The USA Act and the Financial Anti-Terrorism Act are the legislative precursors to the USA PATRIOT Act.

USA Act

The USA Act (Uniting and Strengthening America Act of 2001) is an expansion of the

Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 ("FISA" , ) is a United States federal law that establishes procedures for the physical and electronic surveillance and the collection of "foreign intelligence information" between "foreign po ...

(FISA) of 1978. The primary difference between the USA Act and FISA is the definition of terrorism. In FISA, terrorism is limited to acts that are "backed by a foreign power." The phrase "foreign power" is commonly interpreted to refer to a foreign government. Focus on

Al Qaeda Al-Qaeda (; , ) is an Islamic extremist organization composed of Salafist jihadists. Its members are mostly composed of Arabs, but also include other peoples. Al-Qaeda has mounted attacks on civilian and military targets in various countr ...

after September 11 raised the issue that there are terrorists who are not backed by a foreign government and even those who may act completely alone. In the USA Act, terrorism was redefined to be activity that appears to be intended to (1) intimidate or coerce the government or civil population AND (2) breaks criminal laws AND (3) endangers human life.

Financial Anti-Terrorism Act

The Financial Anti-Terrorism Act of 2001 () was a bill calling for the

Federal Government A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government (federalism). In a federation, the self-governin ...

to have the increased ability to control and monitor financial

criminal In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definitions of", in Can ...

s and the ability to sentence them. The Financial Anti-Terrorism Act allows: *Criminals to be punished, those who were engaged in illegal money practices *Gives procedural guidelines for Federal subpoenas for records of funds in correspondent bank accounts *Federal jurisdiction over foreign money launderers and over money laundered through a foreign bank *All financial institutions to be forced to form an anti-money laundering program

Legislative history: combining into the USA PATRIOT Act

The USA Act passed the

House A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condi ...

() on October 12, 2001, and by the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

() on October 11, 2001. On October 17, 2001 the Financial Anti-Terrorism Act passed the House of Representatives: 412-1. The only Representative to vote "Nay" was

Ron Paul Ronald Ernest Paul (born August 20, 1935) is an American author, activist, physician and retired politician who served as the U.S. representative for Texas's 22nd congressional district from 1976 to 1977 and again from 1979 to 1985, as well ...

. The USA Act and the Financial Anti-Terrorism Act were combined to become the USA PATRIOT Act on October 26, 2001.

External links

H.R. 2975
The House's version of the USA Act.
S. 1510
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080916024052/http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d107:S.1510: , date=2008-09-16 The Senate's version of the USA Act.

- A full-text version of the Financial Anti-Terrorism Act
Summary
A summary of the Financial Anti-Terror Act Patriot Act