VOA标准英语2009年-Congress Sparks New Intelligence Controver

The director of the Central Intelligence Agency recently set off a new controversy¹ when reports emerged that he had ordered an embryonic² secret counter-terrorism program terminated. Members of Congress were outraged³, claiming they had never been informed of the program's existence. The relationship between America's spies and its lawmakers has been contentious⁴ for decades.
　
CIA Director Leon Panetta (file photo)

Besides enacting⁵ laws, one of the Congress' key duties is to monitor the programs and actions of government departments, and the trickiest⁶ is oversight⁷ of intelligence agencies, most particularly the Central Intelligence Agency.

Amy Zegart, who teaches on intelligence matters at the University of California in Los Angeles, says oversight of the U.S. spy world is about both efficiency and ethics⁸.

"There is an efficacy argument to congressional oversight, that having someone outside of these agencies asking hard questions, demanding results, examining performance, makes our intelligence agencies operate better," she said.

"But there is also an ethical⁹ part of the equation, which is that in a democratic society we need to have democratically elected members of Congress overseeing these secret, cloistered¹⁰ intelligence agencies to make sure that we are protecting American values and civil liberties," she added.

Need for oversight

The need for oversight often clashes with the spies' natural need for secrecy¹¹ and their fear of leaks of sensitive information. But such charges are a deep affront¹² to members of Congress, who insist the intelligence committees are secure and do not leak information.

Most democratic countries do have some form of oversight over their intelligence agencies. Former U.S. intelligence officer Bob Ayers, now a security consultant¹³ in Britain, says Europeans tend to be more tolerant of secrecy than Americans.

"Within the United Kingdom - as an example in Europe - intelligence operations are secret," he said. "They are designed to be secret. Nobody knows, nobody talks, and nobody worries about whether or not nobody talks."

But what makes the United States unique, say analysts¹⁴, is the legal requirement the president and the agencies, particularly the CIA, inform congressional intelligence committees of intelligence operations in a "timely manner".

When the CIA was founded in 1947, the Cold War was starting to pick up steam and the CIA had virtually a free hand. Oversight was informal and minimal¹⁵, with no laws on the books about it. But Villanova University professor David Barrett, who has written a book on CIA-congressional relations, points out that even in those freewheeling days there was recognition that some form of oversight was needed.

"They may not have liked it, but there was always a recognition on the part of CIA leaders - and grudging¹⁶ recognition by presidents, even back in the early Cold War - that to some degree, at least a few members of Congress had a right to know about sensitive operations of the CIA - not the whole Congress, but some small number, small number of members of Congress," he said.

Oversight evolved for a simple, pragmatic reason: Congress holds the purse strings¹⁷. If the CIA and its sister agencies wanted funding, they had to let at least some senior appropriations¹⁸ committee members in on a few secrets. The rest of Congress often voted on intelligence budgetary authorizations with no idea what they were funding.

Change of attitudes

Public and congressional attitudes acceptance of the spies' traditional secrecy changed sharply in the 1970s with the Watergate scandal and then revelations of questionable¹⁹ activities by the CIA and the National Security Agency. Those included domestic spying, planned assassinations²⁰ of foreign leaders, drug testing on unsuspecting subjects, and other abuses. There were investigations²¹ in the House and Senate, which led to the creation of permanent intelligence committees in each chamber²².

Today there are numerous laws on intelligence oversight. The president is supposed to inform the intelligence committees of intelligence operations, although disclosure of sensitive information can be limited to eight senior senators and House members. It should be noted²³ that the requirement is to inform of those operations, not to seek approval for them.

But as David Barrett points out, charges periodically arise in nearly every administration that information has been illegally concealed²⁴ from members of Congress.

"The really sort of interesting, and in some ways shocking, thing is that despite all these laws that have been passed, there is still a very difficult problem of intelligence oversight by Congress when the White House and/or certain intelligence leaders decide not to share that information, and then make claims that it is legal not to share that information," he said.

The Bush administration was accused of withholding²⁵ information on some intelligence programs, such as an electronic eavesdropping²⁶ program. CIA Director Leon Panetta is quoted as telling the Senate Intelligence Committee in closed-door session that Vice-President Dick Cheney ordered the CIA not to tell Congress of the counterterrorism program that Panetta terminated.

But analysts say that is a gray area because the program, which is reported to have targeted al-Qaida leaders back in 2001, never got off the drawing board and may not have been subject to congressional reporting requirements.

