From VOA Learning English, this is In the News.
这里是美国之音慢速英语新闻报道。
A special advisory group in the United States is urging President Barack Obama to make changes to the government's surveillance programs. The group offered its suggestions in a report released this week.
美国一个特别咨询小组敦促奥巴马总统对政府的监控项目做出改革。该小组在本周发布的一份报告中提出了自己的建议。
Mr. Obama ordered the report on the intelligence gathering activities earlier this year. The order followed information leaks from Edward Snowden, a former National Security Agency contract worker. The leaks created a huge problem for the NSA and the president.
奥巴马今年早些时候要求获得这份对情报收集活动的报告。该命令是在前国安局合同工爱德华·斯诺登泄密后发出的。这次泄密给国安局和总统带来了巨大麻烦。
They also added to public knowledge about government information gathering, including the collection of data from telephone calls and activities on the Internet.
这次泄密还增进了公众对政府信息收集的了解，包括电话记录和互联网活动数据的收集。
The surveillance programs are operating under U.S. congressional approval. They have been amended at different times, and are under the supervision of a special court.
监控项目在美国国会批准下进行。它们经过不同时期的修正，并接受一个特别法庭的监督。
Mr. Obama has described the programs as important to keeping Americans safe. But he has called for more "self-restraint" by the NSA.
奥巴马称该项目对保护美国人民的安全非常重要。但他也呼吁国安局更多地“自我约束。”
In its report, the Review Group on Intelligence and Communications Technologies proposes 46 changes. One is to end the government's storage of "metadata" of the telephone records of Americans. The report proposes that private companies or a non-government agency keep the records instead, not the NSA.
在这份报告中，情报和通信技术审查小组提出了46项改革建议。其中一项是政府停止储存美国人电话记录的元数据，该报告建议改由私人公司或非政府机构保存该记录。
Another proposal is to require a court to approve individual searches of phone and Internet data records. The report also proposes limits on the NSA's power to study known targets of counter terrorism surveillance after they enter the United States.
另一项建议要求法庭批准个人查询电话和互联网数据记录。该报告还建议限制国安局调查已经进入美国的已知反恐监视目标的权力。
The report is calling for a new process to identify "uses and limits of surveillance on foreign leaders and in foreign nations." It says decisions should consider whether other methods or targets of collection could provide needed information.
该报告呼吁建立新的程序以确定“对外国领导人和外国国家监控的用途和限制。”报告称，应该首先考虑其它方式或情报收集目标是否可以提供所需信息后再做出决定。
The review group met with President Obama on Wednesday after sending him their report last week.
该审查小组在上周将他们的报告发给奥巴马总统之后，于周三会见了奥巴马总统。
Press secretary Jay Carney said President Obama plans to study the document over the holidays. He will speak to the nation about it next month after a separate government investigation is completed.
白宫新闻秘书杰伊·卡尼（Jay Carney）表示，奥巴马总统计划在节日期间研究这份文档。他会在下月政府独立调查完成后对全国谈到它。
"The president has been clear that even as we review our efforts and make some changes in how we do things, we will not harm our ability to face those threats. That is, his number one obligation as commander-in-chief."
卡尼说，“总统已经明确表示，即便检讨我们的努力并在行事上做出一些改变，也不会损害我们直面这些威胁的能力。也就是说，他头号职责就是总司令。”
The official US position on Edward Snowden remains unchanged. The Obama administration says he should return to the United States to face criminal charges. It disagrees with suggestions that he receive a pardon to prevent him from releasing additional information.
美国对斯诺登的官方立场没有改变。奥巴马政府表示，斯诺登应该回到美国接受刑事指控。美国政府不同意斯诺登获得赦免以防止他发布更多信息的建议。
Earlier this week a federal court ruled that secretly collecting the telephone records of Americans is likely unconstitutional.
本周早些时候，联邦法庭裁定，秘密收集美国人的电话记录可能违宪。
Mr. Obama also faced pressure from leaders of high-tech companies. Reports said they urged him to make aggressive reforms, and expressed concern about damage to the United States' image and business interests overseas.
奥巴马还面临着来自高科技公司领导人的压力。有报道称，他们敦促奥巴马做出积极的改革，并对美国形象和海外商业利益受损表示关注。
The "60 Minutes" television program recently spoke with the head of the NSA, Keith Alexander. He denied that the agency is collecting e-mails or listening to the phone calls of Americans. He said the NSA's job is foreign intelligence.
《60分钟》电视节目最近采访了美国国安局局长基思·亚历山大（Keith Alexander）。他否认该机构正在收集美国人的电子邮件和监听美国人的电话。他说，国安局的职责是外国情报。(51VOA.COM对本文翻译保留全部权利，未经授权请勿转载，违者必究！)