臨時法案未能過關 貝納保證政府不關

The Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives John Boehner reassured Americans Thursday that lawmakers will come together to pass a temporary measure to keep the federal government running, saying there will be no government shutdown. The day before, the Republican-controlled House defeated a continuing resolution to fund the government, meaning that Boehner has to draw up a new bill that can also win approval in the Democratic-controlled Senate.

美國聯邦衆議院議長貝納星期四向美國人民再度保證，國會議員們將達成和解通過臨時法案，讓聯邦政府有錢繼續運作。他說，美國政府將不至於關閉。星期三，共和黨控制的聯邦衆議院拒絕了一項繼續向聯邦政府提供資金維持運作的議案，這就是說，貝納必須重新草擬一項也能爲民主黨控制下的參議院所接受的法案。

Public opinion polls show that Americans are tired of the repeated budget dramas that have played out in Washington during the past year, threatening a partial federal government shutdown in April and narrowly averting a potential default on the national debt in August. The Republican leadership in the House introduced a temporary spending measure on Wednesday that they hoped would be passed quickly, so that lawmakers could leave town on Friday for a planned recess.

公衆民調顯示，美國人民已經厭倦了過去一年來在華盛頓一再上演的預算鬧劇。這項鬥爭使聯邦政府在4月面臨部分癱瘓的威脅，並且使聯邦政府8月裏在間不容髮的危機中，躲過一場債務違約的厄運。美國衆議院共和黨的領導層星期三提出一項臨時支出法案，他們原先指望這項臨時提案能迅速獲得通過，使國會議員們可以於星期五依照休會計劃，離開華盛頓。

But 48 members of Speaker Boehner's Republican Party joined with all but six House Democrats to defy their leadership and defeat the temporary spending measure. The defeat of the bill raised the specter of another budget showdown, but Boehner said lawmakers will come to an agreement before government funding runs out on September 30.

但是，48名和貝納同屬於共和黨的議員叛離了領導的意願，和除了六名民主黨籍議員之外的所有民主黨衆議員聯手，擊敗了這項臨時提案。這項提案的失敗使兩黨在另一次預算爭執中攤牌的陰影浮現。但是議長貝納說，議員們將在9月底政府資金用完之前，達成臨時支出協議。

"Listen, there is no threat of government shutdown. Let's just get this out there," Boehner said.

貝納說：“聽着，沒有政府要被關閉的威脅。讓我們把事情講清楚。”

Boehner rejected any assertion that the defeat of the spending bill means he is not in control of his own Republican caucus.

有說法認爲，開支法案沒有過關意味着貝納控制不了他自己的共和黨黨團。貝納拒絕這種說法。

"I understood what the risk was yesterday. But why not put the bill on the floor and let the members speak, and they did," Boehner said.

貝納說：“昨天我知道這個法案風險很大，但是爲什麼不把這個法案在議會中公開討論，讓議員們發言呢？議員們就這樣作了。”The measure would have funded the federal government through November 18, with the cuts in government spending agreed to in the debt ceiling negotiations. But many Republicans, especially conservative and libertarian Tea Party supporters, wanted deeper cuts. Democrats opposed a provision that would have required the costs of disaster assistance to Americans to be offset by cuts elsewhere in the budget.

這項法案將爲聯邦政府撥款到11月18號，這個法案包括債務上限談判時達成一致的要對政府開支的削減。但是很多共和黨人，尤其是保守派和自由派的茶黨支持者希望更大幅度的刪減。民主黨人反對一條要求把給美國人的災難救助款項從其他預算中刪減的條款。

In the Senate, lawmakers are waiting for the House to pass a spending bill, so that they can vote on it. Democratic Senator Dick Durbin offered a few words of advice to Speaker Boehner on how to get a continuing resolution, or CR, passed in both chambers.

在參議院，議員們正在等待衆議院通過開支法案，這樣他們就可以對這個法案進行投票。民主黨籍參議員德賓向衆議院議長貝納，就如何在兩院通過一個讓政府繼續運轉的“持續性決議“，提供了幾句建言。

"Live by the agreement we reached just a few weeks ago. Pass a clean CR and the bipartisan disaster relief bill that we have already passed in the Senate. It is really a pretty simple approach," Durban said.

德賓說：“遵守我們幾個星期前剛達成的協議，通過一個清楚的持續性決議案和兩黨支持的災難救助法案。參議院已經通過了這個災難救助法案。這是非常簡單的做法。”

Asked when lawmakers would get a spending measure passed and be able to leave for their recess, Senate Majority Leader, Democrat Harry Reid said normally it takes a few days to get a measure passed, but that it might be faster this time.

在被問到國會議員何時能通過開支法案，讓他們能在休會時離開華盛頓，參議院多數黨領袖、民主黨的裏德參議員回答說，通常需要幾天的時間來通過一項法案，但這次可能會更快一些。

"Always remember, because you have seen it as often as I have, magic occurs on Thursday night. So we will wait and see," Reid said.

裏德說：“別忘了，你我都經常看到，魔法都出現在星期四晚上，所以我們等着瞧吧。”

Analysts say that Americans weary of partisan budget wrangling are hoping lawmakers will find some "magic" to come to an agreement on keeping the U.S. government running past September 30.

分析人士說，厭倦了國會議員爲了本黨利益而在預算問題上爭吵不休的美國人現在希望議員們能找到一些魔法通過協議，讓美國政府能在9月30號之後繼續運轉。