時差N小時: 社會保障法 Social Security Act

Today's Social Security program has its roots in theGreat Depression of the 1930s. With 22 millionunemployed, many Americans lived in poverty, andmany elderly workers lost all their pension fundswhen their companies went bankrupt.

如今的社會保障計劃在20世紀30年代的經濟大蕭條時期就有其歷史根源。在大蕭條時期有兩千兩百萬人失業(yè)，許多美國人在貧困線上掙扎。各類公司紛紛倒閉，致使許多老年人失去了所有的養(yǎng)老基金。

As part of the government's response, known as the "New Deal," President Franklin Rooseveltcreated an advisory panel to make recommendations to Congress for a program to protectworkers from losing their pensions or retirement savings.

作為政府的應對措施，即“新政”的一部分，富蘭克林·總統(tǒng)設立了顧問小組，專門為國會提供建議，以保護工人的養(yǎng)老基金和退休金不受損失。

In January of 1935, Congress began its consideration of the Social Security Act. Not everyonethought it was a good idea. There was a lot of opposition expressed during the congressionaldebates and in the opinion pages of the nation's newspapers.

1935年1月，國會開始考慮成立社會保障法。這一法案并沒有得到每個人的支持。國會就這一問題進行了激辯，美國各大報紙的輿論頁面也出現(xiàn)許多反對聲。

Supporters praised it as a form of social responsibility, while others found it "dangerous andunconstitutional," imposing too much government in the private economic sector. Yetproponents carried the day, and the House and Senate passed the Social Security Act.Expanded by Congress over the years, Social Security has had a major impact on the lives ofolder Americans.

支持者贊美這項法案體現(xiàn)了一種社會責任，然而反對者則稱這是“危險的、違反憲法的”，稱其在私企強加了過多的政府干涉。然而支持者占優(yōu)勢，眾議院和參議院通過了這條法案。許多年來，社會保障體系對老年美國人的生活產生了重大影響。

Without it, almost half of all Americans over 65 would be living in poverty. Often consideredone of government's greatest achievements, it is also the single most costly federal program;and the system's continued financial viability is currently a major issue of national concern.

如果沒有這項法案，近一半的65歲以上的老人將會生活在貧困中。社會保障常被視為政府最偉大的成就，但它也是聯(lián)邦各項計劃中最昂貴的一項。目前社會保障體系的財務可行性將成為一個國民主要關注的問題。