On October 26, 2001, President George W. Bush signs the Patriot Act, an anti-terrorism law drawn up in response to the attacks on the Pentagon and World Trade Center on September 11, 2001.
The USA PATRIOT Act, as it is officially known, is an acronym for “Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism.” Bush hoped the bipartisan legislation would empower law enforcement and intelligence agencies to prevent future terrorist attacks on American soil.
The law was intended, in Bush’s words, to “enhance the penalties that will fall on terrorists or anyone who helps them.” The act increased intelligence agencies’ ability to share information and lifted restrictions on communications surveillance. Law enforcement officials were given broader mandates to fight financial counterfeiting, smuggling and money laundering schemes that funded terrorists. The Patriot Act’s expanded definition of terrorism also gave the FBI increased powers to access personal information such as medical and financial records. The Patriot Act superseded all state laws.
While Congress voted in favor of the bill, and some in America felt the bill actually did not go far enough to combat terrorism, the law faced a torrent of criticism. Civil rights activists worried that the Patriot Act would curtail domestic civil liberties and would give the executive branch too much power to investigate Americans under a veil of secrecy—a fear not felt since the protest era of the 1960s and 1970s when the FBI bugged and infiltrated anti-war and civil rights groups.
The Patriot Act has faced ongoing legal challenges by the American Civil Liberties Union, and in recent years, some members of Congress who had originally supported the bill have come to mistrust the Bush administration’s interpretation of the law. Nevertheless, a Republican-controlled Congress passed and Bush signed a renewal of the controversial Patriot Act in March 2006. Bush exacerbated the controversy over the renewal of the act by issuing a so-called “signing statement”—an executive exemption from enforcing or abiding by certain clauses within the law—immediately afterward.
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Just after he won on a platform to reduce government.
The “Patriot Act” was a product of dual citizen Michael Chertoff, the same guy who was responsible for releasing over a hundred Israeli spies including the (in)famous Dancing Israelis. Protecting the US from Muslim terrorists is the last concern of this legislation.
TC- Not to mention the fact that Chertoff also convinced the government to purchase his DNA scrambling airport scanners and made millions on the misery of others who had to endure the scans, groping and harassment by TSA thugs. They shouldn’t be termed dual citizens, but outright traitorous scum that should have faced a firing squad for the damage done to this nation.
Remember the shoe bomber? How about the underwear bomber, what a fucking joke.
Even worse, millions of clueless sheeple bought it, hook, line and sinker.
There was nothing “Patriotic”about this act.
It just depends on whose people one is being patriotic to …
Why is Bush not serving a life sentence (or worse) for his crimes against humanity and his countless war crimes? Or all the rest of the war criminals that have infested the White House and the federal government?
Mr.- First and foremost, they’re all club members and immune from prosecution, or more aptly put, they’re above the law.
Always good to watch and see just how spot on ol’ George was. RIP, George, you were one of the good ones.
You can post as 22 win mag. I haven’t banned you.