VOA慢速英语2019 美国分立政府迎来新一届国会（在线收听）

New US Congress in Divided Government

The 116th United States Congress returned the first woman to the position of Speaker of the House and swore in the most diverse group of lawmakers in history.

第116届美国国会再次迎来了众议院首位女议长，并让史上最多元化的议员群体宣誓就职。

The legislators took office Thursday in the middle of a partial government shutdown. The shutdown dispute is over President Donald Trump’s demand for money to build a wall along the U.S-Mexico border.

这些议员们于周四在部分政府停摆期间就职。这次停摆争议是由于川普要求获得沿美墨边境造墙的资金。

Nancy Pelosi was the first woman to ever serve as Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. She did so from 2007 to 2011. On Thursday, she was re-elected to the office, as Democrats took control of the House. Republicans still hold the majority in the Senate.

南希·佩洛西（Nancy Pelosi）曾担任过美国首位众议院女议长，她在2007年到2011年期间曾担任该职务。随着民主党控制众议院，她周四再次当选。共和党人仍占据参议院多数席位。

The new Democratic-controlled House has more women and more minorities than in the past. It includes New York’s Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the youngest woman ever elected to Congress. There is also Michigan’s Rashida Tlaib and Minnesota’s Ilhan Omar, the first two Muslim women to be elected. New Mexico’s Deb Haaland and Sharice Davids of Kansas became the first two Native American women in Congress.

民主党控制的新一届众议院拥有比过去更多的女性和少数族裔，其中包括纽约州的亚历山德里亚·奥卡西奥-科特兹，她是有史以来最年轻的女议员。此外还有来自密西根州的拉什达·特拉比和来自明尼苏达州的伊尔汗·奥马尔，这是首批当选国会议员的两名穆斯林女性。来自新墨西哥州的戴比·哈兰德和来自堪萨斯州的沙丽斯·戴维斯成为首批进入国会的两名美国女原住民。

Women hold 102 seats in the House and 25 seats in the Senate. There are also now 10 lawmakers who identify as LGBTQ.

女性在众议院占据102个席位，在参议院占据25个席位。目前还有10名议员被认定为LGBTQ身份（男女同性恋、双性恋、变性人和对自己性别认同感到困惑者）。

Republicans added to their majority in the Senate after the November midterm elections.

在11月中期选举之后，共和党人扩大了他们在参议院的多数党领先优势。

In her opening speech Thursday, Pelosi noted she was especially “proud to be the woman Speaker of the House of this Congress, which marks 100 years of women winning the right to vote, as we serve with more than 100 women in the House of Representatives – the highest number in history.”

佩洛西在周四的开幕词中指出，她非常“自豪能成为本届国会的众议院女议长，这届国会标志着女性赢得投票权100周年，我们有100多名女性在众议院任职，这是历史最高水平。”

The new speaker added, “This House will be for the people.” She said its mission would be “to lower health costs and prescription drug prices, and protect people with pre-existing conditions; to increase paychecks by rebuilding America with green and modern infrastructure.”

Pelosi also said that she will seek to work with Republicans in the House, as well as with the Republican-controlled Senate and the president, who is a Republican.

佩洛西表示，她将会寻求同众议院的共和党人，共和党控制的参议院，以及作为共和党人的总统合作。

In her first act as speaker, Pelosi announced that Democrats would pass legislation to re-open the government and end the shutdown. The bill, however, does not include the money that Trump has demanded for his border wall.

佩洛西在她作为议长的第一项行动中宣布民主党将会通过立法，重新开启政府并结束停摆。然而这项法案并不包括川普要求获得的造墙资金。

Senate Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says he had no plans to consider bills proposed by the House unless Trump agrees to sign them into law.

参议院共和党多数党领袖米奇·麦康奈尔表示，他不计划考虑众议院提出的法案，除非川普同意将其签署为法律。

That means the shutdown is sure to continue.

这意味着停摆肯定还会继续。

Words in This Story

partial - adj. not complete or total

LGBTQ - acronym, stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer

infrastructure - n. structures such as roads and bridges that are needed for a country or region