Title: How the Patriot Act Works | HowStuffWorks
Headings: How the Patriot Act Works
How the Patriot Act Works
Main Provisions of the Patriot Act
Titles III-X of the Patriot Act
Primary Criticisms of the Act
A Brief History of the Patriot Act
Is the Patriot Act a Success or a Failure?
Opposing the Patriot Act
Citation

Content: The Washington Post ]. Advertisement
A Brief History of the Patriot Act
President Bush speaks about the Patriot Act in 2004. Photo courtesy of The White House
The terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001, spurred a nationwide desire for tighter security and increased abilities for law-enforcement agencies to track and stop terrorists. The Patriot Act was drafted in response and introduced to Congress by Republican Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner. Assistant Attorney General Viet Dinh was the primary author of the act, following his review of Department of Justice practices and procedures in the wake of the September 11 attacks [Source: Wired.com ]. Separate versions of the law went before the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Senate version was passed on October 11, 2001, but the House version was altered several times, then redrafted and reconciled with the Senate version before being approved by the House. The Senate approved this revised consolidated version and the full bill was signed into law by President Bush on October 26, 2001. Advertisement
The original act has a sunset clause which would have caused many of the law’s provisions to expire in 2005.