Embattled US Housing Chief Resigns

美国住房和城市发展部长宣布辞职

The top U.S. housing official, who is under criminal investigation, has announced he is resigning.

　

美国负责住房事务的最高官员宣布辞职。与此同时，他正在接受司法调查。

Housing and Urban Development Secretary Alphonso Jackson says he will step down April 18.

　

美国住房和城市发展部长杰克逊说，他将于4月18号离职。

"There comes a time when one must attend diligently to personal and family matters," he said. "Now is such a time for me."

　

杰克逊说：“有时候一个人需要细心处理个人和家庭的事务。现在是我这么做的时候了。”

For two years, Jackson has been fighting allegations that he behaved improperly in awarding contracts with his agency. The Federal Bureau of Investigation has been probing the relationship between Jackson and a friend who was paid 392,000 by his department as a construction manager in New Orleans, following Hurricane Katrina.

　

过去两年来，杰克逊不断遭到指控，说他在把合同授予承包商时行为不当，他也一直在驳斥这种说法。联邦调查局正在调查杰克逊和他的一个好友之间的关系。杰克逊的这名好友在卡特里娜飓风之后以新奥尔良一名建筑经理的身份获得住房部支付的39万2千美元。

Also, the housing authority in the city of Philadelphia (Pennsylvania) has filed a lawsuit alleging that Jackson tried to punish the city agency for rejecting a deal involving one of Jackson's friends.

　

另外，费城住房部门控告杰克逊，说他因为费城住房部门拒绝与杰克逊的一个朋友签约而试图处罚费城住房部门。

Jackson did not mention the controversies as he announced his resignation. Instead, he concentrated on what his agency has accomplished since he became Secretary in 2004.

　

杰克逊在宣布辞职时没有提到这些争议，他反而把重点放在他的部门自他2004年担任部长以来所取得的成就上。

"We have helped families keep their homes. We have transformed public housing. We have reduced chronic homelessness. And we have preserved affordable housing and increased minority homeownership."

　

杰克逊说：“我们帮助一些家庭保住了家园；我们改变了公共住房；我们减少了长期无家可归的人；而且我们让人们买得起房，还让更多的少数族裔拥有住房。”

Alphonso Jackson's resignation will likely leave the Bush administration without a Housing Secretary at a time when a crisis in the housing industry, set off by risky mortgage lending, is causing problems for the U.S. economy.

　

杰克逊的辞职可能使布什政府在房地产业出现危机时无人出任住房部长。这次危机由风险高的抵押贷款所引发，正在给美国经济带来问题。

President Bush, who has had a friendship with Jackson since the late 1980's, accepted his resignation with regret, calling him "a strong leader and a good man."

　

布什总统和杰克逊从80年代末期以来就是朋友。布什遗憾地接受了杰克逊的辞呈，布什称他是个坚强的领导人和好人。

Jackson says he has spent more than 30 years improving housing opportunities for all Americans, regardless of income or race.

"As the son of a lead smelter and [a] nurse midwife, and the last of 12 children, never did I imagine I would serve America in such a way. I am truly grateful for the opportunity."

Jackson said he is staying on for three more weeks to ensure an orderly leadership transition at his agency.

　

杰克逊说，他将再任职3个星期，以确保住房部领导的平稳过渡。