VOA慢速英語:奧巴馬簽署新農(nóng)業(yè)法案成為法律
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From VOA Learning English, this is the Agriculture Report.
這里是美國之音慢速英語農(nóng)業(yè)報道。
President Barack Obama signed a new Farm Bill into law this month. Under the legislation, the federal government will no longer guarantee automatic payments to farmers. Critics say the law replaces the old payment system with new assistance that may violate international trade rules. The law also includes changes in how the United States helps hungry people around the world.
本月，美國總統(tǒng)奧巴馬簽署一項新的農(nóng)業(yè)法案成為法律。根據(jù)該法律，聯(lián)邦政府將不再確保向農(nóng)民自動發(fā)放補(bǔ)貼。批評人士表示，這項新法律取代了舊補(bǔ)貼發(fā)放體系，但它附帶的新援助可能會違反國際貿(mào)易規(guī)則。該法律還包括了美國如何幫助世界各地饑餓人口的一些變動。
The new Farm Bill ended $5 billion a year in automatic payments to farmers. The president said the law sends a message to people who have abused the system.
這項新的農(nóng)業(yè)法案停止了自動向農(nóng)民發(fā)放的50億美元補(bǔ)貼。奧巴馬表示，該法律向濫用該體系的人們發(fā)出了一個信號。
"This bill helps to clamp down on loopholes that allowed people to receive benefits year after year whether they were planting crops or not. And it saves taxpayers hard-earned dollars by making sure that we only support farmers when disaster strikes or prices drop," the president said.
奧巴馬表示，“這項法案有助于消除允許人們每年獲得補(bǔ)貼而不管他們是否種植糧食的漏洞。它通過確保只在災(zāi)難發(fā)生或價格下降時補(bǔ)貼農(nóng)民，節(jié)省了納稅人辛苦掙來的錢。”
The new legislation expands programs that protect farmers from bad weather or low crop prices. It raises the lowest price growers will be paid for some crops. And it offers a taxpayer-supported insurance program to farmers, the program guarantees that their wages do not drop much from year to year.
這項新的法律擴(kuò)大了保護(hù)農(nóng)民不受惡劣天氣和糧食價格低影響的計劃，它提高了農(nóng)民出售一些糧食的最低價格，還向農(nóng)民提供了一個納稅人承擔(dān)的保險計劃，該計劃保證農(nóng)民的收入每年不會下降太多。
Dan Sumner is an economist with the University of California, Davis. He told VOA on Skype that the new Farm Bill could cause problems.
丹·薩姆納(Dan Sumner)是加州大學(xué)戴維斯分校的經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)家。他在Skype上對美國之音表示，這項新的農(nóng)業(yè)法案可能會引發(fā)問題。
"That's the kind of assurances that the U.S. government is willing to provide that most farmers in the world, in fact, don't have access to," he said.
他說，“世界上大部分農(nóng)民都享受不到美國政府希望提供的這類保險。”
He adds that with the help of the government, American farmers can produce and export more crops, but he warns that could hurt crop prices.
他補(bǔ)充說，在政府的幫助下，美國農(nóng)民可以生產(chǎn)和出口更多糧食，但他警告說，這會傷害糧食價格。
"That drives down world prices and it's a little tougher for farmers in developing countries to compete with that," Sumner said.
薩姆納說，“這會壓低世界糧食價格，發(fā)展中國家農(nóng)民與之競爭會更難。”
U.S. government subsidies pushed down world cotton prices in the early 2000s, the United States lost an international trade dispute over those payments. Dan Sumner says the new Farm Bill could re-open that dispute.
21世紀(jì)初美國政府補(bǔ)貼壓低了世界棉花價格。美國在就這些補(bǔ)貼的一項國際貿(mào)易爭端上敗北。薩姆納表示，新的農(nóng)業(yè)法案可能會重啟該爭端。
But groups representing growers say trade rules do let governments pay a limited amount of subsidies to farmers. Dale Moore is the chief of policy at one of those groups - the American Farm Bureau Federation.
