PBS高端访谈:薪酬保护项目带来的疑惑

JUDY WOODRUFF: After the pandemic aid for small businesses, the so-called Paycheck Protection Program, ran out of the allotted¹ $350 billion, there were questions about when and if lawmakers could make a deal to find more money for small business loans. It now appears that Republicans and Democrats² may be headed into the weekend with an agreement. Lisa Desjardins is here now to explain the latest. Lisa, you have been working on this. I know you have been talking to members of Congress. What are you learning about how much progress they're making?

LISA DESJARDINS: There is progress, Judy, but there's not an agreement yet. I don't know if we can say that there will be an agreement this weekend or not. The progress is this, Judy. Republicans have conceded to Democrats that this next round of funding extensions should include money for hospitals. That's something Democrats said was necessary, and one reason they have not yet passed the increased money for small businesses. So, hospitals will get some increased money in this next deal. We don't know how much. There is a sign Republicans are now considering another thing that's important to Democrats, which is making some of the small business loan money specifically available to community lenders. Democrats said some minority banks and also smaller banks were not able to get enough of that money, if any of that money. Now, Republican Leader in the House Kevin McCarthy says he's on board with the idea of community lending money. We have to see if the White House also joins in. This all is to say that they're making some progress, Judy. This could be on track to a vote as soon as next week, but, first, we have to have a final deal. And we don't have that yet.

JUDY WOODRUFF: And, Lisa, we know the Democrats were also asking that some of this money be diverted or spent for, given to state and local governments, with an injection they could make into the economy. Where does up all that stand?

LISA DESJARDINS: Republicans have a problem with that. They don't think that should be added at this time. There are a few reasons for that. One is that the formula, they believe, is not correct, and they also think that states need more flexibility³ than Democrats may be willing to agree to. So, that is still an issue that is unresolved.

JUDY WOODRUFF: And, Lisa, you have done some additional reporting on other ways that Congress is trying to respond to this crisis.

LISA DESJARDINS: Well, there was an extraordinary phone call today, Judy, between Senate Democrats and Vice⁴ President Pence and his task force team. Judy, the Democrats had the same question you and William Brangham had: testing. Democrats in the Senate, senators, asked again and again about testing.

And they say that they, that Vice President Pence didn't give them direct answers on the availability and timing⁵ going ahead. This led to an extraordinary moment, Judy, from Angus King, independent of Maine, a former governor. I want to read you a quote that he said to Vice President Pence on the phone today expressing kind of the rising fury in Washington. He said to the vice president: The president is trying to off-load on the governors the responsibility of testing. And the governors are not in any position to take that on. To turn it over to the governors, as if they magically can conjure⁶ these things, is an abdication⁷ of federal duty, something a senator said directly to the president today, a sign of growing anger certainly about the testing situation. And we know the president is briefing right now talking about testing, but still a lot of questions, as you and William had, on this.

JUDY WOODRUFF: No question this is something that is, continues to come up. And, as you said, Democrats, members of Congress are going to continue to raise it. We will see where it goes. Lisa Desjardins, thank you very much. You are welcome.

朱迪·伍德拉夫：在对小企业进行了疫情期间的援助后，所谓的“薪酬保护项目”已用掉了配给的3500亿美元。与此同时，有人对议员们是否能通过达成协议的方式来为小企业贷款谋求更多资金存在疑惑。即便能这样做，人们也疑惑这样做的时机是什么时候。现在看来，共和党和民主党周末可能会达成协议。下面请听丽莎·德雅尔丹发回的详细报道。丽莎，你一直在跟进这件事的动态，我知道你也有跟一些议员聊过。可否向大家介绍一下目前的进展呢？

丽莎·德雅尔丹：朱迪，目前是有进展的，但尚未达成协议。我不知道我们这周末是否会达成协议。所以，朱迪，这就是目前的进展。共和党议员已向民主党议员让步——下一轮扩展融资的时候应该包括给医院的资金。这部分资金是民主党认为必需的资金，也是他们尚未通过给小企业提高资金的一个原因。所以，一些医院可以在下一次协议中获得更多资金，但我们还不知道会有多少。有迹象表明共和党现在正在考虑另一件对民主党很重要的事情——让部分小企业的资金可为社群银行所用。民主党表示，部分少数银行和小银行无法获得这部分资金。现在，众议院的共和党领袖凯文·麦卡锡表示自己支持社群借贷的想法。但是得看看白宫是否同意。也就是说他们确实是有进展的，朱迪。接下来，最快的话，可能下周就会进行投票。但首先要有敲定版的协议。而目前协议尚未敲定。

朱迪·伍德拉夫：另外，丽莎，我们听说民主党也在提一个要求——将部分资金分散给各州政府和当地政府，从而提振经济。可否请你介绍一下与此有关的信息呢？

丽莎·德雅尔丹：共和党对此有问题。共和党认为，这个内容不应该现在加入协议中，原因有几个。其一是共和党认为这样做是错误的，他们还觉得各州需要的灵活性比民主党认为的更多。所以这个问题尚未解决。

朱迪·伍德拉夫：丽莎，你也做过与其他方面有关的报道，也涉及到国会对此的应对。

丽莎·德雅尔丹：朱迪，今天有一通不同寻常的电话，通话双方是参议院的民主党和副总统彭斯及其特别小组。民主党提的问题和朱迪你以及威廉·布朗汉姆曾提的问题一样：检测问题。参议院民主党议员一遍又一遍地询问检测的问题。他们说副总统彭斯并未直接回答可用性和时机。这也促成了缅因州前州长、独立人士安格斯·金的精彩时刻。

我想引用一段他跟副总统彭斯今天在通话中说的话，这段话描述了美国政府内激增的愤怒情绪。他跟彭斯说：特朗普正在试图把检测的义务抛到各州州长的身上。各州州长没有任何立场去承担起这件事。将这个责任甩到各州长身上，就好像州长们能神奇般地解决这些问题一样。这种甩锅的行为是联邦政府渎职的表现。这是一名参议员今天直接跟特朗普说的话，这表明议员们对体温检测的愤怒日渐高涨。我们知道特朗普现在正在就检测体温的事情开吹风会，但关于这件事，依然有很多问题，就像你和威廉会问的这些问题。

朱迪·伍德拉夫：毫无疑问，这种情况会在接下来一直持续。另外，如你所说，民主党议员会持续提出问题，接下来事态如何发展，让我们拭目以待吧。非常感谢你，丽莎，不客气。

1 allotted   

分配，拨给，摊派( allot的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• I completed the test within the time allotted . 我在限定的时间内完成了试验。
• Each passenger slept on the berth allotted to him. 每个旅客都睡在分配给他的铺位上。

2 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》

3 flexibility   

n.柔韧性，弹性，（光的）折射性，灵活性

参考例句：

• Her great strength lies in her flexibility.她的优势在于她灵活变通。
• The flexibility of a man's muscles will lessen as he becomes old.人老了肌肉的柔韧性将降低。

4 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

5 timing   

n.时间安排，时间选择

参考例句：

• The timing of the meeting is not convenient.会议的时间安排不合适。
• The timing of our statement is very opportune.我们发表声明选择的时机很恰当。

6 conjure   

v.恳求，祈求；变魔术，变戏法

参考例句：

• I conjure you not to betray me.我恳求你不要背弃我。
• I can't simply conjure up the money out of thin air.我是不能像变魔术似的把钱变来。

7 abdication   

n.辞职；退位

参考例句：

• The officers took over and forced his abdication in 1947.1947年军官们接管了政权并迫使他退了位。
• Abdication is precluded by the lack of a possible successor.因为没有可能的继承人，让位无法实现。