Policy Development Paper

Which federal agency has reformulated its priorities, making protection from terrorism the number one goal?

Public Law 107-56 otherwise known as the USA PATRIOT Act was signed into law by President George W. Bush on October 26, 2001. USA PATRIOT Act is an acronym which stands for Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act. (justice.gov) This law was instated in response to the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. The Islamic terrorist group known as Al-Qaeda, coordinated four different plane hijackings killing 2,996 people, and injuring 6,000+ others. (9/11 memorial.org) Just weeks after the attacks congress rushed to pass this bill, passing the senate 98 to 1, and the house 357 to 66 (justice.gov), so that we can have more security controls within the United States. It gives the United States government the same powers and tools used to investigate organized crime and drug trafficking in decades prior, to investigate current suspected terrorist. The Patriot act has several different titles that cover different grounds, all which have the same purpose of preventing future acts of terrorism. The patriot act allows the government to track and intercept any form of electronic communications of suspected terrorist in order to prevent any acts of terror, and also for intelligence gathering. The act also aids the government in securing borders, and removing those that are here with the intent to cause harm.

According to Robert Jervis, “Policymakers say they need and want good intelligence. They do need it, but often they do not like it, and are prone to believe that when intelligence is not out to get them, it is incompetent.” In order for intelligence to be

In the aftermath of September 11, 2001teerrorist attacks, Congress and President Busch drafted, passed and enacted a number of laws that were focused on improving the nation’s security form terrorist attack and upgrading its ability to search for, identify, and eliminate terrorist threats at homes and international. Two of the most important and far reaching laws to come from the political and legislative action for the fall were the Uniting and Strengthening Americas by Providing Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001(USA Patriot Act) and the Homeland Security Act of 2002. While the USA Patriot Act and Homeland Security Act of 2002 have formed the backbone of terrorism laws in the United States, they are not without their problems, especially in terms of how far they infringe upon the right, freedom, and liberties of the public.

Recognizing the threat Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups posed provided homeland security with the basis which is now important to state and local law enforcement agencies (Sheehan, Michael, 2011). After nearly a decade after the September eleventh, more than twenty terrorist related plots were uncovered by the federal government. As the war against terrorism continues, it has cost America the lives of more than six thousand service members and nearly 1.5 trillion dollars (Ortmeier, P, 2009).

Since 9/11, the intelligence community has improved greatly. It is not that they have been reconstructed from the ground up, or that their mission has completely changed, it is, in the community’s eye anyway, that they now all share information, no matter how important or how small. This information sharing now even includes all the way down to local and tribal authorities. The reasoning is that, even if it might be small or seem insignificant to you at your level, it may be the piece someone somewhere else in the country needs.

Before we try to stop the actions of the terrorist groups we must first understand how they are able to accomplish

The 9/11 commission clearly identified a problem with communication between the Intelligence Community and State and Local Law Enforcement which resulted in a new edict (from the IRTPA) of Information Sharing yet clearance levels and accesses quickly became an issue in disseminating information to those with a need to know. To help bridge this gap, the Homeland Security Act of 2002 was passed to crate the DHS by bringing 22 under its umbrella with a primary mission of protecting the homeland from terrorism (Blum, 2010). To do so, DHS’s key mission is to collect, analyze, and disseminate key/related information and share it with the IC and nontraditional partners (state/local governments as well as the private sector) (Blum, 2010). Likewise,

After the 9/11 terrorist attack, increase in domestic protection was implemented. Congress created the USA PATRIOT Act on 10/25/2011, which stands for Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001. (Schwartz, 11/29/16) The act was signed by former President George W. Bush in order to enhance the enforcement of the law to have a better security for the country. Some of the major changes include increases domestic security funding, allows intelligence gathering on US, non-US citizens, easier wiretapping, money for victims’

The DHS has received $41.2 billion just in 2016 (Hanley 1). However, no amount of spending could actually make Americans feel safer. Even with the amount of money the DHS has received, the attention that they are actually giving this situation lacks. The attentions between each agency is varied after the attacks of 9/11 (May 7). Which results in different outcomes on handling terrorist attacks. During a panel appearance, panelists have stated that “Americans are wasting money looking for a magic bullet and funding programs that previous experience shows don’t work” (Hanley 15). During a panel interview Michael German, a former FBI agent, acknowledges the fact that there are terrorists out there who are always one step ahead and sometimes it doesn’t help to be just invested in money but the quality of analyzing the terrorists. There are better ways to deal with terrorism and the first step is for the DHS to fully give their attention to stopping these terrorist attacks. Giving attention to the situation will conclude in how things are getting done by the DHS. Opinions throughout the agencies are distinctive; however, working together is a still a key to making the process work. After 9/11 there were many people who worked for the government and coped with the situation differently but in the end the solution to the

In conclusion, there have been many stances took towards terrorism. Since the September 11, 2001 attack on the Twin Towers in Washington D.C, there have been more plans and rules for people traveling within, into, and out of the country. There have been additional securities at major United States traditional events. These events are the World’s greatest sporting events, marathons , political events and more. The armed forces have been increased and deployed to the duty of protecting the people of our country. Overall, the government has taken some great approaches in keeping its people

The terrorist attack on the United States on September 11th, 2001, exposed the country's preparedness to threats by an emerging threat of terrorism. The United States Department of Homeland Security was brought to life through the Homeland Security Act of 2002. Precisely, this was in response to the country's preparedness to stop such acts of terrorism on American soil. However, it was also mandated to response to such natural disasters such as hurricane as part of a wider responsibility to ensure people within the American borders were secured from all forms of danger (Kamien, 2006).

Both the Canadian border and the Mexican border need to bolstered in order to have a closer eye on terrorists. This is a key factor that can be used to fight terrorism. Every state has the obligation to make sure that the environments in the boundary are not accessed by terrorists. Unlawful entries must be blocked using whatever means necessary. The U.S recently intensified border security watch by putting in place Border Patrol Agents and ready military personnel. All states must therefore instruct their migration and registration ministries accordingly. This will minimize terror by lawful registration and passport issuance. Emphasis on terror policy has greatly helped. The U.S and U.K encourages the international community to concentrate on the same in order not to be left behind in the fight. This will help the governments to set aside enough resources left to fight terrorism. Such resources include money, time and forces to combat the unlawful actions. The department of defense under the command of Barack Obama changed its name from war on terror to Overseas Contingency Operation in 2009. This was to energize their effort on dealing with this

Intelligence collection and apprehension of criminals have occurred for many years; however, with the exception of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, these actions were performed by different organizations. Nonetheless, roles and responsibilities have changed since the attacks on September 11, 2001. Intelligence-led policing and the National Criminal Intelligence Sharing program were incorporated, and fusion centers were established to help gather intelligence from different levels of the government. Although law enforcement at the local, state, and tribal levels aid in intelligence collection, it is important to ensure that intelligence gathered to protect national security and law enforcement

     Well the first and easiest of the new security measures is the permanent closing of the airport, which is very near the heart of our nation's political machine. Seeing how airplanes were used as weapons of mass-destruction