2016考研英语阅读：美参议院投票阻止贸易促进权法案

　　为了便于大家学习，小编为大家准备了英语阅读有关的美参议院投票阻止贸易促进权法案。大家要认真阅读，从中总结有用知识，为自己的考研增添法宝。

　　Senate Democrats Block Progress on Obama’s Trade Authority

　　美参议院投票阻止贸易促进权法案

　　WASHINGTON —Senate Democrats handed President Obama a stinging rebuke on Tuesday, blocking consideration of legislation granting their own president accelerated power to complete a majortrade accord with Asia.

　　华盛顿——周二，参议院投票决定对一项立法不予考虑，该法案的目的是向总统授权，方便他尽快与亚洲国家达成一项重要贸易协定。这是民主党人向他们自己的总统发起的一次严厉责难。

　　The Senate voted 52-45on a procedural motion to begin debating the bill to give the president “trade promotion authority,”eight votes short of the 60 needed to proceed.Republicans and pro-trade Democrats said they would try to negotiate a trade package that could clear that threshold.

　　一项开始讨论授予总统“贸易促进权”的立法程序动议，在参议院被以52比45票的结果否决——比获得通过所需要的60票少八票。共和党人及支持贸易的民主党人表示，他们会努力开展谈判，达成一揽子交易，清除限制。

　　But the vote Tuesday presented Mr. Obama what might be a no-win situation. He may have to accept trade enforcement provisions he does not want in order to propel the trade legislation through the Senate, but those same provisions might doom the Pacific trade negotiations that legislation is supposed to lift.

　　但周二的投票结果使奥巴马陷入一个可能全盘皆输的境地。他可能需要接受他不希望看到的贸易执法条款，以便推动该贸易法案在参议院获得通过，但这些条款可能会影响太平洋贸易谈判，而该法案原本是为了给谈判扫清障碍。

　　That is especially true for a measure demanding a crack down on currency manipulation, which is strongly opposed by Japan and Malaysia, two of the 12 nations trying to complete the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the largest trade accord in a generation.

　　一项要求打击汇率操纵行为的措施尤其会产生这种效果。共有12个国家正在努力达成这个世代规模最大的贸易协议——跨太平洋伙伴关系(Trans-Pacific Partnership，简称TPP)，其中包括强烈反对该打击措施的日本和马来新亚。

　　“It creates a whole new monster set of arguments and debates that we don’t need,” Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah, the main author of the trade bill, said of the currency language.

　　“这带来了新一轮不必要的争吵和辩论，”犹他州参议员奥林·G·哈奇(Orrin G. Hatch)提到有关汇率的评论时说。他是这项贸易法案的主要起草人。

　　“I offered to have them bring up a bill later, do everything I can to give that a fair hearing because I have concerns sometimes too. But on this bill we just can’t have it on there.”

　　“我提议让他们过一段时间再提出来，我尽可能留出一个公平申辩的机会，因为有时我自己也会有一些担忧。但在这项法案上，我们真的不能把它扯进来。”

　　Tuesday’s votescrambled partisan alliances that have dominated Congress in the Obama era. Democrats,opposing their own president, united around demands that trade promotion authority bepaired with a series of other measures, not only to crack down on currency manipulation, butto assist workers displaced by globalization, tighten child labor law and fortify the government’s response to unfair trade practices.

　　周二的投票搅乱了在奥巴马时代主导国会的党派联盟。反对本党总统的民主党人一致要求，将贸易促进权与其他举措捆绑在一起，不只是打击汇率操纵行为，还要帮助因为全球化发展而流离失所的工人，强化童工法，加强政府对不公平贸易行为的应对。

　　Eight pro-trade Senate Democrats emerged from a strategy meeting at 1 to declare their opposition tothe motion to take up the bill.

　　八名支持贸易的参议院民主党人在结束了1点的一场策略会议后表示，他们反对这项旨在让法案获得讨论的动议。

　　“This is a group that is thoroughly committed to getting thisbill passed,” said Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon, the ranking Democrat on the Finance Committee. But, he criticized “a lack of a commitment to trade enforcement.”

　　“这是一群完全致力于帮助法案获得通过的人，”俄勒冈州民主党参议员、财政委员会(Finance Committee)资深民主党人士罗恩·怀登(Ron Wyden)说。但他批评法案“在贸易执法方面缺乏承诺”。

　　Republicans were equally adamant that accelerated authority not be saddled with many of those demands. Republicans did say they will link trade promotion authority with an expansion of trade adjustment assistance— aid to workers who lose their jobs because of international competition.

