VOA慢速英語：美國眾議院議長宣布不尋求連任

US House Speaker Announces His Retirement

美國眾議院議長宣布不尋求連任

Paul Ryan, the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, says he will not seek another term in Congress.

美國眾議院議長保羅·瑞安(Paul Ryan)表示，他在國會將不會尋求連任。

Ryan is the top Republican Party lawmaker in the House. His announcement came as Congressional Republicans face worries over losing their majority in elections later this year.

瑞安是眾議院職位最高的共和黨議員。他宣布之際正值國會共和黨人面臨擔憂今年晚些時候在中期選舉中失去多數(shù)優(yōu)勢的時候。

All 435 members of the House are required to seek re-election every two years. Republicans currently hold 237 House seats. The Democratic Party controls 192 seats.

眾議院所有435名議員每兩年必須重新選舉。共和黨目前擁有237個眾議院議席，民主黨控制了192個議席。

Ryan joined a growing list of lawmakers who have decided against seeking re-election. Thirty-seven Republican House members are leaving office when their term ends in January 2019. On the Democratic side, 17 House members chose not to seek another term.

瑞安加入了越來越多已經(jīng)決定不尋求連任的議員行列。有37名共和黨眾議員將在2019年1月任期屆滿時離職。民主黨方面有17位眾議院選擇不再尋求連任。

The Democratic Party was more popular among likely voters in recent opinion studies. The survey data found that the Democrats are between 5 to 11 percentage points higher than the Republicans.

最近的民意調查顯示，民主黨在潛在選民中更受歡迎。調查數(shù)據(jù)顯示，民主黨比共和黨高出了5到11個百分點。

Speaking in Washington on Wednesday, Ryan said his decision to retire was not based on a fear of losing his party's majority in the House. He said he wanted to spend more time with his wife and three children.

瑞安周三在華盛頓發(fā)表講話稱，自己的退休決定并非因為擔心在眾議院中失去多數(shù)黨優(yōu)勢。他說他想花更多時間陪伴他的妻子和3個孩子。

Ryan said that he has accomplished a lot in a short time as speaker. He added, "We're going to have a great record to run on." Ryan will leave Congress when his term ends.

瑞安表示，他在作為議長的短暫時間內已經(jīng)完成了很多工作。他補充說，“我們會創(chuàng)下一項偉大記錄。”瑞安將在任期屆滿后離開國會。

Years in the House

在眾議院的這些年

Ryan was first elected to Congress in 1998. At the age of 28, he became known as one of the "Young Guns" in the Republican Party.

瑞安于1998年首次當選為國會議員。他以28歲的年齡成為了共和黨內的“少壯派”之一。

In 2012, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney asked Ryan to serve as the party's candidate for vice president. They lost the election to then-President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden.

2012年，共和黨總統(tǒng)候選人米特·羅姆尼(Mitt Romney)邀請瑞安擔任該黨副總統(tǒng)候選人。他們在選舉中敗給了時任總統(tǒng)奧巴馬以及副總統(tǒng)拜登。

Three years ago, Ryan accepted the job of House Speaker after the sudden retirement of speaker John Boehner.

3年前，瑞安在前議長約翰·博納(John Boehner)突然離職后接任眾議院議長職位。

Ryan has long sought for tax cuts and reforms to government entitlement programs. He also wants to overturn the Affordable Care Act, which expanded the nation's health care system. In 2010, President Obama signed the act into law. Today, both supporters and opponents of the law call it Obamacare.

瑞安一直尋求減稅和政府福利改革。他還希望推翻“平價醫(yī)療法”，這項法案擴大了國家的醫(yī)保體系。2010年，奧巴馬總統(tǒng)簽署了這項法案。今天，這項法案的正反兩派都稱之為奧巴馬醫(yī)改方案。

Late last year, Ryan and the Republican-controlled Congress approved tax cuts, but were unable to end Obamacare.

去年年底，瑞安和共和黨控制的國會批準了減稅，但是未能廢除奧巴馬醫(yī)改方案。

The house speaker announced his plans at a closed-door meeting of Republican lawmakers Wednesday morning. Ryan told them that serving as speaker has been the professional honor of his life, and he thanked them for the trust they placed in him.

這位眾議院議長周三在共和黨議員的閉門會議上宣布了他的計劃。瑞安告訴他們，擔任議長是他畢生的榮耀，他還感謝了大家對他的信任。

Ryan's spokesman said in a statement, "After nearly 20 years in the House, the speaker is proud of all that has been accomplished and is ready to devote more of his time to being a husband and a father."

瑞安的發(fā)言人在一份聲明中表示：“在眾議院服務近20年之后，瑞安議長為所有已經(jīng)完成的成就感到自豪，他準備投入更多時間去做一個丈夫和父親。”