VOA标准英语2013--Obama Defends Secret Surveillance Programs

 

Obama Defends Secret Surveillance Programs

Obama put forward his defense¹ of the secret surveillance programs when asked by a reporter during a health care event in California.

“My assessment² and my team's assessment was that they help us prevent terrorist attacks, and the modest encroachments on privacy that are involved in getting phone numbers or duration without a name attached and not looking at content, that on net it was worth us doing,” he said.

Revelations that the administration has been secretly accessing phone records and scouring³ the servers of Internet providers for possible terror links set off a wave of outrage⁴ among privacy advocates.

Elizabeth Goitein, of the Brennan Center for Justice, said that scouring millions of phone records and Internet activity is ineffective.

“I’m willing to wager⁵ that vacuuming up millions and millions of Americans’ metadata is not a good way to find terrorists. I’m sure people in the administration will tell me otherwise, but there are experts out here, and there are people in law enforcement, who say that a more targeted approach is the better approach,” said Goitein.

But many U.S. lawmakers have known about the secret programs for years, and they have remained supportive, including the chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Dianne Feinstein of California.

“We’ve got to examine ways to be able to get data. That can prevent plots from hatching and Americans from being killed,” she said.

Obama said the revelations about the secret programs have sparked a renewed debate on reconciling national security and civil liberties, a debate he said he welcomes.

“You can’t have 100 percent security and also then have 100 percent privacy and zero inconvenience. We are going to have to make some choices,” he said.

Members of Congress are promising⁶ to hold hearings to find out more about the secret programs. 

1 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

2 assessment   

n.评价；评估；对财产的估价，被估定的金额

参考例句：

• This is a very perceptive assessment of the situation.这是一个对该情况的极富洞察力的评价。
• What is your assessment of the situation?你对时局的看法如何？

3 scouring   

擦[洗]净，冲刷，洗涤

参考例句：

• The police are scouring the countryside for the escaped prisoners. 警察正在搜索整个乡村以捉拿逃犯。
• This is called the scouring train in wool processing. 这被称为羊毛加工中的洗涤系列。

4 outrage   

n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒

参考例句：

• When he heard the news he reacted with a sense of outrage.他得悉此事时义愤填膺。
• We should never forget the outrage committed by the Japanese invaders.我们永远都不应该忘记日本侵略者犯下的暴行。

5 wager   

n.赌注；vt.押注，打赌

参考例句：

• They laid a wager on the result of the race.他们以竞赛的结果打赌。
• I made a wager that our team would win.我打赌我们的队会赢。

6 promising   

adj.有希望的，有前途的

参考例句：

• The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
• We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。