It's amazing but The Patriot Act has been around since 2001:
"On this day in 2001, President George W. Bush signs the Patriot Act, an anti-terrorism law drawn up in response to the attacks on the Pentagon and World Trade Center onSeptember 11, 2001.The USA PATRIOT Act, as it is officially known, is an acronym for "Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism." Bush hoped the bipartisan legislation would empower law enforcement and intelligence agencies to prevent future terrorist attacks on American soil."
It's always tough in an open society to give this much power to the state. However, I think that The Patriot Act has protected us and that was its original intent.
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