An analysis of anti-terrorism legislation
"At a time of national crisis, I think it is particularly apparent that we need to encourage the study of our past. Our children and grandchildren-indeed, all of us-need to know the ideas and ideals on which our nation has been built. We need to understand how fortunate we are to live in freedom. We need to understand that living in liberty is such a precious thing that generations of men and women have been willing to sacrifice everything for it." said, Lynne V. Cheney on, October 5, 2001. Since the tragic unfolding of September 11th, America has created ways to protect our freedoms from further terrorist attacks; however, some claim the steps taken, to protect our freedoms, undermine our constitutional rights and freedoms in order to protect those same freedoms. Much criticism has passed over the speedily passed USA PATRIOT Act, and over the currently debated Homeland Security Act. Is America taking the right steps in its attempts at preventing terrorist attacks or is its latest anti-terrorism legislation only harming the American freedoms on its own? In Fall 2001, when it became apparent that anti-American terrorism was indeed a formidable threat, a general consensus was made that some sort of action should be t
aken to prevent further attacks on American freedom. The more difficult question was how to properly handle the prevention of terrorist threats affectively. One of the quickest pieces of legislation to be passed as a result was the USA PATRIOT Act (Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism). The USA PATRIOT Act became law on October 26th, 2001 barely over a month after the 9/11 attacks. The large act was originally praised for the quickness the Bush Administration used in preparing it and getting it passed; however a growing number of people became worried about the wording of the act and the power it grants in its broadened version of the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). In brief, the USA PATRIOT Act tries to enhance domestic security against terrorism, surveillance procedures, prevention of money laundering, the northern border with Canada, the ease of investigating terrorism, provisions for victims of terrorism, information sharing within law enforcement of all levels, tougher laws against terrorism, and to improve intelligence. The idea is to prevent terrorism by cutting off their funding and if they are successful in getting funding it makes it possible to find out such planned actions and takes measures to prevent the actions from being successful. The way it proposes the discovery of terrorist actions and its methods of prevention have become quite a controversial debate. Beyond the USA PATRIOT Act's update and embellishment of existing law, an even newer legislation is being proposed. The Homeland Security Act proposed a new cabinet-level department composed of 22 different agencies with combined budgets of about $40 billion. The Act became law November 19th, 2002, with a 90-9 vote in the Senate. The department is to help prevent and reduce vulnerability to terrorist attacks within the U.S.; additionally, it is to help in the aid of the victims of terrorism. The department will be in charge of collecting evidence of potential terrorist threats and dealing with them accordingly. I
Some common words found in the essay are:
PATRIOT Act, Cong Rec, House Senate, Security Act, White House, Act America, Trustco Bank, Cheney October, , Security Department, usa patriot, patriot act, usa patriot act, cong rec, homeland security, homeland security act, terrorist attacks, critical infrastructure, foreign intelligence, protect freedoms, intelligence surveillance, intelligence surveillance act, foreign intelligence surveillance, security act, rec 25 oct,
Approximate Word count = 1422
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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