“The USA Patriot Act is an acronym derived from the title: Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism. The bill was introduced on October 23, 2001, and three days later, with only Senator Russ Feingold (Democrat of Wisconsin) voting nay, it was sent to the president [Bush] for his signature.” The Act “authorized indefinite detentions of immigrants, and widened the investigative authority of law enforcement. …The FBI was now empowered to gather foreign intelligence information from both U.S. and non-U.S. citizens, to obtain sneak-and-peak search warrants (the recipient is not notified until after the search), roving wiretaps, and national security letters (NSLs). Many of these measures were ultimately challenged, and either through legislative modification or judicial rulings, were modified or struck down.”
– Tom Ridge with Lary Bloom, The Test of Our Times, Pages 106-107