时间:2019-01-13 作者:英语课 分类:VOA标准英语2009年(十二月)


英语课

The Senate has voted by 60 to 40 to close debate on landmark 1 health care reform legislation backed by U.S. President Barack Obama and fiercely opposed by Republican lawmakers. Now, the divided chamber 2 appears to be heading towards a vote to pass the bill on Thursday, Christmas Eve.


Cindy Saine | Washington 21 December 2009


 

 

It was the middle of the night in Washington, but all 100 senators were gathered in the Capitol for a key procedural vote on health care reform legislation.  Democrats 3 needed every single one of the 58 Democrats in the Senate, plus the two independents who normally vote with them, to vote for cloture, which limits debate and Republican delaying tactics, and they got it.  All 40 Republicans voted against cloture.


"On this vote, the yeas are 60 and the nays 4 are 40.  Three fifths of the senators duly chosen and sworn, having voted in the affirmative, the motion is agreed to."


Senate Majority leader Harry 5 Reid of Nevada had been working day and night for weeks to get the 60 votes he needed, amid tireless efforts by Republicans to delay and obstruct 6 passage of a bill they strongly oppose.


Moments before the vote, Reid read from letters sent to him by people in his home state of Nevada who are sick and unable to get necessary medical care.  Senator Reid cited a Harvard University study that says on average, one American dies every ten minutes because of a lack of health insurance.


"This country, the greatest and richest the world has ever seen, is the only advanced nation on earth where dying for a lack of health  insurance is even possible," Reid said. "


The bill would extend health insurance coverage 7 to 30 million Americans who now lack it, and bar insurance companies from practices such as denying coverage because of pre-existing conditions.  Most Americans would be required to purchase health insurance for the first time, with subsidies 8 provided to those who cannot afford it. 


Senate Minority leader, Republican Mitch McConnell of Kentucky summed up Republican opposition 9, saying the bill is too expensive and does not fix the problems with the current health care system.


"Tonight marks the culmination 10 of a long national debate," McConnell said. "Passions have run high and that is appropriate. Because the bill we are voting on tonight will impact the life of every American.  It will shape the future of our country.  It will determine whether our children can afford the future they inherit."


Senator McConnell conceded that Democrats have the votes they need, but he said they will face political consequences if the bill passes.


As wrangling 11 over the bill has continued for months, public support for the initiative, President Obama's top domestic priority, has declined.  But passage would still be viewed as a major political victory for the president.


Conservative Democratic Senator Ben Nelson announced his support for the bill Saturday after long negotiations 12 with Senator Reid, giving Democrats the 60 votes they needed.  They will need those 60 votes again for a series of procedural votes this week, leading up to a vote on the actual health care bill now likely to take place  Thursday evening, Christmas Eve.




If the bill passes in the Senate, that version will have to be merged 13 with a more liberal version passed by the House of Representatives which includes a government-run alternative, not included in the Senate version.   So there is likely to be more wrangling and possibly more late night votes on Capitol Hill in January.

 



n.陆标,划时代的事,地界标
  • The Russian Revolution represents a landmark in world history.俄国革命是世界历史上的一个里程碑。
  • The tower was once a landmark for ships.这座塔曾是船只的陆标。
n.房间,寝室;会议厅;议院;会所
  • For many,the dentist's surgery remains a torture chamber.对许多人来说,牙医的治疗室一直是间受刑室。
  • The chamber was ablaze with light.会议厅里灯火辉煌。
n.民主主义者,民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )
  • 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》
n.反对票,投反对票者( nay的名词复数 )
  • 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》
vt.掠夺,蹂躏,使苦恼
  • Today,people feel more hurried and harried.今天,人们感到更加忙碌和苦恼。
  • Obama harried business by Healthcare Reform plan.奥巴马用医改掠夺了商界。
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acquits
agreement on exchange guarantees
aircrash
amyl borate
Anysberg
Aptenodytes forsteri
arthritis interna
awning decker
be fired
be round
beta-relaxation temperature
biogas digester
birotary gas turbine
Callyodon ghobban
continuous budge
cortemilia
costal fovea
critical cooling velocity
cross member clinch unt
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depilatory paste
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freeplay
front shackle
gas-collecting channel
gastrofiberoscopy
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glozed
go back
guest's car park
hour wheel friction spring
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industrial quality control
iran plate
item in transit
jemmied
labral nerve
Lanczos method
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membrane evaporator
metro network
mini-driver architecture
morning-noon-and-night
Nehalem R.
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obstruction set
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phytomyza eupatorii
plasticimete
portent
post liming
program data set
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purse seine fishing ground
pushing-off the wagons
radical language
reductive dehalogenation
regulation of exhaust gas
repressionary
rhoecus
ring rim type rotor
rockings
Romainmôtier
safe device against slack rope
Sakaba
sequential strategy
setiformis
solar particle stream
stack reference
static phase-shift circuit
storage annual
stromatoporoid
tank cleaning operation
thermostatted
time of concentration
unsteady running
ventriculoarterial
wing-shaped forceps
woodchopping
yappie
zizzing