Less than one month after the 9/11 attack, President George Bush signed the USA Patriot Act. The full name was Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001. In 2004, Bush explained that these provisions "[allowed] Federal law enforcement to better share information to track terrorists, to disrupt their cells, and to seize their assets." These tools were similar to those provisions used to catch ebmezzlers and drug traffickers. According to the President, "If these methods are good for hunting criminals, they are even more important for hunting terrorists."
Some of the key tools of the Patriot Act are:
One of the more controversial parts of the Patriot Act was the authorization of the National Security Agency to secretly collect American's phone records in bulk. In 2013, it was exposed by Edward Snowden that the National Security Agency was secretly collecting the data of millions of American's private communication. The Patriot Act allowed that if the government can credibly show that information is needed to investigate terrorism, then they can force companies, such as Verizon, to hand over private information. Ever since this was exposed, there has been significant debate over both it's effectiveness and it's invasion of our privacy. In May of 2015, an appeals court ruled that the Patriot Act never authorized this, and finally on November 28, 2015 this surveillance program ended. Back to 2004, then President Bush took a very strong stance in favor of the Patriotism Act. In 2004, some key provisions of the act were up for renewal, and in his state of the Union Address, Bush took the opportunity to urge congress to renew the Patriot Act. It was a different time back then, or was it?
- Electronic surveillance to track terrorist
- Roving wiretaps to track terrorist
- Gathering of business records in national security terrorism cases.
- Search warrants anywhere terrorist-related activity occurred
- Enforcement of laws against computer hacking.
- Penalties for harboring of terrorist
- increased penalties for conspiracy
"Inside the United States, where the war began, we must continue to give our homeland security and law enforcement personnel every tool they need to defend us. And one of those essential tools is the PATRIOT Act, which allows Federal law enforcement to better share information to track terrorists, to disrupt their cells, and to seize their assets. For years, we have used similar provisions to catch embezzlers and drug traffickers. If these methods are good for hunting criminals, they are even more important for hunting terrorists.http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=29646
Key provisions of the PATRIOT Act are set to expire next year. The terrorist threat will not expire on that schedule. Our law enforcement needs this vital legislation to protect our citizens. You need to renew the PATRIOT Act."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patriot_Act
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-security-nsa-idUSKCN0PA2G220150630#UKRlAArQTp5zMIwz.97
http://www.justice.gov/archive/ll/highlights.htm
http://www.cnn.com/2015/05/22/politics/patriot-act-debate-explainer-nsa/
http://www.dw.com/image/0,,17726733_303,00.jpg
No comments:
Post a Comment