参议院为贸易促进权法案扫除关键障碍

WASHINGTON — A flurry of last-minute deal-makingon the Senate floor Thursday rescued PresidentBarack Obama's ambitious trade agenda fromdefeat, breaking a filibuster to advance legislationthat would empower the president to complete asweeping, 12-nation Pacific trade accord.

华盛顿——周四，参议院在最后时刻进行了一系列交易，打破了阻止法案推进的冗长演说拖延战术，使得贝拉克·奥巴马总统雄心勃勃的贸易议程免于失败。该法案将授权总统完成一个覆盖太平洋地区12国的一揽子贸易协定。

For the second time this month, Democraticopponents nearly brought down a carefully brokered deal to give the president authority tocomplete a trade accord spanning the Pacific and encompassing 40 percent of the world'seconomy on products ranging from airplanes to running shoes.

这是民主党内的反对者本月第二次差点推翻精心安排的交易。这样的交易将授权总统完成一项跨越太平洋并涵盖40%的世界经济产出的贸易协定，其中涉及的产品大至飞机，小至跑鞋。

But with the legislation seemingly headed to defeat, Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., themajority leader, began deal-making, primarily to persuade enough Democrats to support themeasure. He agreed to bring an extension of the Export-Import Bank to a vote before itsauthorization lapses June 30, and he promised Ohio's senators a vote on an amendment toaid the embattled steel industry.

然而，在该法案看似即将走向失败之际，参议院多数党领袖米奇·麦康奈尔(Mitch McConnell)开始做交易，主要是为了说服足够的民主党人予以支持。他同意在美国进出口银行(Export-Import Bank)的许可于6月30日到期之前进行延期问题的投票，并向来自俄亥俄州的参议员承诺，会让旨在扶持陷入困境的钢铁行业的一项修正案得以表决。

Those deals brought along 62 senators, just above the 60-vote threshold to keep the trade billfrom falling to a filibuster.

这些交易争取到了62名参议员的支持，刚刚超过让该贸易法案避免拖延战术所需的60票门槛。

“I want to thank the bipartisan group of senators who took a big step forward this morning ona trade agenda that is consistent with strong labor standards, strong environmentalstandards, and access to markets that too often are closed even as these other countries areselling goods in the United States, Obama told reporters at the White House.

“我想感谢这些来自两党的参议员。他们今天上午在贸易议程上向前迈了一大步。这一议程符合严格的劳工和环境标准。此外，有些国家正在向美国销售商品，与此同时它们的市场却往往是关闭的。这一议程将能让我们进入这些市场，奥巴马在白宫对记者说。

The fate of the trade promotion bill remains in doubt. The Senate must still vote on a series ofamendments — some highly contentious — before a final vote on the trade legislation,probably on Friday. If, as is now likely, it passes the Senate, it faces strong, bipartisanopposition in the House.

然而，这项贸易促进权法案依然前途未卜。在对该法案进行最终表决之前，参议院必须对一系列修正案进行投票，其中一些极具争议，而投票时间大概就在周五。目前看来，法案很可能会在参议院获得通过。即便如此，它也将在众议院面临来自两党的强烈反对。

“We understand we've got work to do, said Rep. Ron Kind, D-Wis., who is leading efforts toround up Democratic votes for trade promotion authority in the House.

“我们明白还需要做工作，来自威斯康星州的民主党众议员罗恩·金德(Ron Kind)说。他正牵头进行努力，意在争取众议院的民主党人支持赋予总统贸易促进权。

Still, Thursday's vote was a high and difficult hurdle. It clearly established trade negotiatingauthority has the votes it needs in the Senate, and it vindicated the strategy of McConnell,who strictly limited the number of amendments to the trade bill.

不过，周四的表决结果依然跨越了高难度的障碍。它清楚地证实了贸易谈判授权在参议院拥有所需的支持票数，也证明了麦康奈尔的战略是正确的——他此前严格限制了该贸易法案的修正案数量。