【英语语言学习】政府的监督机制

From VOA Learning English, this is In the News.

 

A special advisory¹ group in the United States is urging President Barack Obama to make changes to the government’s surveillance programs. The group offered its suggestions in a report released this week. 

 

Mr. Obama ordered the report on the intelligence gathering² activities earlier this year. The order followed information leaks from Edward Snowden, a former National Security Agency contract worker. The leaks created a huge problem for the NSA and the president.

They also added to public knowledge about government information gathering, including the collection of data from telephone calls and activities on the Internet.

 

The surveillance programs are operating under U.S. congressional approval. They have been amended³ at different times, and are under the supervision⁴ of a special court.

 

Mr. Obama has described the programs as important to keeping Americans safe. But he has called for more “self-restraint” by the NSA.

 

In its report, the Review Group on Intelligence and Communications Technologies proposes 46 changes. One is to end the government’s storage of “metadata” of the telephone records of Americans. The report proposes that private companies or a non-government agency keep the records instead, not the NSA.

 

Another proposal is to require a court to approve individual searches of phone and Internet data records. The report also proposes limits on the NSA’s power to study known targets of counter terrorism surveillance after they enter the United States.

The report is calling for a new process to identify “uses and limits of surveillance on foreign leaders and in foreign nations.” It says decisions should consider whether other methods or targets of collection could provide needed information.

 

The review group met with President Obama on Wednesday after sending him their report last week.

 

Press secretary Jay Carney said President Obama plans to study the document over the holidays. He will speak to the nation about it next month after a separate government investigation⁵ is completed.

 

“The president has been clear that even as we review our efforts and make some changes in how we do things, we will not harm our ability to face those threats. That is, his number one obligation as commander-in-chief.”

 

The official US position on Edward Snowden remains⁶ unchanged. The Obama administration says he should return to the United States to face criminal charges. It disagrees with suggestions that he receive a pardon to prevent him from releasing additional information.

 

Earlier this week a federal court ruled that secretly collecting the telephone records of Americans is likely unconstitutional.

 

Mr. Obama also faced pressure from leaders of high-tech⁷ companies. Reports said they urged him to make aggressive reforms, and expressed concern about damage to the United States’ image and business interests overseas.

 

The “60 Minutes” television program recently spoke⁸ with the head of the NSA, Keith Alexander. He denied that the agency is collecting e-mails or listening to the phone calls of Americans. He said the NSA’s job is foreign intelligence.

 

And that’s In the News, from VOA Learning English. I’m Faith Lapidus.

1 advisory   

adj.劝告的，忠告的，顾问的，提供咨询

参考例句：

• I have worked in an advisory capacity with many hospitals.我曾在多家医院做过顾问工作。
• He was appointed to the advisory committee last month.他上个月获任命为顾问委员会委员。

2 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

3 Amended   

adj. 修正的 动词amend的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He asked to see the amended version. 他要求看修订本。
• He amended his speech by making some additions and deletions. 他对讲稿作了些增删修改。

4 supervision   

n.监督，管理

参考例句：

• The work was done under my supervision.这项工作是在我的监督之下完成的。
• The old man's will was executed under the personal supervision of the lawyer.老人的遗嘱是在律师的亲自监督下执行的。

5 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

6 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

7 high-tech   

adj.高科技的

参考例句：

• The economy is in the upswing which makes high-tech services in more demand too.经济在蓬勃发展，这就使对高科技服务的需求量也在加大。
• The quest of a cure for disease with high-tech has never ceased. 人们希望运用高科技治疗疾病的追求从未停止过。

8 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。