美國會衆院通過預算 參院成焦點

Efforts to cut the U.S. federal budget to counter a rising deficit projected at $1.6 trillion this year are now moving to the Democratic Party dominated Senate.

美國削減聯邦政府預算的焦點已經轉移到民主黨人主導的國會參議院。美國今年的預算赤字預計將高達1萬6千億美元。

The Republican controlled House of Representatives passed a bill early Saturday with about $60 billion in spending cuts.

共和黨人控制的衆議院星期六凌晨通過了一項削減約600億美元的議案。

During Saturday’s early morning debate House Speaker John Boehner said the next few months will be the most important Washington has seen in decades.

在衆議院星期六凌晨的辯論中，議長約翰.博納說，今後幾個月將成爲華盛頓幾十年來所經歷的最重要階段。

In a vote which ended at four in the morning, lawmakers voted almost entirely along party lines. Most Republicans were in favor of the bill to cut current spending by about 14 percent, while Democrats were in opposition.

在早上四點結束的投票中，所有議員幾乎都按黨派立場投了票。多數共和黨人贊成將目前的支出減少14%，而民主黨人持反對態度。

The bill is a stop-gap measure known as a continuing resolution. It establishes spending levels for the rest of the fiscal year ending in September.

這一被稱作臨時開支法的決議案將確定今年九月底到期的本財政年度的政府開支水平。

But Democratic lawmakers in the Senate have promised to remove many of the bill’s cuts.

參議員民主黨議員已經堅決表示要恢復該議案中很多被削減的開支。

These include eliminating spending to carry out President Barack Obama’s health care reform law. The cuts also target federal funding for family planning, the government’s ability to enforce environmental regulations, education programs, subsidies for the poor and foreign aid.

這些被削減的部分包括取消爲執行奧巴馬總統的健保改革法律所需的支出，削減聯邦政府爲計劃生育計劃的資助，削減政府執行環境條例法規的能力，減少對窮人的補貼和對外援助。

The bill does include increases, such as a nearly two percent rise for defense spending, despite some internal Republican opposition.

這項法案也包括增加支出，例如在國防上增加了2%的預算，儘管共和黨內部出現了一些反對的聲音。During the House debate, California Republican John Campbell was one of those urging deeper defense cuts. "There are many weapons systems funded in the Defense Department which the Defense Department does not want. They are there because of influential members of Congress who have put them in. Defense has always been the most earmarked section of the entire budget," he said.

在衆議院辯論期間，來自加利福尼亞州的共和黨人約翰.坎貝爾就是主張進一步削減軍費的議員之一。他說：“國防部有很多得到資助的武器系統是國防部不願意得到的。之所以通過是因爲國會一些有影響力的議員硬塞進預算案中去的。國防一直是整個預算中最具標誌性的部分。”

Democratic lawmakers, such as Georgia’s Sanford Bishop, warned against cuts that would affect war veterans. “If this bill is signed into law it will hurt our economic recovery which in turn will affect our veterans. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, more than 15 percent of Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans are unemployed, far higher than the national jobless rate. If we follow through with some of these disastrous cuts we will see that rate go higher," he said.

來自喬治亞的民主黨議員桑福德.畢曉普說，不要減少影響退伍軍人的預算。他說：“如果這個法案簽署形成法律，那麼將傷害我們的經濟復甦，接着就會影響我們的退伍軍人。根據勞工統計局的數據，超過15%的伊拉克和阿富汗戰爭退伍軍人都處於失業狀態，比全國的失業率高很多。如果我們將議案中一些災難性的提案付諸實施，我們就會看到更多的失業的退伍軍人。”

The Senate is expected to spend the next few weeks debating and writing its own version of a government funding bill. Senate Democrats say they also want to begin shrinking the deficit, but not the way House Republicans voted for.

參議院預計今後幾個星期將用於辯論並起草自己的政府預算案。民主黨參議員說他們也希望減少赤字，但不同意像衆議院共和黨人的作法。

If no compromise is found by March 4, when current funding expires, a U.S. government shutdown becomes a possibility, unless all parties, including Democratic President Obama, can agree on a short-term spending bill.

如果到3月4號目前的撥款截至日期國會仍然不能做出妥協，包括民主黨人奧巴馬總統在內所有人也都無法就一個短期開支議案達成一致，那麼美國政府就可能關門。