VOA常速英语2015--美国国会考虑通信监控项目（在线收听）

美国国会考虑通信监控项目

WASHINGTON— This week brings increased pressure on U.S. lawmakers to reform or reauthorize the National Security Agency’s ability to gather domestic telephone records for anti-terrorist purposes, because the program expires at the end of this month.

A federal appeals court ruled so-called “bulk metadata” collection illegal but did not order a stop to the program launched in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States.

Even before last week’s court decision, some in Congress were urging reform of domestic spying.

即使在上周法庭判决之前，国会中已有一些议员敦促改革国内间谍活动。

“I believe we have to protect our national security, but we also have to protect our civil liberties that make us unique as a country,” Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy said.

民主党议员帕特里克·莱希，“我认为我们必须保护我们的国家安全，但我们也必须保护使我们国家独一无二的民权。”

NSA leaks

Exposed by fugitive former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, the program caused a firestorm when Americans learned of vast telecommunications monitoring by a shadowy U.S. agency.

该项目被潜逃的国安局前承包商爱德华·斯诺登曝光，使美国人得知这个由美国秘密机构进行的大规模的电信监控项目，并导致轩然大波。

Last year, President Barack Obama pledged what he called “a new approach.”

去年，巴拉克·奥巴马总统承诺采取所谓的“新策略”。

“The United States is not spying on ordinary people who do not threaten our national security, and we take their privacy concerns into account in our policies and procedures," Obama said then.

“美国不会刺探那些不会威胁我们国家安全的普通美国人，我们会在政策和程序中考虑他们的隐私顾虑。”

Moments after the court ruling last week, several Republicans rushed to defend the program, which reportedly collects and stores phone records but not the content of calls made.

就在上周法院判决宣布后不久，一些共和党人纷纷为该项目辩护，据悉该项目收集并储存了电话记录，但不包括电话内容。

“The NSA can find connections from known terrorists overseas and connect them to potential terrorists here in the United States. Critics of the program either want to do away with it or make it much more difficult to use," Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said.

参议院多数派领袖明奇·麦康奈尔，“国安局能从海外已知恐怖分子那里找到关联，将他们与美国国内潜在的恐怖分子联系起来。该项目的批评者们要么想推倒该项目，要么想让该项目更难进行。”

Ending the program is unthinkable, Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr said. “We are going to keep America safe. We are not going to revert back to where we are susceptible to another 9-11," he said.

结束该项目是难以想象的，参议院情报委员会主席理查德·伯尔，“我们希望让美国更安全，我们不准备回到容易遭受下一场911的状况。”

Others see a threat to privacy.

也有人认为这是对隐私的威胁。

“I say the phone records of law-abiding citizens are none of their damn business," Republican Senator Rand Paul.

共和党参议员兰德·保罗，“我想说的是，守法公民的电话记录与他们没关系。”

Commitment to transparency

That the debate is unfolding at all shows America’s commitment to transparency, President Obama said.

总统奥巴马说，这场辩论仍在继续展开的辩论表明美国人致力于提高透明度。

“No one expects China to have an open debate about their surveillance programs, or Russia to take the privacy concerns of citizens into account. But let us remember: we are held to a different standard precisely because we have been at the forefront of defending personal privacy and human dignity," he said.

“没有人期待中国会对其监控项目展开公开的辩论，或者期待俄罗斯考虑其公民的隐私权。但让我们记住，我们遵守的是不同的标准，因为我们一直处在捍卫个人隐私和个人尊严的前沿。”

Many expect the Supreme Court will ultimately decide the constitutionality of bulk data collection.

很多人预测最高法院将最终决定批量数据收集的合宪性。

In the meantime, Congress could extend the NSA program or reform it. Lawmakers of both parties say the stakes for national security, and civil liberties, are high.

同时，国会将延长国安局的这个项目或者对之进行改革，两党的议员们都表示，国家安全和民权都意义重大。