Legal Definitions - Uniting and Strengthening America

Definition: Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism. It is also known as the USA Patriot Act. This law was created after the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, to give law enforcement agencies more power to prevent future attacks.

The USA Patriot Act allows law enforcement agencies to:

• Collect information on suspected terrorists
• Share information with domestic and foreign intelligence agencies
• Make the country's borders more secure
• Detain suspects on new types of criminal charges using new criminal procedures
• Give the Treasury Department more authority to investigate and regulate financial institutions that participate in foreign money-laundering

For example, if law enforcement agencies suspect that someone is planning a terrorist attack, they can use the USA Patriot Act to collect information about that person's activities and share it with other agencies. This can help prevent future attacks and keep people safe.