奥巴马提名新联邦调查局局长

 　　奥巴马提名新联邦调查局局长

       WASHINGTON, June 20 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Barack Obama plans to officially nominate former Deputy Attorney General James Comey to replace Robert Mueller as next director of the FBI, U.S. media quoted White House officials as saying on Thursday.

　　Obama will make the announcement at a White House ceremony on Friday afternoon. Comey, the No. 2 official in former President George W. Bush's Justice Department, had been seen as his top choice for the next FBI director.

　　A White House official said Comey has served as a prosecutor¹ and national security professional in more than two decades, and demonstrated "unwavering toughness, integrity and principle," reported the Hill, a congressional newspaper.

　　If nominated and approved by Congress, Comey will replace current Director Mueller, whose term had been extended at Obama's request by two years and now scheduled to expire in September this year.

　　Outgoing Director Mueller has served as the agency's head for almost 12 years, starting just days before the September 11 terror attacks in 2001.

　　Mueller is leaving as the agency faces a number of questions recently, from whether more could have been done to prevent the Boston bombings to what role it has played in the recently revealed phone and internet surveillance programs.

　　Testifying before a Senate panel on Wednesday, Mueller said, " As illustrated² by the recent attacks in Boston, the terrorist threat against the United States must remain our top priority."

　　He stressed that the country is facing "a continuing threat from homegrown violent extremists" while foreign terrorists still seek to strike Americans at home and abroad.

　　"And just as our national security and criminal threats constantly evolve, so too must we, the FBI, evolve to counter these threats, even during a time of constrained³ budgets," said Mueller.

　　Last week, Mueller defended two classified phone and internet surveillance programs, which sparked controversy⁴ recently, and vowed⁵ to hold the leaker responsible for the disclosure.

　　He told lawmakers during a hearing that the disclosures about these secret surveillance programs have caused "significant harm to our nation and to our safety."

　　He even suggested that if the surveillance programs had been in place before the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, they might have helped to yield evidence of connections of the participants and derail the plan.

　　According to the Guardian⁶ and the Washington Post reports last Thursday, the National Security Agency and the FBI had been secretly tapping directly into the central servers of nine U.S. internet companies, extracting audio, video, photographs, e-mails, documents and connection logs that enable analysts⁷ to track a person's movements and contacts over time.

1 prosecutor   

n.起诉人；检察官，公诉人

参考例句：

• The defender argued down the prosecutor at the court.辩护人在法庭上驳倒了起诉人。
• The prosecutor would tear your testimony to pieces.检查官会把你的证言驳得体无完肤。

2 illustrated   

adj. 有插图的，列举的 动词illustrate的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• His lecture was illustrated with slides taken during the expedition. 他在讲演中使用了探险时拍摄到的幻灯片。
• The manufacturing Methods: Will be illustrated in the next chapter. 制作方法将在下一章说明。

3 constrained   

adj.束缚的,节制的

参考例句：

• The evidence was so compelling that he felt constrained to accept it. 证据是那样的令人折服，他觉得不得不接受。
• I feel constrained to write and ask for your forgiveness. 我不得不写信请你原谅。

4 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。

5 vowed   

起誓，发誓（vow的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• He vowed quite solemnly that he would carry out his promise. 他非常庄严地发誓要实现他的诺言。
• I vowed to do more of the cooking myself. 我发誓自己要多动手做饭。

6 guardian   

n.监护人；守卫者，保护者

参考例句：

• The form must be signed by the child's parents or guardian. 这张表格须由孩子的家长或监护人签字。
• The press is a guardian of the public weal. 报刊是公共福利的卫护者。

7 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。