The Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 (IRTPA), , is a 236-page Act of Congress

Act of Congress

An Act of Congress is a statute enacted by government with a legislature named "Congress," such as the United States Congress or the Congress of the Philippines....

, signed by President George W. Bush

George W. Bush

George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....

, that broadly affects US federal terrorism laws. In juxtaposition with the single-subject rule, the act is composed of several separate titles with varying subject issues.

History

was introduced by U.S. Senator

United States Senate

The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...

 Susan M. Collins

Susan Collins

Susan Margaret Collins is the junior United States Senator from Maine and a member of the Republican Party. First elected to the Senate in 1996, she is the ranking member of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs...

 of Maine

Maine

Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...

. The Senate

United States Senate

The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...

 approved the bill 96-2, the House

United States House of Representatives

The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...

 approved the bill 336-75, and President

President of the United States

The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....

 George W. Bush

George W. Bush

George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....

 signed the Act on December 17, 2004, making it law. The Electronic Frontier Foundation

Electronic Frontier Foundation

The Electronic Frontier Foundation is an international non-profit digital rights advocacy and legal organization based in the United States...

 objected to Act's potential effects

Causality

Causality is the relationship between an event and a second event , where the second event is understood as a consequence of the first....

 on civil liberties

Civil liberties

Civil liberties are rights and freedoms that provide an individual specific rights such as the freedom from slavery and forced labour, freedom from torture and death, the right to liberty and security, right to a fair trial, the right to defend one's self, the right to own and bear arms, the right...

.

Overview

This act established both the position of Director of National Intelligence (DNI), the National Counterterrorism Center

National Counterterrorism Center

The National Counterterrorism Center is a United States government organization responsible for national and international counterterrorism efforts. It is based in a modern complex near McLean, Virginia called Liberty Crossing...

 (NCTC), and the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board

Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board

The Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board is an advisory body to assist the President of the United States and other senior executive branch officials in ensuring that concerns with respect to privacy and civil liberties are appropriately considered in the implementation of all laws,...

.

The IRTPA requires the Department of Homeland Security

United States Department of Homeland Security

The United States Department of Homeland Security is a cabinet department of the United States federal government, created in response to the September 11 attacks, and with the primary responsibilities of protecting the territory of the United States and protectorates from and responding to...

 (DHS) to take over the conducting of pre-flight comparisons of airline passenger information to Federal Government watch lists for international and domestic flights. The Transportation Security Administration

Transportation Security Administration

The Transportation Security Administration is an agency of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security that exercises authority over the safety and security of the traveling public in the United States....

 (TSA) is currently developing the Secure Flight

Secure Flight

Secure Flight is an airline passenger pre-screening program to be implemented starting in August 2009 by the Transportation Security Administration . Secure Flight will match passenger information against blacklists maintained by the federal government...

 program and issuing this rulemaking to implement this congressional mandate. Airline personnel will have the right to demand government-issued ID be shown if ordered by the TSA to do so, but those orders are to remain confidential so there is no oversight as to when the airline has been ordered to request ID and when they are requesting it on their own imperative.

Organization

The act is formally divided into eight titles:

1. "Reform of the intelligence community", also known as the National Security Intelligence Reform Act of 2004
2. "Federal Bureau of Investigation"
3. "Security clearances"
4. "Transportation security"
5. "Border protection, immigration, and visa matters"
6. "Terrorism prevention"
7. "Implementation of 9/11 Commission recommendations", also known as the 9/11 Commission Implementation Act of 2004
8. "Other matters"

Title I: National Security Intelligence Reform Act of 2004

The first title, titled "Reform of the intelligence community" and given the short title of the National Security Intelligence Reform Act of 2004, is formally divided into 9 subtitles:

1. "Establishment of Director of National Intelligence"
2. "National Counterterrorism Center
   National Counterterrorism Center
   The National Counterterrorism Center is a United States government organization responsible for national and international counterterrorism efforts. It is based in a modern complex near McLean, Virginia called Liberty Crossing...
   
   , National Counter Proliferation Center
   National Counterproliferation Center
   The National Counterproliferation Center is the primary organization within the U.S. Intelligence Community for combating the spread of weapons of mass destruction and their delivery systems....
   
