2006年VOA标准英语-ACLU President, Students Explore Security, Civi

By Mike O'Sullivan
Los Angeles
22 November 2006

Has the Bush administration compromised civil liberties in the effort to prevent terrorist attacks?  The question was debated at a town hall meeting in Los Angeles, where high school students took part in a discussion on security and freedom.

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The students joined a meeting with Nadine Strossen, president of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), an organization that is spearheading criticism of some of the provisions of the Patriot¹ Act.  Congress passed the comprehensive security bill in 2001 and renewed it this year.  The law is intended to foster the sharing of information between law enforcement and intelligence agencies.  Among its many provisions, it permits Internet and telephone surveillance, and the seizure² of records in the course of investigations³ into terrorism or espionage⁴. 

Critics of the Patriot Act also question how officials are using advanced surveillance technology.  News reports say the National Security Agency is scanning huge amounts of data in a search for suspicious patterns.  U.S. officials acknowledge eavesdropping⁵ on Americans when they communicate with people overseas who are suspected of terrorist links to groups such as al Qaida.  President Bush says the Justice Department closely monitors the program, and that it is needed to protect the American people.

But Strossen says the measures curtail⁶ essential freedoms and infringe⁷ on the rights of Americans who are not under suspicion.

ACLU President Nadine Strossen

"In other words, these measures are the worst of both worlds,” she said.  “They do make all of us less free, but they do not make any of us more safe."

At a meeting sponsored by the group Town Hall Los Angeles, Ethan Ludmir of North Hollywood High School started the questioning with a welcome and a challenge. 

"Professor, thank you so much for coming out here to speak with us,” he said.  “We're thrilled to have you.  All of us from North Hollywood are delighted to have you here.  Unfortunately, your first person from California is going to be a crazy conservative, so I thought I would drill you on a couple of things?"

In the face of a new kind of enemy, Ludmir asked, how can terrorist attacks be avoided without effective surveillance?  And hasn't the absence of an attack since 2001 shown that the government is indeed keeping Americans safe?

In her response, the ACLU president said the U.S. constitution guarantees basic rights regardless of security conditions.  She said the issue cannot be divided along liberal-conservative lines, adding that some conservatives share her concerns.

"I know that on many issues, including the national security issues, support for civil liberties as a factual matter does cut across party lines and ideological⁸ lines,” she added.  “Many conservatives care deeply about restricting government power."

Although most critics of the new security measures come from the liberal side of the spectrum⁹, some conservatives have spoken out against them as well.

Such discussions are complicated by disputed issues of fact, especially in a field such as counter-terrorism in which government methods are kept secret.  There are also contested issues of law on which civil liberties lawyers and Justice Department officials disagree.

But the ACLU president found a receptive listener in Oriana McGee, a student from Hamilton High School in Los Angeles.

"It was very informative¹⁰,” she said.  “I happen to agree with a lot of her ideas and the ACLU ideas.  I think it was helpful for us students, especially learning American history this year."

For student Ezekiel Golvin, the exchange offered food for thought on an important, but difficult subject.

"I found it fairly informative and very interesting, as I have recently become interested in politics and the workings of the government," he said.

He hopes to learn more about the issues.

Earlier this year, as the bill was reauthorized, Congress modified some provisions of the Patriot Act in response to criticisms from civil liberties groups.  The new version has more stringent¹¹ requirements, for example, on government efforts to obtain a person's library or medical records, or monitor phone calls in what is called a "roving wiretap," which involves calls made from telephones at different locations.

Polls show that Americans are divided over whether the Patriot Act and other government measures go too far, or strike the right balance, in the effort to protect them. 
 
In August, a lower court judge agreed with the ACLU on one disputed issue, saying warrantless wiretaps approved by the Bush administration on calls between Americans and overseas suspects violate the rights of Americans.  Bush administration officials have criticized the ruling and the Justice Department is appealing it.

1 patriot   

n.爱国者，爱国主义者

参考例句：

• He avowed himself a patriot.他自称自己是爱国者。
• He is a patriot who has won the admiration of the French already.他是一个已经赢得法国人敬仰的爱国者。

2 seizure   

n.没收；占有；抵押

参考例句：

• The seizure of contraband is made by customs.那些走私品是被海关没收的。
• The courts ordered the seizure of all her property.法院下令查封她所有的财产。

3 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。

4 espionage   

n.间谍行为，谍报活动

参考例句：

• The authorities have arrested several people suspected of espionage.官方已经逮捕了几个涉嫌从事间谍活动的人。
• Neither was there any hint of espionage in Hanley's early life.汉利的早期生活也毫无进行间谍活动的迹象。

5 eavesdropping   

n. 偷听

参考例句：

• We caught him eavesdropping outside the window. 我们撞见他正在窗外偷听。
• Suddenly the kids,who had been eavesdropping,flew into the room. 突然间，一直在偷听的孩子们飞进屋来。

6 curtail   

vt.截短，缩短；削减

参考例句：

• The government hopes to curtail public spending.政府希望缩减公共事业开支。
• The minister had to curtail his visit.部长不得不缩短访问日期。

7 infringe   

v.违反，触犯，侵害

参考例句：

• The jury ruled that he had infringed no rules.陪审团裁决他没有违反任何规定。
• He occasionally infringe the law by parking near a junction.他因偶尔将车停放在交叉口附近而违反规定。

8 ideological   

a.意识形态的

参考例句：

• He always tries to link his study with his ideological problems. 他总是把学习和自己的思想问题联系起来。
• He helped me enormously with advice on how to do ideological work. 他告诉我怎样做思想工作，对我有很大帮助。

9 spectrum   

n.谱，光谱，频谱；范围，幅度，系列

参考例句：

• This is a kind of atomic spectrum.这是一种原子光谱。
• We have known much of the constitution of the solar spectrum.关于太阳光谱的构成，我们已了解不少。

10 informative   

adj.提供资料的，增进知识的

参考例句：

• The adverts are not very informative.这些广告并没有包含太多有用信息。
• This intriguing book is both thoughtful and informative.这本引人入胜的书既有思想性又富知识性。

11 stringent   

adj.严厉的；令人信服的；银根紧的

参考例句：

• Financiers are calling for a relaxation of these stringent measures.金融家呼吁对这些严厉的措施予以放宽。
• Some of the conditions in the contract are too stringent.合同中有几项条件太苛刻。