VOA常速英语2007年-US House Passes Intelligence Measure Amid Inter

By Dan Robinson
Capitol Hill
14 December 2007

The U.S. House of Representatives has approved intelligence policy legislation that would prohibit U.S. intelligence officials from using a number of controversial techniques in interrogating¹ detainees. VOA's Dan Robinson report from Capitol Hill, Senate action is still pending² and the measure faces a veto threat, while controversy³ continues over the CIA destruction of interrogation videotapes.

The intelligence policy document is aimed at strengthening the ability of 16 different intelligence agencies, including the CIA and National Security Agency (NSA), to fight terrorism.

It authorizes⁴ funds to improve U.S. human intelligence capabilities⁵, training and analysis, support satellite intelligence-gathering, and increase the number of foreign language specialists.

Democrats⁶ supporting the measure placed an emphasis on what it does to restore accountability they say has been lost due to weaknesses in the intelligence structure.

In a provision that has drawn⁸ a veto threat from the White House, the measure requires that anyone involved in the interrogation of detainees, whether U.S. government employees or private contractors⁹, adheres to guidelines contained in the U.S. Army Field Manual prohibiting the use of such techniques as waterboarding or simulated drowning.

Debate reflected the divisions between Democrats and Republicans on the matter.

"I don't think we should treat them as outlined in the Army Field Manual," said Congressman¹⁰ Pete Hoekstra, the ranking Republican on the House Intelligence Committee. "These are not normal enemy combatants. They don't wear a uniform and we shouldn't be applying military rules to the intelligence community."

Ohio Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky was among Democrats rejecting Republican assertions that including that the provision would make it more difficult for intelligence officers to obtain information.

"If we don't pass this bill with this provision how can we assume the moral authority to criticize Burma or any other nation for its treatment of prisoners," she said. "In the end we have hurt our own country and undermined the real source of our strength, the rule of law and the sanctity of our Constitution."

All of this came amid the controversy over the CIA's destruction several years ago of videotapes of interrogations using waterboarding.

As House and Senate committees and the Justice Department conduct investigations¹¹, CIA Director Michael Hayden visited Capitol Hill again to brief lawmakers.

Speaking with reporters, Hayden reiterated¹² an earlier statement in which he appeared to acknowledge that the CIA may not have done enough to address congressional concerns.

"Certainly at the time of the destruction, [if] the appropriate standard is fully¹³ and currently informed, boy the agency had a lot of work to do, and that even after we came down here in September of 2006 and laid out as I described the entire rendition detention¹⁴ and interrogations program, not to the Gang of Four [a small group of key lawmakers] but to the entire committee and cleared staff, as we begin to roll that out the committee still had some concerns," he said. "It is our responsibility to make the committee comfortable, and as I said yesterday, we will take that on."

In a statement to CIA employees last week, Hayden at first said that Congress had been fully informed of the agency's intention to destroy the videotapes.

Democrat⁷ Rush Holt expressed dissatisfaction with what he calls Hayden's attempt to point to some technical sense in which notification was given to Congress.

"I hope you got my point that Congress does not feel that it was fully and currently informed, nor informed in a way that allows us to conduct the oversight," he said. "There was this important international issue of the treatment of detainees. We could have used detailed¹⁵ information about the treatment of detainees when we were investigating it."

House Democratic Intelligence Committee Chairman Silvestre Reyes and Congressman Hoekstra are seeking documents from the CIA on the videotape issue as investigations continue.

1 interrogating   

n.询问技术v.询问( interrogate的现在分词 )；审问；（在计算机或其他机器上）查询

参考例句：

• She was no longer interrogating but lecturing. 她已经不是在审问而是在教训人了。 来自辞典例句
• His face remained blank, interrogating, slightly helpless. 他的面部仍然没有表情，只带有询问的意思，还有点无可奈何。 来自辞典例句

2 pending   

prep.直到，等待…期间；adj.待定的；迫近的

参考例句：

• The lawsuit is still pending in the state court.这案子仍在州法庭等待定夺。
• He knew my examination was pending.他知道我就要考试了。

3 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。

4 authorizes   

授权，批准，委托( authorize的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The dictionary authorizes the two spellings 'traveler' and 'traveller'. 字典裁定traveler和traveller两种拼法都对。
• The dictionary authorizes the two spellings "honor" and "honour.". 字典裁定 honor 及 honour 两种拼法均可。

5 capabilities   

n.能力( capability的名词复数 )；可能；容量；[复数]潜在能力

参考例句：

• He was somewhat pompous and had a high opinion of his own capabilities. 他有点自大，自视甚高。 来自辞典例句
• Some programmers use tabs to break complex product capabilities into smaller chunks. 一些程序员认为，标签可以将复杂的功能分为每个窗格一组简单的功能。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

6 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

8 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

9 contractors   

n.（建筑、监造中的）承包人( contractor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• We got estimates from three different contractors before accepting the lowest. 我们得到3个承包商的报价后，接受了最低的报价。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Contractors winning construction jobs had to kick back 2 per cent of the contract price to the mafia. 赢得建筑工作的承包商得抽出合同价格的百分之二的回扣给黑手党。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 Congressman   

n.（美）国会议员

参考例句：

• He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman.他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。
• The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics.这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。

11 investigations   

（正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究

参考例句：

• His investigations were intensive and thorough but revealed nothing. 他进行了深入彻底的调查，但没有发现什么。
• He often sent them out to make investigations. 他常常派他们出去作调查。

12 reiterated   

反复地说，重申( reiterate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• "Well, I want to know about it,'she reiterated. “嗯，我一定要知道你的休假日期，"她重复说。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
• Some twenty-two years later President Polk reiterated and elaborated upon these principles. 大约二十二年之后，波尔克总统重申这些原则并且刻意阐释一番。

13 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

14 detention   

n.滞留，停留；拘留，扣留；(教育)留下

参考例句：

• He was kept in detention by the police.他被警察扣留了。
• He was in detention in connection with the bribery affair.他因与贿赂事件有牵连而被拘留了。

15 detailed   

adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• A detailed list of our publications is available on request.我们的出版物有一份详细的目录备索。