VOA标准英语2008年-Bush Administration Wants Wiretap Law Made Perm

By Alex Villarreal
Washington D.C.
24 January 2008
 

A controversial law that regulates the U.S. government's ability to eavesdrop¹ on foreign terrorism suspects expires next month. The Bush administration wants Congress to make the Protect America Act permanent, but critics argue the law, as it stands, violates Americans' privacy rights. VOA's Alex Villarreal has more.

The Protect America Act updated the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA. It expanded the government's wiretapping powers to address new technologies, such as e-mail and cell phones.

Congress passed the temporary law in August. On Wednesday, Vice² President Dick Cheney called on lawmakers to make updated FISA legislation permanent before the act expires on February first. He made his appeal at the Heritage Foundation, an independent Washington research group.

"Fighting the war on terror is a long-term enterprise that requires long-term institutional changes," Cheney said. "The challenge to the country has not expired over the last six months. It won't expire anytime soon. And we should not write laws that pretend otherwise."

Cheney also urged Congress to expand surveillance law by granting legal immunity³ to communications companies that helped authorities gather intelligence after the 2001 terrorist attacks.

 

Many Democrats⁴ in Congress say the Protect America Act violates Americans' civil liberties. The law allows the government to eavesdrop on foreign terrorism suspects without court approval, even if they are communicating with an American citizen.

In November, the House of Representatives passed revisions to FISA that would require a court order for monitoring such communications. The measure did not include a legal immunity provision. The Senate is now considering its own version of the law.

1 eavesdrop   

v.偷听，倾听

参考例句：

• He ensconced himself in the closet in order to eavesdrop.他藏在壁橱里，以便偷听。
• It is not polite to eavesdrop on the conversation of other people.偷听他人说话是很不礼貌的。

2 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

3 immunity   

n.优惠；免除；豁免，豁免权

参考例句：

• The law gives public schools immunity from taxation.法律免除公立学校的纳税义务。
• He claims diplomatic immunity to avoid being arrested.他要求外交豁免以便避免被捕。

4 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》