VOA慢速英语2015 美国国会给奥巴马贸易协定开“绿色通道”

AS IT IS 2015-06-27 US Congress Gives President Obama a Trade Victory 美国国会给奥巴马贸易协定开“绿色通道”

From VOA Learning English, this is the Economics Report.

美国之音慢速学英语节目，这里是经济报道。

The United States Congress has given President Barack Obama a powerful tool to get trade deals approved. Congress approved what is called “fast track” authority to help Mr. Obama and future presidents negotiate trade agreements. The expanded powers are designed to protect proposed agreements from congressional changes.

美国国会赋予奥巴马总统一个提供了强大的工具，让贸易协定得以通过。国会批准了所谓的“快车道”审批权以帮助奥巴马以及未来的总统们谈判贸易协定。这项扩大的权力旨在防止国会修改拟议协议。

Wednesday night, the Senate voted on Trade Promotion¹ Authority, or TPA.

周三晚上，参议院就贸易促进权(TPA)进行了投票。

Colorado Senator Cory Gardner spoke² on the Senate floor.

科罗拉多州参议员科里·加德纳(Cory Gardner)在参议院发表了讲话。

“Is any member wishing to change their vote? On this vote, the ayes are 60, and the nays³ are 38. The motion to concur⁴ in the House amendment⁶ to the Senate amendment HR 2146 is agreed to.”

“有没有议员要修改投票？这次投票60人赞成，38人反对。参议院2146号修正案获得通过。”

The bill’s approval increases chances for two of the biggest trade deals in U.S. history. Under TPA, the Trans-Pacific Partnership⁷ and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership would be approved with simple-majority votes in Congress. Lawmakers could not amend⁵ the agreements.

该法案的批准增加了美国历史上最大两个贸易协定通过的机会。根据贸易促进权，“跨太平洋伙伴关系和跨大西洋贸易和投资伙伴关系”在国会只需要简单多数票就能通过，而且议员们不能修改协议内容。

The House of Representatives has already approved the TPA bill. President Obama is expected to sign it into law.

众议院已经批准了贸易促进权法案。奥巴马总统预计会将其签署法律。

Two weeks ago, TPA’s supporters feared the bill would not get congressional approval. House members blocked trade legislation by voting down a re-training bill for American workers displaced by foreign competition. House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi announced on Wednesday she would vote for the measure. She had led House Democrats⁸ in opposing it earlier this month. She spoke after the Senate was prepared to support the retraining legislation.

两周前，TPA的支持者还担心该法案不能通过国会批准。众议院议员否决了一项重新培训由于外国竞争而失去工作的工人的法案，以阻碍贸易立法。周三，众议院民主党领袖南希·佩洛西(Nancy Pelosi)宣布她会投票支持该项措施。本月早些时候，她曾率领众议院民主党议员反对该措施。她在参议院准备支持再培训立法时发表了讲话。

The sudden increase in support for free trade saddened its opponents, like Independent Senator Bernie Sanders. “It’s a great day for the big-money interests, not a great day for working families,” he said. Mr. Sanders added, “This trade agreement will continue the policies that have cost us millions of decent-paying jobs.”

自由贸易支持者突然增加让反对者非常挫败，比如独立参议员伯尼·桑德斯(Bernie Sanders)。“这对大资金利益来说是一个伟大的日子，但是对工薪家庭来说不是。”桑德斯补充说，“这份贸易协定会让已经夺走我们数百万高薪就业岗位的政策继续下去。”

Environmental groups and labor⁹ unions also oppose “fast track” authority. Jim Hoffa heads the Teamsters Union, which represents American truck drivers. He said that “History shows it makes no sense to give a quick up-or-down vote to bad trade deals like the TPP that will only ship jobs overseas and lower wages in the U.S.”

环保团体和工会也反对快车道授权。Jim Hoffa是卡车司机联盟负责人，代表美国卡车司机。他说，“历史证明给TPP这类糟糕的贸易协定提供快速审批权毫无意义，它只会把就业岗位输送到国外，并降低美国的薪水。”

The trade battle produced rare, political alliances in Washington. On this issue, President Obama has had strong support from Republican congressional leaders. Yet the Republican leaders work against the president’s proposals on almost every other issue. TPA sharply divided Democratic lawmakers. They were the targets of serious lobbying efforts from activists¹⁰ on both sides.

该贸易争斗造就了华盛顿罕见的政治联盟。在这个问题上，奥巴马总统获得了共和党国会领导人的大力支持。然而共和党领导人反对奥巴马几乎所有的其它提议。TPA在民主党议员中也存在严重分歧。他们是双方活动人士游说的目标。

And that’s the Economics Report. I’m Mario Ritter.

Words in This Story

authority – n. legal power; the power to make decisions

aye(s) – n. a yes vote

nay(s) – n. a no vote

concur – v. to agree with someone or something

lobbying – adj. related to efforts to influence government officials

1 promotion   

n.提升，晋级；促销，宣传

参考例句：

• The teacher conferred with the principal about Dick's promotion.教师与校长商谈了迪克的升级问题。
• The clerk was given a promotion and an increase in salary.那个职员升了级，加了薪。

2 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

3 nays   

n.反对票，投反对票者( nay的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The tally was two ayes and three nays. 投票结果是两票赞成，三票反对。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The tally was three yeas and two nays, so the yeas have it. 投票结果是三票赞成两票反对，投赞成票者胜利。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

4 concur   

v.同意，意见一致，互助，同时发生

参考例句：

• Wealth and happiness do not always concur.财富与幸福并非总是并存的。
• I concur with the speaker in condemning what has been done.我同意发言者对所做的事加以谴责。

5 amend   

vt.修改，修订，改进；n.[pl.]赔罪，赔偿

参考例句：

• The teacher advised him to amend his way of living.老师劝他改变生活方式。
• You must amend your pronunciation.你必须改正你的发音。

6 amendment   

n.改正，修正，改善，修正案

参考例句：

• The amendment was rejected by 207 voters to 143.这项修正案以207票对143票被否决。
• The Opposition has tabled an amendment to the bill.反对党已经就该议案提交了一项修正条款。

7 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。

8 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》

9 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

10 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》