USA Patriot Act

The USA Patriot Act is used to "intercept and obstruct terrorism." "Congress enacted the Patriot Act by overwhelming, bipartisan margins, arming law enforcement with new tools to detect and prevent terrorism." The Act was passed unanimously. Only 1 person in the Senate voted against it, and only 66 voted against it in the House. The Patriot Act allows the United States to "use the tools that were already available to investigate organized crime and drug trafficking." The US can now use better surveillance to prevent terrorism. There were times that the criminals were tipped off too easy as to what the US was planning. With this plan, the US can now "roving wiretaps." The Act also allows federal agents to obtain business records. "Investigators might seek select records from hardware stores or chemical plants, for example, to find out who bought materials to make a bomb, or bank records to see who's sending money to terrorists."

Screenchot of USA PATRIOT Act (German Wikipedia)

President George W. Bush addresses an audience Wed...

English: U.S. Senator Russ Feingold spoke on the S...

It allows the government to share and cooperate with other governments so they can better "connect the dots." The Act also "allows law enforcement officials to obtain a search warrant anywhere a terrorist-related activity occurred." The US use to have to obtain multiple warrants before they could investigate. This act has changed the law for the better. The Patriot act has also increased penalties for the people that have committed terrorist crimes. "Americans are threatened as much by the terrorist who pays for a bomb as by the one who pushes the button. That's why the Patriot Act imposed tough new penalties on those who commit and support terrorist operations, both at home and abroad." It has increased conspiracy penalties, "including arson, killings in federal facilities, attacking communications systems, material support to terrorists, sabotage of nuclear facilities, and interference with flight crew members." "The...