In an effort to better prevent and prepare for terrorist attacks and strengthen national security following 9/11, the U.S. government enacted new legislation. Congress passed several legislative acts, such as the Transportation Security Act, Homeland Security Act, Comprehensive Security Act, and USA Patriot Act, to help federal, state, and local governments ensure public safety as well as identify and foil terrorist activities before they are carried out. In the readings this week, you explore these legislative acts and discover why some have been more effective than others in strengthening national security.

To prepare for this assignment:

• Review the assigned pages in Chapter 9 in the course text Terrorism in Perspective, focusing on the Patriot Act.
• Review the assigned pages in Chapter 8 in the course text Introduction to Homeland Security. Focus on post-9-11 national security legislative acts.
• Reflect on the knowledge you have gained about post-9/11 national security legislation.
• Select two post-9/11 national security legislative acts to use for this assignment.
• Consider the intent of each and also think about the strengths and limitations of each.

Required Readings:

• Course Text: Mahan, S., & Griset, P. L. (2013). Terrorism in perspective (3rd ed.). Los Angeles: Sage.
  • Chapter 9, “Counterterrorism” (pp. 307-322)
• Course Text: McEntire, D. A. (2019). Introduction to homeland security: Understanding terrorism with emergency management (2nd ed.). New York: Wiley.
  • Chapter 8, “Preventing Terrorist Attacks: Root Causes, Law, Intelligence, and Counterterrorism”

The assignment: (2 pages)

• Briefly describe the intent of two post-9/11 national security legislative acts you selected.
• Explain at least two strengths and two limitations of each post-9/11 security legislative act you selected.
• Explain at least one insight you gained or conclusion you had about post-9/11 national security legislation as a result of completing this assignment.

Support your Application with specific references to all resources used in its preparation. You are asked to provide a reference list only for those resources not included in the Learning Resources for this course.