[00:00.10]From VOA Learning English,
[00:06.97]this is In the News.
[00:09.17]A special advisory group in the United States
[00:12.93]is urging President Barack Obama to make changes
[00:17.09]to the government's surveillance programs.
[00:20.43]The group offered its suggestions
[00:22.67]in a report released this week.
[00:25.68]Mr. Obama ordered the report
[00:28.56]on the intelligence gathering activities
[00:31.21]earlier this year.
[00:32.86]The order followed information leaks from Edward Snowden,
[00:37.86]a former National Security Agency contract worker.
[00:42.26]The leaks created a huge problem
[00:46.00]for the NSA and the president.
[00:48.60]They also added to public knowledge
[00:52.66]about government information gathering,
[00:56.00]including the collection of data
[00:58.71]from telephone calls and activities on the Internet.
[01:03.07]The surveillance programs are operating
[01:07.21]under U.S. congressional approval.
[01:09.91]They have been amended at different times,
[01:13.36]and are under the supervision of a special court.
[01:17.55]Mr. Obama has described the programs
[01:22.09]as important to keeping Americans safe.
[01:26.44]But he has called for more "self-restraint" by the NSA.
[01:32.53]In its report, the Review Group on Intelligence
[01:38.53]and Communications Technologies proposes 46 changes.
[01:44.03]One is to end the government's storage of "metadata"
[01:50.04]of the telephone records of Americans.
[01:53.17]The report proposes that private companies
[01:57.52]or a non-government agency keep the records instead, not the NSA.
[02:04.86]Another proposal is to require a court to approve
[02:10.70]individual searches of phone and Internet data records.
[02:15.80]The report also proposes limits on the NSA's power
[02:21.39]to study known targets of counter terrorism surveillance
[02:26.44]after they enter the United States.
[02:29.33]The report is calling for a new process to identify
[02:35.04]"uses and limits of surveillance
[02:38.98]on foreign leaders and in foreign nations."
[02:42.67]It says decisions should consider whether other methods
[02:47.73]or targets of collection could provide needed information.
[02:52.72]The review group met with President Obama on Wednesday
[02:58.17]after sending him their report last week.
[03:01.66]Press secretary Jay Carney said President Obama
[03:07.21]plans to study the document over the holidays.
[03:10.75]He will speak to the nation about it next month
[03:15.14]after a separate government investigation is completed.
[03:19.29]"The president has been clear
[03:20.43]that even as we review our efforts
[03:21.94]and make some changes in how we do things,
[03:25.98]we will not harm our ability to face those threats.
[03:30.29]That is, his number one obligation as commander-in-chief."
[03:34.33]The official US position on Edward Snowden remains unchanged.
[03:40.41]The Obama administration says he should return
[03:44.80]to the United States to face criminal charges.
[03:48.49]It disagrees with suggestions that he receive a pardon
[03:53.44]to prevent him from releasing additional information.
[03:57.74]Earlier this week a federal court ruled
[04:02.73]that secretly collecting the telephone records of Americans
[04:06.82]is likely unconstitutional.
[04:10.07]Mr. Obama also faced pressure from leaders of high-tech companies.
[04:16.49]Reports said they urged him to make aggressive reforms,
[04:21.38]and expressed concern about damage to the United States' image
[04:26.42]and business interests overseas.
[04:29.41]The "60 Minutes" television program recently spoke
[04:34.55]with the head of the NSA, Keith Alexander.
[04:38.42]He denied that the agency is collecting e-mails
[04:42.06]or listening to the phone calls of Americans.
[04:46.00]He said the NSA's job is foreign intelligence.
[04:50.75]And that's In the News, from VOA Learning English.
[04:54.94]I'm Faith Lapidus.