美衆議院週五表決平衡預算修正案

美國衆議院星期五就一項可能迫使國會平衡預算的法案進行投票。與此同時，一個跨黨派的委員會正爲在下週關鍵截止日期之前確定預算削減項目而絞盡腦汁。

The U.S. House of Representatives votes Friday on legislation that would force Congress to balance its budget, while a bipartisan committee scrambles to identify budget cuts ahead of a key deadline next week.

The legislation would amend the U.S. Constitution to require that Congress not spend more than it receives in any given fiscal year. The vote is expected Friday afternoon. It is unclear if the measure, which is being pushed by majority Republicans, will pass.

Supporters say the amendment is necessary to stop the country's ballooning national debt, which passed $15 trillion earlier this week.

Meanwhile, the 12-member, congressional "supercommittee" has until midnight on Wednesday to cut $1.2 trillion in federal spending over the next decade or risk massive automatic cuts to defense and domestic programs beginning in January 2013. Congressional aides say the committee is making little progress on a comprehensive deal to reduce the deficit.

President Barack Obama, a Democrat, has signaled a willingness to restructure costly programs that provide income and health care to retirees. Mr. Obama has said he hopes the leaders of the committee will do what is necessary in the coming days to agree on a plan.

Critics argue that the drastic spending cuts needed to balance the budget would negatively impact an already weak economy.這項立法可能會修改美國憲法，要求國會在任何一個財政年度都不能入不敷出。投票預計星期五下午進行。

目前還不清楚，這個由衆議院多數黨共和黨推動的立法是否能夠通過。支持者說，這項修正案對遏止美國債務不斷膨脹來說必不可少。本週早些時候，美國的債務已經超過15萬億美元。

與此同時，由12人組成的“超級委員會”的國會參衆兩院赤字削減特別聯合委員會也應在下星期三午夜之前拿出在未來十年削減1.2萬億美元聯邦支出的方案，否則將導致國防和一些國內項目從2013年1月開始面臨開支自動削減的危機。

國會議員的助手們說，該委員會在制定削減赤字全面計劃方面進展緩慢。

來自民主黨的總統奧巴馬已經表示，願意調整爲退休人員提供收入和醫療保險的昂貴的計劃。奧巴馬說，他希望該委員會的領導人們未來幾天盡最大努力達成協議。

批評人士認爲，爲平衡預算而大幅度削減開支的做法將會對已經很脆弱的經濟帶來負面影響。