Why renew the Act?

When president Bush was discussing the possibility of renewing the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2001, not only did it become controversial for U.S. citizens, but it was also somewhat of turmoil for the House of Representatives and the Senate as well. The Act of 2001 originally was a far-reaching legislative package intended to strengthen the nation's defense against terrorism. It also contained several provisions expanding the authority of law enforcement and intelligence agencies to monitor private communications and access personal information.
He wanted to renew it because “The Patriot Act will defend our liberty. The Patriot Act will make it able for those of us in positions of responsibility to defend the liberty of the American people. It's essential law”. (From speech on April 19, 2004 in Hershey, Pennsylvania) Another reason why Bush wanted to renew the act was because the final legislation in the ATA included a few beneficial additions from the Administration's initial proposal such as the sunset provision .The sunset provision provided several sections of the act to automatically expire after a certain time, unless they were explicitly renewed by congress.





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www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2004/04/20040419-4.html - 48k