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 Promotion 1 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 spoke 2 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 nays 3 are 38. The motion to concur 4 in the House amendment 6 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 Partnership 7 and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership would be approved with simple-majority votes in Congress. Lawmakers could not amend 5 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 Democrats 8 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 labor 9 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 activists 10 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