   , and National Intelligence Centers"
3. "Joint Intelligence Community Council
   United States Joint Intelligence Community Council
   The Joint Intelligence Community Council assists the Director of National Intelligence in implementing a joint, unified national intelligence effort to protect national and homeland security and advise the DNI on setting requirements, managing finances, establishing uniform intelligence policies,...
   
   "
4. "Improvement of Education for the Intelligence Community"
5. "Additional Improvements of Intelligence Activities"
6. "Privacy and Civil Liberties"
7. "Conforming and Other Amendments"
8. "Transfer, Termination, Transition, and Other Provisions"
9. "Other Matters"

Title II: Federal Bureau of Investigation

The second title, simply titled "Federal Bureau of Investigation", concerns intelligence within the Federal Bureau of Investigation

Federal Bureau of Investigation

The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...

.

Title III: Security clearances

The third title, simply titled "Security clearances", deals with security clearance

Security clearance

A security clearance is a status granted to individuals allowing them access to classified information, i.e., state secrets, or to restricted areas after completion of a thorough background check. The term "security clearance" is also sometimes used in private organizations that have a formal...

s.

Title IV: Transportation security

The fourth title, simply titled "Transportation security", is formally divided into 5 subtitles:

1. "National Strategy for Transportation Security"
2. "Aviation Security"
3. "Air Cargo Security"
4. "Maritime Security"
5. "General Provisions"

Title V: Border protection, immigration, and visa matters

The fifth title, simply titled "Border protection, immigration, and visa matters", is formally divided into 5 subtitles:

1. "Advanced Technology Northern Border Security Pilot Program"
2. "Border and Immigration Enforcement"
3. "Visa Requirements"
4. "Immigration Reform"
5. "Treatment of Aliens Who Commit Acts of Torture, Extrajudicial Killings, or Other Atrocities Abroad"

Title VI: Terrorism prevention

The sixth title, simply titled "Terrorism prevention", is formally divided into 11 subtitles:

1. "Individual Terrorists as Agents of Foreign Powers"
2. "Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing"
3. "Money Laundering Abatement and Financial Antiterrorism Technical Corrections"
4. "Additional Enforcement Tools"
5. "Criminal History Background Checks"
6. "Grand Jury Information Sharing"
7. "Providing Material Support to Terrorism"
8. "Stop Terrorist and Military Hoaxes Act of 2004"
9. "Weapons of Mass Destruction Prohibition Improvement Act of 2004"
10. "Prevention of Terrorist Access to Destructive Weapons Act of 2004"
11. "Pretrial Detention of Terrorists"

Title VII: 9/11 Commission Implementation Act of 2004

The seventh title, titled "Implementation of 9/11 Commission recommendations" and given the short title of the 9/11 Commission Implementation Act of 2004, is formally divided into 8 subtitles:

1. "Diplomacy, Foreign Aid, and the Military in the War on Terrorism"
2. "Terrorist Travel and Effective Screening"
3. "National Preparedness"
4. "Homeland Security"
5. "Public Safety Spectrum"
6. "Presidential Transition"
7. "Improving International Standards and Cooperation to Fight Terrorist Financing"
8. "Emergency Financial Preparedness"

The Act is notable for §7213 which directs the Commissioner of Social Security to "restrict the issuance of multiple replacement social security cards to any individual to 3 per year and 10 for the life

Life

Life is a characteristic that distinguishes objects that have signaling and self-sustaining processes from those that do not, either because such functions have ceased , or else because they lack such functions and are classified as inanimate...

 of the individual, except that the Commissioner may allow for reasonable exceptions from the limits under this paragraph on a case-by-case basis in compelling circumstances". This is notable because the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986

Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986

The Immigration Reform and Control Act , , also Simpson-Mazzoli Act, is an Act of Congress which reformed United States immigration law.In brief the act:* required employers to attest to their employees' immigration status....

added the requirement of a social security account number card as a document evidencing employment authorization.

Title VIII: Other matters

The eighth title, simply titled "Other matters", is formally divided into 4 subtitles:

1. "Intelligence Matters"
2. "Department of Homeland Security Matters"
3. "Homeland Security Civil Rights and Civil Liberties Protection"
4. "Other Matters"

External links

• The full text of the Act