VOA慢速英语2012--President Appoints Consumer Agency Chief

Economics Report - President Appoints Consumer Agency Chief

经济报道 - 奥巴马任命消费者金融保护局局长

This is the VOA Special English Economics Report.

这里是美国之音慢速英语经济报道。



This week, President Obama appointed Richard Cordray as director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The new government agency says it has already made home loans and credit card agreements easier for Americans to understand. But the Obama administration said the bureau cannot supervise financial products like home loans without a director.

本周，奥巴马总统任命理查德·柯德瑞(Richard Cordray)出任消费者金融保护局(Consumer Financial Protection Bureau，CFPB)局长。这一新的政府机构表示，它们已经使得住房贷款和信用卡协议更易于被美国公众理解。但奥巴马政府表示，如果没有局长，该局无法对类似住房贷款的金融产品进行监管。



The president used a measure known as a recess 1 appointment to fill the position. He nominated Mr. Cordray last July. But the opposition 2 Republican Party blocked a vote in the full Senate.

奥巴马利用一项被称为“休会任命权”的措施填补了这一职位。他去年7月提名柯德瑞，但反对党共和党阻止了这一提名在参议院进行全体表决。

注：休会任命权是指总统在参议院休会期间，为保障运作灵活性，不经参议院批准直接任命重要官员。



Mr. Obama announced the appointment Wednesday during a visit to Ohio. It was his first political campaign trip of the year. He told the crowd that the severe economic crisis three years ago did not happen because of too many financial rules.

奥巴马周三在俄亥俄州访问期间宣布了这一任命。这是奥巴马今年首次政治竞选之旅。他对人群表示，3年前严重的经济危机没有爆发，是因为有着众多金融规则。



BARRACK OBAMA: "That makes no sense. Does anyone think the reason why we got into such a financial mess, the worst financial crisis since the great depression, the worst economic crisis in a generation, that the reason was because of too much oversight 3 of the financial industry? Of course not. We shouldn't be weakening oversight, we shouldn't be weakening accountability, we should be strengthening it!"

奥巴马：“那毫无道理。有人会认为，我们陷入这样一次金融混乱，这样一次自大萧条以来最为严重的金融危机，这样一次一代人最为严重的经济危机，其原因是因为金融行业监管过多吗？当然不是这样！我们不应该弱化监管，弱化问责制，我们应该加强它们！”



Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell criticized the president’s appointment. Many Republicans oppose the new agency, saying its goals are not clear. They also want a group of people to lead the agency instead of a single director.

参议院少数党领袖米奇·麦康奈尔（Mitch McConnell）指责总统的这次任命。许多共和党人反对这一新的机构，称该机构目标不明确。他们还希望由一群人，而不是单独一个局长来领导这一机构。



The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau resulted from the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of twenty ten. Its goal is to make the market for financial products safer. Educating Americans about investment and loan products, enforcing financial laws and studying financial information all are part of its duties. The agency’s budget is expected to be around five hundred million dollars.

消费者金融保护局源自于《2010年多德－弗兰克华尔街改革与消费者保护法》。其目标是使金融产品市场更为安全。在投资与贷款产品方面对美国人进行教育，执行金融法规和研究金融信息也是其职责的一部分。该机构财政预算预计为5亿美元左右。



Richard Cordray served as Ohio’s Attorney General for two years. He has earned praise for bringing legal action against banks and financial companies accused of harming homeowners and borrowers. Mr. Condray launched cases against Bank of America and insurer AIG. His recess appointment is effective only until the end of the Senate’s current term.

柯瑞德担任了两年俄亥俄州总检察长。他对被指控损害房主与借款人利益的银行和金融公司采取了法律行动，并赢得好评。柯德瑞对美国银行和AIG保险公司发起过诉讼。他的休会任命在本届参议院任期结束前是有效的。



And that’s the VOA Special English Economics Report. You can read transcripts 4 of our programs at voanews.cn. And follow us on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and iTunes. I’m June Simms.

____



Dan Robinson and Kent Klein contributed to this report.