U.S. President George Bush has signed legislation expanding the government's surveillance powers. The measure also protects telecommunication companies from lawsuits stemming from assistance they provide to help track potential terror suspects.
美国总统布什星期四签署了一项扩大政府监控权力的法案。该法案同时也保护那些帮助政府追踪恐怖嫌疑人的电信公司免遭起诉。
One day after the bill cleared Congress, the president signed it into law.
在美国国会通过扩大政府监控权力议案的一天之后，布什总统签署了议案，使之成为法律。
"Today I am pleased to sign landmark legislation that is vital to the security of our people," he said.
“今天我很高兴签署这项具有里程碑意义的法案，这对我们人民的安全很重要。”
The measure is the most extensive revision of U.S. surveillance law in 30 years. It is designed to enable intelligence agencies to move quickly to monitor communications involving terror suspects, in some cases without a special court warrant.
这项法案是30年来对美国监控法的最大修订。制定这项法案的目的是让情报机构能够迅速行动对恐怖分子嫌疑人的通讯实施监控，在某些情况下事先不需要法庭的特别许可。
The president says it will give the United States a much-needed tool to track terrorists abroad while respecting liberties at home.
布什总统说，这一法案为美国追踪境外恐怖分子，同时在国内尊重自由权方面提供了一项迫切需要的工具。
"It is essential that our intelligence community knows who our enemies are talking to, what they are saying and what they are planning," he added.
“这对我们的情报机构很重要，他们要了解我们的敌人在和谁通话，他们说些什么，以及他们在计划什么。”
This new law was the result of months of negotiations and bickering between the White House and Congress, and it is considered a big victory for the president. It includes a controversial provision that he has deemed essential: legal immunity for telephone companies that have voluntarily cooperated with such wiretaps since the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.
这项法案是白宫和国会数月来谈判和争吵的结果，被认为是总统的一大胜利。法案规定那些在9/11恐怖袭击后主动与政府合作进行监控的电话公司拥有司法豁免权。这一条款引发了争议，但是布什认为这是必须的。
"This law will ensure that those companies whose assistance is necessary to protect the country will themselves be protected from lawsuits from past or future cooperation with the government," he explained.
“这项立法将确保那些对保护国家提供必要帮助的公司自身也会受到保护，不会因为过去或将来与政府合作而被起诉。”
It was the immunity provision that dominated most of the debate on the bill in Congress. In the end, most members of the legislature acknowledged that without the grant of immunity, telephone companies would be reluctant to cooperate with further emergency wiretaps.
正是这个豁免权条款成为国会对议案进行辩论的焦点。最后，大部分议员承认，如果不给予豁免权，电话公司不会愿意在将来的紧急监控行动中提供合作。 |