VOA标准英语2008年-US Treasury Secretary Outlines Financial Rescue

In an effort to deal comprehensively with a severe financial crisis on Wall Street, the Bush administration Friday is proposing the creation of a government agency to deal with the bad loans of U.S.-based financial institutions. The plan could cost taxpayers² hundreds of billions of dollars, which will be used to buy up bad mortgages and other debt. VOA's Barry Wood in Washington has more.

Saying the financial system faces an unprecedented³ challenge, President Bush says the government must intervene in the markets to restore financial stability.
　
Henry Paulson briefs reporters about efforts to heal the crisis in the U.S. financial markets, at the Treasury⁴ Department in Washington, D.C., 19 Sep 2008

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson says emergency legislation will be presented to lawmakers within the next two days.

"I look forward to working with Congress to pass legislation to remove these troubled assets from our financial system," he said. "When we get through this difficult period, which we will, our next task must be to improve our regulatory structure so that these past excesses do not reoccur."

Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke briefed congressional leaders on the plan Thursday night. The Treasury secretary says he hopes for congressional approval next week.

The plan would create a government entity⁵ that would buy bad loans. A similar agency, the Resolution Trust Corporation, was created in 1989 to deal with the bad debt related to real estate lending. The RTC cost American taxpayers about $150 billion. Paulson says this bank rescue is likely to cost much more.

"We're talking hundreds of billions," he said. "This needs to be big enough to make a real difference and get at the heart of the problem."
　
President Bush, flanked by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke (l) and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, delivers statement about economy, 19 Sep 2008

President Bush, speaking about the financial crisis for the third time this week, said significant amounts of taxpayer¹ money will be put at risk, but that he expects the money to eventually be paid back. Without government action, he said, there was a risk that financial sector⁶ could grind to a halt.

Wall Street welcomed the news of the bail⁷ out, as stock market indexes soared. They had registered deep declines earlier this week as one investment bank collapsed⁸ and a giant insurer was taken over by the US government. The federal government already has pledged more than $600 billion in the past year to bail out, or help bail out, some of the biggest names in American finance.

1 taxpayer   

n.纳税人

参考例句：

• The new scheme will run off with a lot of the taxpayer's money.这项新计划将用去纳税人许多钱。
• The taxpayer are unfavourably disposed towards the recent tax increase.纳税者对最近的增加税收十分反感。

2 taxpayers   

纳税人，纳税的机构( taxpayer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Finance for education comes from taxpayers. 教育经费来自纳税人。
• She was declaiming against the waste of the taxpayers' money. 她慷慨陈词猛烈抨击对纳税人金钱的浪费。

3 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。

4 treasury   

n.宝库；国库，金库；文库

参考例句：

• The Treasury was opposed in principle to the proposals.财政部原则上反对这些提案。
• This book is a treasury of useful information.这本书是有价值的信息宝库。

5 entity   

n.实体，独立存在体，实际存在物

参考例句：

• The country is no longer one political entity.这个国家不再是一个统一的政治实体了。
• As a separate legal entity,the corporation must pay taxes.作为一个独立的法律实体，公司必须纳税。

6 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

7 bail   

v.舀（水），保释；n.保证金，保释，保释人

参考例句：

• One of the prisoner's friends offered to bail him out.犯人的一个朋友答应保释他出来。
• She has been granted conditional bail.她被准予有条件保释。

8 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。