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Patriot Act

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Patriot Act

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Also known as USA PATRIOT Act, USA PATRIOT Act of 2001, Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001

2001 United States anti-terrorism law

Key facts

Other short titles
Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001
Long title
An Act to deter and punish terrorist acts in the United States and across the globe, to enhance law enforcement investigatory tools, and for other purposes.
Acronyms colloquial
USA PATRIOT Act
Nicknames
Patriot Act
Enacted by
the 107th United States Congress
Effective
October 26, 2001
Public law
Pub. L. 107–56 (text) (PDF)
Statutes at large
115 Stat. 272
Titles amended
8 , 12 , 15 , 18 , 20 , 31 , 42 , 47 , 49 , 50
U s c sections created
18 USC § 2712, 31 USC § 5318A, 15 USC § 1681v, 8 USC § 1226A, 18 USC § 1993, 18 USC § 2339, 18 USC § 175b, 50 USC § 403-5b, 51 USC § 5103a

via Wikipedia infobox

Full text

To deter and punish terrorist acts in the United States and around the world, to enhance law enforcement investigatory tools, and for other purposes. (a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism (USA PATRIOT ACT) Act of 2001''. Sec. 1. Short title and table of contents. Sec. 2. Construction; severability. Sec. 101. Counterterrorism fund. Sec. 102. Sense of Congress condemning discrimination against Arab and Muslim Americans. Sec. 103. Increased funding for the technical support center at the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Sec. 104. Requests for military assistance to enforce prohibition in certain emergencies. Sec. 105. Expansion of National Electronic Crime Task Force Initiative. Sec. 106. Presidential authority. Sec. 201. Authority to intercept wire, oral, and electronic communications relating to terrorism. Sec. 202. Authority to intercept wire, oral, and electronic communications relating to computer fraud and abuse offenses. Sec. 203. Authority to share criminal investigative information. Sec. 204. Clarification of intelligence exceptions from limitations on interception and disclosure of wire, oral, and electronic communications. Sec. 205. Employment of translators by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Sec. 206. Roving surveillance authority under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978. Sec. 207. Duration of FISA surveillance of non-United States persons who are agents of a foreign power. Sec. 208. Designation of judges. Sec. 209. Seizure of voice-mail messages pursuant to warrants. Sec. 210. Scope of subpoenas for records of electronic communications. Sec. 211. Clarification of scope. Sec. 212. Emergency disclosure of electronic communications to protect life and limb. Sec. 213. Authority for delaying notice of the execution of a warrant. Sec. 214. Pen register and trap and trace authority under FISA. Sec. 215. Access to records and other items under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. Sec. 216. Modification of authorities relating to use of pen registers and trap and trace devices. Sec. 301. Short title. Sec. 302. Findings and purposes. Sec. 303. 4-year congressional review; expedited consideration. Sec. 311. Special measures for jurisdictions, financial institutions, or international transactions of primary money laundering concern. Sec. 312. Special due diligence for correspondent accounts and private banking accounts. Sec. 313. Prohibition on United States correspondent accounts with foreign shell banks. Sec. 314. Cooperative efforts to deter money laundering. Sec. 315. Inclusion of foreign corruption offenses as money laundering crimes. Sec. 316. Anti-terrorist forfeiture protection. Sec. 317. Long-arm jurisdiction over foreign money launderers. Sec. 318. Laundering money through a foreign bank. Sec. 319. Forfeiture of funds in United States interbank accounts. Sec. 320. Proceeds of foreign crimes. Sec. 321. Financial institutions specified in subchapter II of chapter 53 of title 31, United States code. Sec. 322. Corporation represented by a fugitive. Sec. 323. Enforcement of foreign judgments. Sec. 324. Report and recommendation. Sec. 325. Concentration accounts at financial institutions. Sec. 326. Verification of identification. Sec. 327. Consideration of anti-money laundering record. Sec. 328. International cooperation on identification of originators of wire transfers. Sec. 329. Criminal penalties. Sec. 330. International cooperation in investigations of money laundering, financial crimes, and the finances of terrorist groups. Sec. 351. Amendments relating to reporting of suspicious activities. Sec. 352. Anti-money laundering programs. Sec. 353. Penalties for violations of geographic targeting orders and certain recordkeeping requirements, and lengthening effective period of geographic targeting orders. Sec. 354. Anti-money laundering strategy. Sec. 355. Authorization to i

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Wikidata facts

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topic's main category
Category:Patriot Act
legal citation of this text
Public Law 107-56
applies to jurisdiction
United States
Commons gallery
USA PATRIOT Act
introduced on
2001-10-23
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Encyclopedic overview

The USA PATRIOT Act (commonly known as the Patriot Act) is a landmark Act of the United States Congress, signed into law by President George W. Bush. The formal name of the statute is the Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism (USA PATRIOT) Act of 2001, and the commonly used short name is a backronym that is embedded in the name set forth in the statute.

The Patriot Act was enacted following the September 11 attacks and the 2001 anthrax attacks with the stated goal of tightening U.S. national security, particularly as it related to foreign terrorism. In general, the act included three main provisions:

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Patriot Act” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.

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