The U.S. Senate has passed an $838 billion economic stimulus bill, designed to create millions of new jobs and jolt the economy out of recession. President Barack Obama called the vote "good news," but he cautioned there is more work to be done to turn the economy around.
美国参议院星期二通过了一个8380亿美元的经济刺激法案，以创造几百万新的就业机会以及使经济走出衰退。奥巴马总统把这个表决结果称作是一个“好消息”，但是他告诫说，促使美国经济出现好转还有很多的工作要做。
The vote in the Senate on Tuesday was 61 to 37, with only three Republicans joining majority Democrats to approve the massive economic recovery package, which combines government spending and tax cuts.
在只有三个共和党参议员加入到占多数的民主党阵营的情况下，参议院以61票对37票批准了这个把政府支出和减税结合起来的庞大的经济复苏法案。
The three Republicans who crossed the aisle to support the measure are Senators Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe of Maine, and Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania. Ailing Democratic Senator Ted Kennedy, who has brain cancer, made his way to the Senate floor to cast his vote to make sure Democrats had the 60 votes needed.
这三个加入到民主党阵营支持这个法案的共和党议员分别是缅因州的苏姗.科林斯和奥林匹亚.斯诺以及宾夕法尼亚州的阿伦.斯佩克特。因为患有脑癌而正在生病之中的民主党参议员肯尼迪特意来到参议院的大厅投下他的一票，以确保民主党人获得所需要的60票。
President Obama got word of the bill's passage while he attending a town hall meeting in the economically-stricken area of Fort Myers, Florida. He interrupted his question-and-answer session to share the news, bringing members of the crowd to their feet to cheer.
奥巴马总统是在佛罗里达州受到经济衰退严重冲击的迈尔斯堡地区参加一个由一般民众参与的大会时听到法案获得通过的消息的。他中断了与在场民众进行的问答，向他们报告了这个消息，这使得在场的人都高兴得站起来欢呼。
"That's good news and I want to thank all of the members of the Senate who have moved the process forward," the president said. "We've still got to get the House bill and the Senate bill to match up before it gets sent to my desk, so we got a little more work to do over the next couple of days. But it's a good start. And you know why it passed - because they knew I was coming down to Fort Myers and they did not want to mess with people in Fort Myers. Right!
他说：“这是个好消息，而且我们要感谢使这个进程得以向前推进的所有参议员。在这个法案被送交到我的办公桌上之前，我们仍然要使众议院和参议院的法案版本得以协调，所以在今后几天的时间里，我们还有一些工作要做。但是这是个好的开端。而且你们知道这个法案为什么得以通过？因为他们知道，我来到迈尔斯堡，他们惹不起迈尔斯堡的人。对不对？”
As Mr. Obama pointed out, the Senate measure now must be reconciled with a slightly different version of the bill adopted by the House of Representatives, before he can sign the final version into law. The president has urged the two chambers to quickly pass a compromise bill, saying that every day of delay means more Americans lose their jobs, their savings and their homes.
正像奥巴马所指出的那样，在他把法案的最终文本签署成法律以前，参议院的这个法案必须与众议院通过的略为不同的版本达成一致。奥巴马总统敦促参众两院迅速通过一个折衷法案，并且表示，每耽误的一天都意味着更多的美国人失去他们的工作、他们的储蓄以及他们的房子。
Just before Tuesday's Senate vote, Senate Minority leader, Republican Mitch McConnell spoke for most Republican lawmakers in their rejection of the economic stimulus plan. "This bill misses the mark. It is full of waste; we have no assurance it will create jobs or revive the economy," McConnell said. "The only thing we know for sure is that it increases our debt and locks in bigger and bigger interest payments every single year."
在参议院进行投票之前，参议院少数党领袖、共和党人麦康奈尔代表大多数共和党议员发言，表达了他们对这个经济刺激计划的反对。他说：“这个法案没有击中目标。它充满了各种各样浪费性的支出。我们也没有得到它会创造就业机会或是使经济复苏的保证。我们唯一可以肯定的一点是，它增加了我们的债务而且我们在每一年都会支付更多的利息。”
Democratic Senator Max Baucus disagreed with his colleague. He agreed with most Democrats that with the economy in steep decline, the only solution is for the government to stimulate recovery by spending.
民主党参议员鲍卡斯不同意这种看法。他同大多数民主党人都一致认为，在经济出现深度滑坡的时候，唯一的解决办法就是政府通过增加支出来刺激经济复苏。
"Every single dollar in this bill is stimulative. Every dollar. All economists will say that," said Baucus.
他说：“这个法案中的每一块钱都会刺激经济。每一块钱都是如此。所有的经济学家都会这样说。”
Democratic Senate Majority leader Harry Reid promised to try to hammer out the details of a compromise measure with House leaders, and to get a final version of the stimulus package to the president as soon as possible.
参议院的多数党领袖、民主党参议员里德承诺要同众议院的领导人敲定一个折衷法案的细节，尽快把这个刺激计划的最终文本送交到总统手上。 |