The USA Patriot Act

I outline a short history of what the act entailed, the revisions made to it and the House & Senate history of reenacting the legislation needed to amend the act multiple times. Keeping the citizens completely under constant surveillance. The Patriot Act was enacted following the September 11 attacks with the stated goal of dramatically tightening U.S. national security, particularly as it related to foreign terrorism. In general, the act included three main provisions:

*expanded abilities of law enforcement to surveil, including by tapping domestic and international phones;

*eased interagency communication to allow federal agencies to more effectively use all available resources in counterterrorism efforts;

*increased penalties for terrorism crimes and an expanded list of activities which would qualify someone to be charged with terrorism.