From VOA Learning English,
this is In the News.
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.
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.
They also added to public knowledge
about government information gathering,
including the collection of data
from telephone calls and activities on the Internet.
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.
Mr. Obama has described the programs
as important to keeping Americans safe.
But he has called for more "self-restraint" by the NSA.
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.
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.
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.
The review group met with President Obama on Wednesday
after sending him their report last week.
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.
"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."
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.
Earlier this week a federal court ruled
that secretly collecting the telephone records of Americans
is likely unconstitutional.
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.
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.
And that's In the News, from VOA Learning English.
I'm Faith Lapidus.