• Cinco Ranch High School

• APUSH 0020030240

 4.14.08 - September 11 and the USA-PATRIOT ActSynopsis: On September 11, 2001, nineteen members of the Islamic extremist group Al-Qaeda hijacked four commercial airplanes and crashed them into the World Trade Center Towers and the Pentagon. The fourth plane crashed into a field in Pennsylvania when the passengers learned of the plot and challenged the terrorists. Just over one month later, Congress passed the USA-PATRIOT Act. This law granted greater surveillance powers to government to investigate terrorist activity. This month’s Bill of Rights in Times of Crisis focuses on Congress’s response to the September 11 attacks. Resources • http://citizenbee.org/user/StudentGuide.aspx?id=680 • http://citizenbee.org/user/StudentGuide.aspx?id=793 • http://fl1.findlaw.com/news.findlaw.com/cnn/docs/terrorism/hr3162.pdf Historical Narrative On the morning of September 11, 2001, members of the Islamic terrorist group Al-Qaeda carried out an attack on the Unites States. Nineteen men hijacked four commercial airplanes and crashed them into the World Trade Center towers and the Pentagon. The fourth plane crashed into a field in Pennsylvania when the passengers learned of the plot and challenged the terrorists. More than 2900 people died, the Twin Towers collapsed, and a portion of the Pentagon was destroyed on this terrible day. Congress believed it needed to act in order to strengthen the United States’s ability to stop acts of terrorism. Fifteen of the nineteen hijackers were Saudi Arabian, while the others were from Egypt, Lebanon, and United Arab Emirates. However, many of them had been in the United States for some time. Some had residences in Florida, California, Arizona, and Virginia. At least one hijacker used a public library in while others received flight training in Florida and trained at local gyms. Would increased search and surveillance power have enabled the government to discover and stop the plot? The Patriot Act was introduced in Congress on October 23, 2001. This law was named for its provisions aimed at “Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism.” Many of its provisions were not controversial. These included helping victims of crimes, and providing stiffer penalties for terrorist crimes. But many other provisions were controversial. Critics charged that the Patriot Act violated the Fourth Amendment. One part of the