 NPR 特朗普签署9000亿新冠肺炎纾困法案

President Trump¹ has just signed a $900 billion COVID-19 relief bill into law after threatening to derail it. Official confirmation² came from a White House tweet in the last half-hour. It came from the press office, not from the president himself. The bill and a larger separate spending measure were approved by big majorities by both houses of the Congress on Monday. NPR congressional reporter Claudia Grisales is here with us watching all this tonight. Hi, Claudia.

特朗普总统刚刚签署了9000亿美元的新冠肺炎纾困法案，而此前他曾威胁拒签。官方证实来自白宫在过去半小时发布的推特。也就是说，证实出自新闻办公室，而不是总统本人。周一，国会参众两院以多数票通过了这项法案和另一项规模更大的支出法案。NPR新闻驻国会记者克劳迪娅·格里塞尔斯今晚和我们一起关注相关消息。你好，克劳迪娅。

CLAUDIA GRISALES, BYLINE³: Hi, Don.

克劳迪娅·格里塞尔斯连线：你好，唐。

GONYEA: So the president called this package in the past a disgrace, and now we learn he has his signature on it. What do we know about his change of heart?

戈尼亚：总统此前曾称这项法案是“耻辱”，现在我们得知他已签署了法案。有关他改变决定的原因，我们有何了解？

GRISALES: So he did issue a statement tonight. He said he has told Congress that he wants far less wasteful⁴ spending and more money going to American people in the form of these larger checks. But with that said, he's going to sign this bill, he said, with plans to go through the bill itself, red line it and turn — cross out items he doesn't like item by item, point out what could be adjusted and plead for them to reconsider this after the fact, after he has signed it. He also said he's signing it because he wants to restore these unemployment benefits that were running out, stop evictions, provide rental⁶ assistance, add money for a small business loan program and return airline workers back to work, as well as aid money for vaccine⁷ distribution. So he was making clear he realizes now how much was at stake and reversing his position.

格里塞尔斯：他今晚确实发表了一份声明。他表示，他已经告知国会，他希望大大减少浪费性支出，提高以大额支票形式进入美国民众口袋的金额。但他随后表示，他将签署这项法案，并计划通过法案划出红线，逐条划掉他不喜欢的项目，指出可以调整的内容，并请求他们在他签署法案后重新考虑这些内容。他还表示，他之所以签署这项法案，是因为他希望恢复即将耗尽的失业救济金，停止驱逐，提供租赁援助，为小企业贷款项目增加资金，让航空公司员工重返工作岗位，并为疫苗分发提供援助资金。他明确称，他现在意识到这其中有多少利害攸关的事项，所以改变了立场。

He also said that he understands the House is going to vote on his demands for new checks in the form of $2,000 to Americans. And now the Senate will also move to try and set up a vote here. We don't expect it to get very far, maybe pass the House, but not in the Senate — Republicans, most of them, still remain opposed. But he had received a lot of pressure from lawmakers, from folks who had pointed⁸ out the millions of Americans that would be facing these dire⁹ circumstances. These are lawmakers from both sides of the aisle¹⁰. And unemployment programs, for example, that expired yesterday, adding additional benefits. The eviction⁵ moratorium¹¹ was set to expire Thursday. And then the government was looking at a possible shutdown tomorrow night.

他还表示，据他所知，众议院将就他提出的向美国民众发放2000美元的要求进行表决。现在参议院也将采取行动，试图举行投票。我们预计其不会走太远，可能会在众议院通过，但不会在参议院通过，因为大多数共和党人仍对这一要求持反对意见。但他受到了来自议员和民众的大量压力，他们指出，数百万美国人可能面临非常可怕的情况。两党议员都进行了施压。例如，失业计划和额外福利都于昨天到期。驱逐禁令将于周四到期。之后还要考虑政府可能在明晚关门一事。

GONYEA: OK, so what can Americans expect kind of in the near term?

