Obama defends health care reforms 奥巴马为医疗改革辩护
文章来源:未知 文章作者:meng 发布时间:2009-07-23 06:28 字体: [ ]  进入论坛
(单词翻译:双击或拖选)

President Barack Obama has defended his plans for health reform in a news conference broadcast live in the US.

奥巴马总统在一场全国性的新闻发布会中为自己的医疗改革辩护。

Mr Obama pledged to push through a reform package by the end of the year that would reduce health costs, increase choice and widen coverage1.

Congress is currently debating various proposals, and lawmakers are struggling to reach agreement.

Mr Obama said he now saw "broad agreement" on passing a reform, but a few issues still needed working out.

The president has made passing a health care reform bill the top priority of his first year in the White House.

In the past 10 days, he has embarked2(着手,从事) on an aggressive push to promote his plans, as members of Congress argue over the details of reform.

The BBC's Jane O'Brien in Washington says this is the first big test of Mr Obama's political strength and a measure of how far he is prepared to bend to achieve his agenda.

Any failure will be seen by his opponents as a major personal defeat, she says.

'Not a game'

In his opening remarks at Wednesday's press conference, the president said Americans were looking to Congress for leadership.

"This debate is not a game," he said. "This isn't about me - I have great health insurance and so does every member of Congress."

Rather, he said, it was about ordinary Americans who had been forced to "shoulder the burden of a problem that Washington has failed to solve for decades."

"We will pass reform that lowers cost, promotes choice and provides coverage that every American can count on," he said.

"And we will do it this year."

"I'm rushed because I get letters every day from families that are being clobbered3(打垮) by health care costs, and they ask me can you help," Mr Obama said.

The president said he would not rule out any ideas proposed in Congress, except any proposal that is "primarily funded through taxing middle class families".

He also said reshaping America's health care system was crucial(关键的,决定性的) to helping4 the broader economy, and that any reform would reduce rather than add to the US deficit(赤字,逆差).

Talking about the general economy, Mr Obama said the US had been "on the verge5 of a complete financial meltdown", but there was now "stabilisation".

"We've stepped away from the brink," he said, adding that "things would be even worse" without the government's financial bailout(跳伞) package.



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1 coverage nvwz7v     
n.报导,保险范围,保险额,范围,覆盖
参考例句:
  • There's little coverage of foreign news in the newspaper.报纸上几乎没有国外新闻报道。
  • This is an insurance policy with extensive coverage.这是一项承保范围广泛的保险。
2 embarked e63154942be4f2a5c3c51f6b865db3de     
乘船( embark的过去式和过去分词 ); 装载; 从事
参考例句:
  • We stood on the pier and watched as they embarked. 我们站在突码头上目送他们登船。
  • She embarked on a discourse about the town's origins. 她开始讲本市的起源。
3 clobbered 937eab62b45d34231c7600ac11be8f7b     
v.狠揍, (不停)猛打( clobber的过去式和过去分词 );彻底击败
参考例句:
  • The paper got clobbered with libel damages of half a million pounds. 这家报纸被罚以五十万英镑的诽谤损害赔偿金。
  • The robbers clobbered the shopkeeper to make him open the safe. 强盗们殴打店主迫使他打开保险箱。 来自辞典例句
4 helping 2rGzDc     
n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的,辅助的
参考例句:
  • The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
  • By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。
5 verge gUtzQ     
n.边,边缘;v.接近,濒临
参考例句:
  • The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
  • She was on the verge of bursting into tears.她快要哭出来了。
TAG标签: reform Obama health care
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