但代表種植戶的組織表示，貿(mào)易規(guī)則允許政府向農(nóng)民支付一定補(bǔ)貼。戴爾·摩爾(Dale Moore)是這些組織之一的美國農(nóng)業(yè)事務(wù)聯(lián)合會的政策負(fù)責(zé)人。
"We're pretty confident that it would take an extremely bad situation for us to even come close to violating those particular limits, something the United States hasn't come close to in years," said Dale Moore.
摩爾表示，“我們非常確信這會給我們帶來非常糟糕的局面，使我們無限接近違反這些特定限制，美國已經(jīng)很多年沒有接近違反這些特定限制了。”
Other changes in the Bill should help food aid get to more needy people around the world.
法案的其它變動會有助于糧食援助抵達(dá)世界各地更多需要幫助的人們。
Aid groups will be able to spend more of the assistance they receive to buy food from markets near where it will be used, earlier rules forced aid groups to buy food from American farmers.
援助組織將能夠花更多他們收到的資金在受援地周邊的市場購買食品。此前的規(guī)則強(qiáng)迫援助組織向美國農(nóng)民購買食品。
Eric Munoz works for the aid group Oxfam America.
埃里克·穆尼奧斯(Eric Munoz)就職于援助組織美國樂施會。
"Not only will that save money, but it will help reach people faster. The actual program of buying locally is a much quicker response than buying food from the United States and shipping it," said Eric Munoz.
穆尼奧斯表示，“這不但將可以節(jié)省資金，還將有助于更快幫助到人們。與從美國購買再運(yùn)過去相比，當(dāng)?shù)刭徺I方案反應(yīng)更迅速。”
He told VOA on Skype that with the same amount of money, help can now reach more hungry people.
他通過Skype對美國之音表示，(這樣做)相同資金能夠幫助到更多饑餓人口。
President Obama Signs a New Farm Bill into Law
By VOA
24 February, 2014
From VOA Learning English, this is the Agriculture Report.
President Barack Obama signed a new Farm Bill into law this month. Under the legislation, the federal government will no longer guarantee automatic payments to farmers. Critics say the law replaces the old payment system with new assistance that may violate international trade rules. The law also includes changes in how the United States helps hungry people around the world.
The new Farm Bill ended $5 billion a year in automatic payments to farmers. The president said the law sends a message to people who have abused the system.
"This bill helps to clamp down on loopholes that allowed people to receive benefits year after year whether they were planting crops or not. And it saves taxpayers hard-earned dollars by making sure that we only support farmers when disaster strikes or prices drop," the president said.
The new legislation expands programs that protect farmers from bad weather or low crop prices. It raises the lowest price growers will be paid for some crops. And it offers a taxpayer-supported insurance program to farmers, the program guarantees that their wages do not drop much from year to year.
Dan Sumner is an economist with the University of California, Davis. He told VOA on Skype that the new Farm Bill could cause problems.
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President Barack Obama, surrounded by members of Congress, signs the Farm Bill, Feb. 7, 2014, at Michigan State University in East Lansing, Michigan. |
"That's the kind of assurances that the U.S. government is willing to provide that most farmers in the world, in fact, don't have access to," he said.
He adds that with the help of the government, American farmers can produce and export more crops, but he warns that could hurt crop prices.
"That drives down world prices and it's a little tougher for farmers in developing countries to compete with that," Sumner said.
U.S. government subsidies pushed down world cotton prices in the early 2000s, the United States lost an international trade dispute over those payments. Dan Sumner says the new Farm Bill could re-open that dispute.
But groups representing growers say trade rules do let governments pay a limited amount of subsidies to farmers. Dale Moore is the chief of policy at one of those groups - the American Farm Bureau Federation.
"We're pretty confident that it would take an extremely bad situation for us to even come close to violating those particular limits, something the United States hasn't come close to in years," said Dale Moore.
Other changes in the Bill should help food aid get to more needy people around the world.
Aid groups will be able to spend more of the assistance they receive to buy food from markets near where it will be used, earlier rules forced aid groups to buy food from American farmers.
Eric Munoz works for the aid group Oxfam America.
"Not only will that save money, but it will help reach people faster. The actual program of buying locally is a much quicker response than buying food from the United States and shipping it," said Eric Munoz.
He told VOA on Skype that with the same amount of money, help can now reach more hungry people.
And that's the Agriculture Report. For more agriculture stories, go to our website chinavoa.com. I'm Christopher Cruise.
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