搜索关注在线英语听力室公众号:tingroom,领取免费英语资料大礼包。
(单词翻译)
Measure intends to extend health insurance coverage1 to 32 million Americans currently without it
Kent Klein | White House 23 March 2010
President Barack Obama signs the health care bill in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Tuesday, 23 Mar2 2010
Democrats3 Say They Are '24 Hours Away' from Passing Historic Health Care Reform
Obama to Make Final Health Reform Appeal to House Democrats
U.S. President Barack Obama has signed into law a plan to reform the way Americans pay for health care. The signing follows a contentious4 year-long debate, with more to come.
Democrats and health reform advocates celebrated5 in the East Room of the White House Tuesday, as President Obama signed historic legislation to overhaul6 the U.S. health care system.
"We are done," he said.
Before he signed the bill, Mr. Obama paid tribute to the lawmakers who fought for health reform over the past year, and the legislators and presidents who have advocated it since the early 20th century. "Today, after almost a century of trying; today, after over a year of debate; today, after all the votes have been tallied7; health insurance reform becomes law in the United States of America," he said.
The 10-year package, estimated at $940 billion, is meant to extend health insurance to 32 million uninsured Americans. The Obama administration says it will also reduce federal budget deficits8 and stop insurance companies from denying coverage to people with existing medical problems.
Mr. Obama says it will be four years before the plan fully9 takes effect, but the system will begin to change this year.
At the festive10 ceremony, the president acknowledged that this legislation will mark a fundamental change in U.S. domestic policy. "We have now just enshrined, as soon as I sign this bill, the core principle that everybody should have some basic security when it comes to their health care," he said.
The reform legislation narrowly passed the House of Representatives on Sunday. Opposition11 Republicans in the House voted unanimously against it.
Republicans regard the plan as a federal takeover of one-sixth of the U.S. economy and an unnecessary intrusion of government into personal medical decisions. They also say it is too costly12 and that most Americans oppose it.
Health reform is expected to be a major issue in this November's elections for Congress.
More than a dozen of the 50 states plan to file a lawsuit13, challenging the legislation's constitutionality. They contend that it violates states' sovereignty by requiring that all Americans have some form of health insurance.
Even though he has signed the legislation, the president is not finished campaigning for it. He will go to the central state of Iowa on Thursday, to try to convince a deeply divided country of the plan's merits.
Mr. Obama has made dozens of trips around the country over the past year, promoting his health reform plan.
1 coverage | |
n.报导,保险范围,保险额,范围,覆盖 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
2 mar | |
vt.破坏,毁坏,弄糟 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
3 democrats | |
n.民主主义者,民主人士( democrat的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
4 contentious | |
adj.好辩的,善争吵的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
5 celebrated | |
adj.有名的,声誉卓著的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
6 overhaul | |
v./n.大修,仔细检查 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
7 tallied | |
v.计算,清点( tally的过去式和过去分词 );加标签(或标记)于;(使)符合;(使)吻合 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
8 deficits | |
n.不足额( deficit的名词复数 );赤字;亏空;亏损 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
9 fully | |
adv.完全地,全部地,彻底地;充分地 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
10 festive | |
adj.欢宴的,节日的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
11 opposition | |
n.反对,敌对 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
12 costly | |
adj.昂贵的,价值高的,豪华的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
13 lawsuit | |
n.诉讼,控诉 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
本文本内容来源于互联网抓取和网友提交,仅供参考,部分栏目没有内容,如果您有更合适的内容,欢迎 点击提交 分享给大家。