Administration Position —
Justice Department Explanation of the PATRIOT Act
The Department of Justice’s first priority is to pre-vent future terrorist attacks. Since its passage following the September 11, 2001, attacks, the PATRIOT Act has played a key part — and often the leading role — in a number of successful operations to protect innocent Americans from the deadly plans of terrorists dedicated to destroying America and our way of life. While the results have been important, in passing the PATRIOT Act, Congress provided for only modest, incremental changes in the law. Congress simply took existing legal principles and retrofitted them to preserve the lives and liberty of the American…
