VOA标准英语2010年-Obama Urges US Senate to Pass Financia

President Barack Obama is urging the U.S. Senate to pass his financial reform legislation.  The president says the bill will protect consumers, banks and the financial system.

In his weekly address, President Obama says the reform bill is an ambitious effort to protect consumers from some of the financial industry's worst abuses.

"The Wall Street reform bill in Congress represents the strongest consumer financial protections in history," said President Obama.

Senators have been debating legislation to protect consumers and end government bailouts of part of the nation's economy.

Mr. Obama says the bill is aimed at the industry practices that set off the U.S. financial crisis in 2008.

"With reform, we will make our financial system more transparent¹ by bringing the kinds of complex backroom deals that helped trigger this crisis into the light of day," he added.

The president says the bill will subject large and small banks to tougher oversight², and prevent banks from taking so much risk they could collapse³ and threaten the economy.

The House of Representatives passed a similar reform bill in December. 

The weekly Republican Party address comes from Congressman⁴ Chris Lee, who represents the area near Buffalo⁵, New York, which President Obama visited on Thursday.

Lee says the president is ignoring the people's wishes for less government debt and more responsible budgets.

"President Obama visited our area this week, and it was my hope that he would listen, really listen, to what the people are saying,” said Lee.  “I have been in Congress 16 months, but it does not take that long to figure out that Washington does more talking than listening."

Representative Lee says the Democratic Party's plans to stimulate⁶ employment are too expensive and will hurt the economy in the long term.

 
 

1 transparent   

adj.明显的，无疑的；透明的

参考例句：

• The water is so transparent that we can see the fishes swimming.水清澈透明，可以看到鱼儿游来游去。
• The window glass is transparent.窗玻璃是透明的。

2 oversight   

n.勘漏，失察，疏忽

参考例句：

• I consider this a gross oversight on your part.我把这件事看作是你的一大疏忽。
• Your essay was not marked through an oversight on my part.由于我的疏忽你的文章没有打分。

3 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

4 Congressman   

n.（美）国会议员

参考例句：

• He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman.他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。
• The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics.这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。

5 buffalo   

n.(北美)野牛；(亚洲)水牛

参考例句：

• Asian buffalo isn't as wild as that of America's. 亚洲水牛比美洲水牛温顺些。
• The boots are made of buffalo hide. 这双靴子是由水牛皮制成的。

6 stimulate   

vt.刺激，使兴奋；激励，使…振奋

参考例句：

• Your encouragement will stimulate me to further efforts.你的鼓励会激发我进一步努力。
• Success will stimulate the people for fresh efforts.成功能鼓舞人们去作新的努力。