The United States Congress approved a deal to end a partial government shutdown-英语听力

[00:00.10]From VOA Learning English, [00:07.31]this is In the News. [00:09.90]Late Wednesday night, [00:11.94]the United States Congress approved a deal [00:15.37]to end a partial government shutdown. [00:19.31]The deal also increases the nation's debt limit. [00:24.28]President Obama signed the bill into law [00:27.82]shortly after midnight. [00:30.20]The shutdown lasted 16 days [00:33.45]and affected hundreds of thousands of federal employees. [00:38.58]It was the first shutdown in 17 years. [00:43.20]However, the deal to reopen the government [00:47.09]will only pay for operations through January 15. [00:52.41]And it only extends the debt limit until February 7. [00:59.04]Extending the debt limit [01:01.18]will let the government borrow enough money [01:04.36]to pay for programs already approved by Congress. [01:09.99]The Treasury Department said [01:12.33]the limit needed to rise by October 17 [01:16.85]so that the United States [01:19.15]could borrow enough money to pay all its bills. [01:24.14]Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen announced [01:27.82]the results of the vote in the House of Representatives. [01:31.75]"On this vote the yeas are 285, [01:34.74]the nays are 144, the motion is adopted." [01:39.22]The pressure had been on House Speaker John Boehner. [01:43.00]Earlier in the day, Mr. Boehner talked about [01:46.45]what Republicans had been seeking. [01:48.68]He spoke to radio station WLW [01:52.42]in his hometown of Cincinnati, Ohio. [01:55.95]"We have been locked in a fight over here, [01:58.24]trying to bring government down to size, [02:00.63]trying to do our best to stop Obamacare. [02:02.62]We fought the good fight, we just did not win." [02:05.85]The shutdown began October 1 after House Republicans [02:10.64]linked passage of a spending bill [02:13.18]to an effort to block the health care law. [02:16.91]Republicans hold the majority in the 435-member House. [02:22.73]But the bill passed mostly with the votes of Democrats. [02:28.12]Fewer than 90 Republicans voted for the bill. [02:32.25]And none of their leaders came to the House floor [02:36.13]to speak in the final debate. [02:38.92]Democrats supported the bill after Speaker Boehner [02:43.10]agreed to allow a vote without changing Obamacare. [02:48.57]Earlier the Senate passed the same bill [02:52.21]by a vote of 81 to 18, [02:55.39]with strong support from Democrats and Republicans. [03:00.02]Hours after signing the bill into law, [03:03.31]President Obama noted "there are no winners here." [03:07.90]"The last few weeks have inflicted completely, [03:10.69]unnecessary damage on our economy. [03:13.48]We don't know yet the full scope of the damage, [03:16.82]but every analyst out there believes it slowed our growth. [03:20.15]We know that families have gone without paychecks [03:24.14]or services they depend on. [03:25.73]We know that potential home buyers have gotten fewer mortgages [03:30.36]and small business loans have been put on hold. [03:33.04]We know that consumers have cut back on spending [03:37.02]and that half of all CEOs say that the shutdown [03:40.86]and the threat of shutdown set back their plans [03:43.49]to hire over the next six months." [03:45.83]Congress agreed to pay government workers [03:49.43]for the time away from their jobs. [03:52.07]But economists say some businesses affected by the shutdown [03:56.89]will not be able to recover their losses. [04:00.63]For example, the shutdown closed national parks. [04:05.26]That cost nearby businesses when people canceled park visits. [04:11.18]As part of the deal, House and Senate leaders [04:15.02]have appointed a joint budget committee [04:18.31]to negotiate a compromise spending plan. [04:22.09]The goal is to reach an agreement by December 13. [04:27.23]President Obama says, [04:29.42]"We've got to get out of the habit of governing by crisis." [04:34.10]He says with the shutdown over, [04:37.28]attention should now turn to long-term budget concerns [04:41.62]and issues like passing an immigration reform bill. [04:47.14]And that's In the News from VOA Learning English. [04:52.32]I'm Steve Ember.