　　共和党人也同样坚定地要求，加速达成协议的权力不应附带其中的许多要求。共和党人的确表示过他们将把贸易促进权与扩大贸易调整协助——为由于国际竞争而失业的工人提供援助——联系起来。

　　But Republican leaders said they would go no further, at least at the outset, although Senator Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky and the majority leader, promised Democrats the chance to amend the legislation.

　　但共和党领导人称，他们不会推行进一步举措，至少最开始不会，尽管肯塔基州共和党参议员、多数党领袖米奇·麦康奈尔(Mitch McConnell)曾承诺会给民主党提供修改这项立法的机会。

　　“This is not a game. This is about trying to accomplish something important for the country that happens to be the president’s No. 1 domestic priority,” Mr. McConnell said.

　　麦康奈尔说，“这不是一场游戏，这是关于要完成对于这个国家很重要的一件事，而这件事刚好又是奥巴马总统排在第一位的国内要务。”

　　For Mr. Obama, the Democratic filibuster was a troubling defeat, after suffering through such tactics so many times at the hands of Republicans. Republican leaders placed the defeat at the president’s feet.

　　对于奥巴马而言，民主党的拖延战术是个令人头疼的挫败，此前奥巴马曾多次经历共和党采用这种策略来对付他的情况。共和党领导人把失败推到了奥巴马身上。

　　“Ultimately it’s up to the president,” said Senator John Cornyn of Texas, the Senate’s No. 2 Republican. “Does the president of the United State shave enough clout with members of his own political party?”

　　“这最终取决于总统，”得克萨斯州参议员、参议院共和党第二号人物约翰·科宁(John Cornyn)说。“堂堂合众国总统，对自己政党的成员有足够的影响力吗?”

　　At the heart of Democrats’ demands is a measure that would force the government to respond when trading partners artificially depress the value of their currency to make their exports cheaper and United States exports more expensive.

　　民主党的核心要求是，当贸易伙伴人为地压低本国货币价值以降低出口成本，并增加美国出口成本时，要迫使政府作出回应。

　　Armed with trade promotion authority, Mr. Obama could complete negotiations on the Trans-Pacific Partnership,stretching from Canada and Chile to Japan and Australia, knowing that Congress could still kill a final agreement but could not amend or filibuster it. White House officials have said the Pacific trade accord cannot be completed without that authority.

　　有了贸易促进权，奥巴马就能完成关于TPP的谈判——该协议将囊括从加拿大和智利，再到日本和澳大利亚等国家——国会仍然有权否决最终协议，但不能修改它或对它采用拖延战术。白宫官员曾表示，如果没有贸易促进权，TPP将无法完成。

　　But if Democrats successfully force Mr. McConnell to include that currency measure in the trade promotion bill, the negotiations could collapse.

　　但是，如果民主党成功迫使麦康奈尔把反汇率操纵措施囊括在这项促进贸易的提案之内，相关谈判可能就会崩溃。

　　“I’m strongly against it,” said Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker.商务部长彭妮·普利茨克(Penny Pritzker)说，“我对此表示强烈反对。”The way forward is likely to be a negotiated package of trade-enforcement amendments that would be guaranteed a vote, Republican leadership aides said. Before talks collapsed Tuesday morning,talks on that amendment had begun, with Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York,offering to drop the currency measure in exchange for a promised vote later this Congress.

　　共和党领导层的助手表示，未来很可能会通过一个经过谈判的贸易执法修正案，来确保让法案获得投票机会。在周二上午谈话崩溃之前，关于该修正案的谈论已经开始，纽约州民主党参议员查尔斯·舒默(CharlesSchumer)提出放弃前述货币措施，以换取晚些时候在本届国会的投票承诺。

　　But Mr. Hatch, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, said it was not at all clear the pro-trade forces could resurrect the legislation.

　　但参议院财政委员会主席哈奇表示，目前根本不清楚支持贸易协议的一方是否能使这项立法复活。

　　“I don’t know where this goes,” he said.

　　“我不知道事情会如何发展，”他说。

　　英语的学习，是一个比较漫长的过程，大家要持之以恒。同时还要学会总结，平时的一点一滴积累，会在考试中，发挥很大的作用。