Patriot Act
The USA PATRIOT ACT of 2001 -- The Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001 (more commonly known as simply the Patriot Act) -- is an antiterrorism bill written in response to the September 11, 2001 attacks. It was signed into law by President George W. Bush on October 26th, 45 days after the terrorist attacks. The stated purpose of the bill was to provide law enforcement with the tools it needs to fight the domestic war on terror. The bill expanded the definitions of other crime-fighting bills to include terrorists, it provided funds to the Justice Department for fighting terrorism, and, made broad changes to surveillance and intelligence procedures.
Passage of the Act
Attorney General John Ashcroft formally proposed the increases in law enforcement powers on September 19th, requesting that they be considered immediately. Bush administration, along with the overwhelming majority of members of Congress, felt these provisions were necessary to prevent any more imminent or future attacks. Many of the proposed powers had been sought by the Justice Department for years (the Clinton administration, for example, sought but was denied so-called roving wiretaps – a power that was included in the final bill), but in the wake of a successful attack upon American soil and the demands of the American public for action gave Congress the impeteous to pass the measures. [1]
The House Judiciary Committee debated the proposal for weeks and reached an agreement on October 2nd, with few minor changes. A sunset provision, the hallmark of Gingrich-style reform, was included requiring renewal of the act within two years. The committee said that it understood the need for expediency, so it would add the sunset clauses to allow debate on the issue when time was not as much of an issue. The administration, however, was worried that the United States would still be fighting the war on terror when the clause came into effect.[2]
The Democratically controlled Senate version of the bill went more in favor of the White House. While the bill was never considered by the Senate Judiciary Committee, the committee’s chair Patrick J. Leahy, a Democrat from Vermont, along with members from both parties met with the Bush Administration to negotiate a bill that the Senate and White House could agree on. This version (finalized on October 4th) did not include a sunset provision, and it allowed lower barriers for obtaining search warrants. Additionally it gave the federal government new tools to fight money laundering. [1]
The Senate passed its version of the bill with a 96-1 vote (only Senator Russ D. Feingold, a Democrat from Wisconsin voted nay) after just three hours of debate on October 11th. The House revised its version of the bill to make it a little more to the Administration’s and Senate's liking than the version approved by the House Judiciary Committee, including moving the date of the sunset back three years, to 2006. The Senate agreed to the sunset provision and this version passed the House the next day by a massive 337-79 vote. The House and Senate reconciled an agreement between the two versions (including changing the sunset date to December 31st, 2005) and sent the bill, now officially known as the USA PATRIOT Act of 2001, back to their respective chambers, where it passed 357-66 in the House on October 24th and 98-1 in the Senate (with Senator Feingold dissenting) a day later. It was signed into law by President Bush on the following day, 37 days after the original proposal to Congress.[1]
How the Act Fights Terrorism
The Patriot Act Fights Terrorism in three main ways: disrupting terrorist’s funding, improving methods of prosecuting terrorists, and expanding surveillance procedures and intelligence sharing. There were other minor parts, such as setting up a fund in the Treasury Department to reimburse the Department of Justice for fighting terrorism and a section which condemns discrimination against Muslims and Arab Americans.[3] Most of the provisions deal directly with terrorism, but some have broader applicability, and some are not related to terrorism at all.
Roving Wiretaps
The first step in disrupting terrorism is finding the terrorists before they can successfully act on a plot to attack the United States. The Patriot Act provides the means for the federal government to gather intelligence on these plots, primarily through wiretaps and search warrants. One such provision is the so-called roving wiretaps provision.