The Patriot Act is a 342 page law that was written and passed, by a 98-1 vote in the U.S. Senate, and then signed into law within seven weeks of September 11th. As a result the government gained new power to wiretap phones, confiscate property of suspected terrorists, spy on its own citizens without judicial review, conduct secret searches and snoop on the reading habits of library users. On October 26, 2001, President Bush signed the USA Patriot Act (USAPA) into law. With this law we have given sweeping new powers to both domestic law enforcement and international intelligence agencies and have eliminated the checks and balances that previously gave courts the opportunity to ensure that these powers were not abused. Most of these checks and balances were put into place after previous misuse of surveillance powers by these agencies, including the revelation in 1974 that the FBI and foreign intelligence agencies had spied on over 10,000 U.S. citizens, including Martin Luther King.

The bill is extremely long and makes changes, some large and some small, to over 15 different statutes. This document provides explanation and some analysis to the sections of the bil

There are definitely some positive aspects that the Patriot Act offers our country as well. The United States has is a large and powerful country, which with the exception of maybe Pearl Harbor, has never been blatantly

attacked in such a manor. One of the main objectives in creating the Patriot Act is to help eliminate similar attacks in the future. We have a true threat of terrorists setting up camp within our own country. With our government being allowed some of these new rights, they will be better suited to find possible terrorist threats that our living in our country today. September 11th was an absolute tragedy and our country should not have to face such a horrific event again. Another positive aspect of the Patriot Act is how it provides for victims of the September 11th attack. That may be one of the most vital aspects in the law. Those who were lost need to be remembered and their loved ones need to be provided for. If the Patriot Act in anyway helps our government prevent future terrorist attacks then we have to see some positives with the passing of this law. The ultimate question becomes, at what cost do we have to pass laws to help protect our great country?

It becomes apparent that wi

Some topics in this essay:
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