1 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。

2 embryonic   

adj.胚胎的

参考例句：

• It is still in an embryonic stage.它还处于萌芽阶段。
• The plan,as yet,only exists in embryonic form.这个计划迄今为止还只是在酝酿之中。

3 outraged   

a.震惊的，义愤填膺的

参考例句：

• Members of Parliament were outraged by the news of the assassination. 议会议员们被这暗杀的消息激怒了。
• He was outraged by their behavior. 他们的行为使他感到愤慨。

4 contentious   

adj.好辩的，善争吵的

参考例句：

• She was really not of the contentious fighting sort.她委实不是好吵好闹的人。
• Since then they have tended to steer clear of contentious issues.从那时起，他们总想方设法避开有争议的问题。

5 enacting   

制定（法律），通过（法案）( enact的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Generally these statutes apply only to wastes from reactors outside the enacting state. 总之，这些法令只适宜用在对付那些来自外州的核废料。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法
• In addition, the complexion of enacting standards for live working is described. 另外，介绍了带电作业标准的制订情况。

6 trickiest   

adj.狡猾的( tricky的最高级 )；（形势、工作等）复杂的；机警的；微妙的

参考例句：

• Many believe this is the trickiest area to navigate. 很多人认为这是最难驾驭的领域。 来自时文部分
• Establishing confidence in a new monetary system was the trickiest part. 建立对新货币体系的信心是其最棘手的部分。 来自互联网

7 oversight   

n.勘漏，失察，疏忽

参考例句：

• I consider this a gross oversight on your part.我把这件事看作是你的一大疏忽。
• Your essay was not marked through an oversight on my part.由于我的疏忽你的文章没有打分。

8 ethics   

n.伦理学；伦理观，道德标准

参考例句：

• The ethics of his profession don't permit him to do that.他的职业道德不允许他那样做。
• Personal ethics and professional ethics sometimes conflict.个人道德和职业道德有时会相互抵触。

9 ethical   

adj.伦理的，道德的，合乎道德的

参考例句：

• It is necessary to get the youth to have a high ethical concept.必须使青年具有高度的道德观念。
• It was a debate which aroused fervent ethical arguments.那是一场引发强烈的伦理道德争论的辩论。

10 cloistered   

adj.隐居的，躲开尘世纷争的v.隐退，使与世隔绝( cloister的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• the cloistered world of the university 与世隔绝的大学
• She cloistered herself in the office. 她呆在办公室里好像与世隔绝一样。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 secrecy   

n.秘密，保密，隐蔽

参考例句：

• All the researchers on the project are sworn to secrecy.该项目的所有研究人员都按要求起誓保守秘密。
• Complete secrecy surrounded the meeting.会议在绝对机密的环境中进行。

12 affront   

n./v.侮辱，触怒

参考例句：

• Your behaviour is an affront to public decency.你的行为有伤风化。
• This remark caused affront to many people.这句话得罪了不少人。

13 consultant   

n.顾问；会诊医师，专科医生

参考例句：

• He is a consultant on law affairs to the mayor.他是市长的一个法律顾问。
• Originally,Gar had agreed to come up as a consultant.原来，加尔只答应来充当我们的顾问。

14 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

15 minimal   

adj.尽可能少的，最小的

参考例句：

• They referred to this kind of art as minimal art.他们把这种艺术叫微型艺术。
• I stayed with friends, so my expenses were minimal.我住在朋友家，所以我的花费很小。

16 grudging   

adj.勉强的，吝啬的

参考例句：

• He felt a grudging respect for her talents as an organizer.他勉强地对她的组织才能表示尊重。
• After a pause he added"sir."in a dilatory,grudging way.停了一会他才慢吞吞地、勉勉强强地加了一声“先生”。

17 strings   

n.弦

参考例句：

• He sat on the bed,idly plucking the strings of his guitar.他坐在床上，随意地拨着吉他的弦。
• She swept her fingers over the strings of the harp.她用手指划过竖琴的琴弦。

18 appropriations   

n.挪用（appropriation的复数形式）

参考例句：

• More commonly, funding controls are imposed in the annual appropriations process. 更普遍的作法是，拨款控制被规定在年度拨款手续中。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法
• Should the president veto the appropriations bill, it goes back to Congress. 假如总统否决了这项拨款提案，就把它退还给国会。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件

19 questionable   

adj.可疑的，有问题的

参考例句：

• There are still a few questionable points in the case.这个案件还有几个疑点。
• Your argument is based on a set of questionable assumptions.你的论证建立在一套有问题的假设上。

20 assassinations   

n.暗杀( assassination的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Most anarchist assassinations were bungled because of haste or spontaneity, in his view. 在他看来，无政府主义者搞的许多刺杀都没成功就是因为匆忙和自发行动。 来自辞典例句
• Assassinations by Israelis of alleged terrorists habitually kill nearby women and children. 在以色列，自称恐怖分子的炸弹自杀者杀害靠近自己的以色列妇女和儿童。 来自互联网

21 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。

22 chamber   

n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所

参考例句：

• For many,the dentist's surgery remains a torture chamber.对许多人来说，牙医的治疗室一直是间受刑室。
• The chamber was ablaze with light.会议厅里灯火辉煌。

23 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

24 concealed   

a.隐藏的，隐蔽的

参考例句：

• The paintings were concealed beneath a thick layer of plaster. 那些画被隐藏在厚厚的灰泥层下面。
• I think he had a gun concealed about his person. 我认为他当时身上藏有一支枪。

25 withholding   

扣缴税款

参考例句：

• She was accused of withholding information from the police. 她被指控对警方知情不报。
• The judge suspected the witness was withholding information. 法官怀疑见证人在隐瞒情况。

26 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。