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From VOA Learning English, |
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this is In the News. |
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Late Wednesday night, |
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the United States Congress approved a deal |
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to end a partial government shutdown. |
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The deal also increases the nation's debt limit. |
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President Obama signed the bill into law |
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shortly after midnight. |
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The shutdown lasted 16 days |
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and affected hundreds of thousands of federal employees. |
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It was the first shutdown in 17 years. |
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However, the deal to reopen the government |
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will only pay for operations through January 15. |
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And it only extends the debt limit until February 7. |
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Extending the debt limit |
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will let the government borrow enough money |
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to pay for programs already approved by Congress. |
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The Treasury Department said |
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the limit needed to rise by October 17 |
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so that the United States |
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could borrow enough money to pay all its bills. |
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Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen announced |
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the results of the vote in the House of Representatives. |
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"On this vote the yeas are 285, |
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the nays are 144, the motion is adopted." |
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The pressure had been on House Speaker John Boehner. |
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Earlier in the day, Mr. Boehner talked about |
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what Republicans had been seeking. |
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He spoke to radio station WLW |
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in his hometown of Cincinnati, Ohio. |
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"We have been locked in a fight over here, |
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trying to bring government down to size, |
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trying to do our best to stop Obamacare. |
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We fought the good fight, we just did not win." |
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The shutdown began October 1 after House Republicans |
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linked passage of a spending bill |
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to an effort to block the health care law. |
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Republicans hold the majority in the 435-member House. |
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But the bill passed mostly with the votes of Democrats. |
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Fewer than 90 Republicans voted for the bill. |
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And none of their leaders came to the House floor |
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to speak in the final debate. |
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Democrats supported the bill after Speaker Boehner |
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agreed to allow a vote without changing Obamacare. |
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Earlier the Senate passed the same bill |
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by a vote of 81 to 18, |
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with strong support from Democrats and Republicans. |
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Hours after signing the bill into law, |
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President Obama noted "there are no winners here." |
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"The last few weeks have inflicted completely, |
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unnecessary damage on our economy. |
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We don't know yet the full scope of the damage, |
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but every analyst out there believes it slowed our growth. |
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We know that families have gone without paychecks |
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or services they depend on. |
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We know that potential home buyers have gotten fewer mortgages |
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and small business loans have been put on hold. |
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We know that consumers have cut back on spending |
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and that half of all CEOs say that the shutdown |
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and the threat of shutdown set back their plans |
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to hire over the next six months." |
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Congress agreed to pay government workers |
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for the time away from their jobs. |
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But economists say some businesses affected by the shutdown |
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will not be able to recover their losses. |
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For example, the shutdown closed national parks. |
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That cost nearby businesses when people canceled park visits. |
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As part of the deal, House and Senate leaders |
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have appointed a joint budget committee |
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to negotiate a compromise spending plan. |
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The goal is to reach an agreement by December 13. |
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President Obama says, |
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"We've got to get out of the habit of governing by crisis." |
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He says with the shutdown over, |
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attention should now turn to long-term budget concerns |
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and issues like passing an immigration reform bill. |
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And that's In the News from VOA Learning English. |
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I'm Steve Ember. |
