Patriot Act
Public Policy Project
Step 1 Recognizing the Problem
On September 11, 2001 al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked United States planes and crashed them into the twin towers killing thousands of people. This immediately caused a demand for anti-terror bills to be created to prevent future tragedies.
Step 2 Formulating the Policy
After the 9/11 bombings the U.S. Senate created many anti-terror bills. One of these bills being the Patriot Act. The USA Patriot Act gave more opportunities for law enforcement officers to detect terrorist activities before they became fatal.
Step 3 Adopting the Policy
Once the Patriot Act was edited and voted upon by both the House and Senate it went to the desk of George W. Bush. President Bush signed the bill and it became law.
Step 4 Impementing the Policy
Once the Patriot Act became law President Bush began to carry out its specified actions. Such as the increased abilities of the NSA to obtain cellular data and store it for later evaluation. The Patriot Act also allowed for an enhanced border patrol and enhanced anti- money laundering measures.
Step 5 Evaluating the Policy
Parts of the Patriot Act later in Barack Obama's Presidency were about to sunset. Many American people at this time felt that the Patriot Act was a direct violation to their Fourth Amendment Rights. Therefore some parts of the Patriot act were allowed to sunset and become nullified