戈尼亚：好，那美国民众在短期能期待的有什么？

GRISALES: So what they're looking at is to see those direct payments in the coming weeks of up to $600, money for small businesses, vaccine distribution, schools. All told, it's $900 billion. And then there's a $1.4 trillion spending bill that'll keep the government going through September.

格里塞尔斯：他们希望在接下来的几周里看到最高600美元的直接补助，以及用于小企业、疫苗分发和学校的资金。法案总额为9000亿美元。还有一项1.4万亿美元的支出法案，将使政府维持到明年9月。

GONYEA: So — but these lawmakers have to feel like they've just been through whiplash.

戈尼亚：但议员一定感觉他们刚刚经历了鞭笞。

GRISALES: Exactly. They do. However, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell applauded this move. I think they're all breathing a sigh of relief tonight because they're not going to have to scramble¹² and face a lot of concerns among millions of Americans.

格里塞尔斯：没错。是的。不过，参议院多数党领袖米奇·麦康奈尔对这一举措表示赞赏。我想他们今晚都松了一口气，因为他们不用再匆忙行事，也不用面对数百万美国人的诸多担忧。

GONYEA: All right. So breaking news tonight. NPR's Claudia Grisales, thank you so much for being on top of it for us.

戈尼亚：好。以上是今晚的最新消息。NPR新闻的克劳迪娅·格里塞尔斯，非常感谢你的报道。

GRISALES: Thank you for having me.

格里塞尔斯：谢谢你邀请我。

1 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。

2 confirmation   

n.证实，确认，批准

参考例句：

• We are waiting for confirmation of the news.我们正在等待证实那个消息。
• We need confirmation in writing before we can send your order out.给你们发送订购的货物之前，我们需要书面确认。

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 wasteful   

adj.（造成）浪费的，挥霍的

参考例句：

• It is a shame to be so wasteful.这样浪费太可惜了。
• Duties have been reassigned to avoid wasteful duplication of work.为避免重复劳动浪费资源，任务已经重新分派。

5 eviction   

n.租地等的收回

参考例句：

• The family have won a temporary reprieve from eviction.这个家庭暂时免于被逐出。
• He claimed damages for unlawful eviction.他要求对非法驱逐作出赔偿。

6 rental   

n.租赁，出租，出租业

参考例句：

• The yearly rental of her house is 2400 yuan.她这房子年租金是2400元。
• We can organise car rental from Chicago O'Hare Airport.我们可以安排提供从芝加哥奥黑尔机场出发的租车服务。

7 vaccine   

n.牛痘苗，疫苗；adj.牛痘的，疫苗的

参考例句：

• The polio vaccine has saved millions of lives.脊髓灰质炎疫苗挽救了数以百万计的生命。
• She takes a vaccine against influenza every fall.她每年秋季接种流感疫苗。

8 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

9 dire   

adj.可怕的，悲惨的，阴惨的，极端的

参考例句：

• There were dire warnings about the dangers of watching too much TV.曾经有人就看电视太多的危害性提出严重警告。
• We were indeed in dire straits.But we pulled through.那时我们的困难真是大极了，但是我们渡过了困难。

10 aisle   

n.（教堂、教室、戏院等里的）过道，通道

参考例句：

• The aisle was crammed with people.过道上挤满了人。
• The girl ushered me along the aisle to my seat.引座小姐带领我沿着通道到我的座位上去。

11 moratorium   

n.(行动、活动的)暂停(期)，延期偿付

参考例句：

• The government has called for a moratorium on weapons testing.政府已要求暂停武器试验。
• We recommended a moratorium on two particular kinds of experiments.我们建议暂禁两种特殊的实验。

12 scramble   

v.爬行，攀爬，杂乱蔓延，碎片，片段，废料

参考例句：

• He broke his leg in his scramble down the wall.他爬墙摔断了腿。
• It was a long scramble to the top of the hill.到山顶须要爬登一段长路。