Page Novak

Persuasive Speech Outline

I.

Introduction
A.
Raise your hand if you remember where you were on the day of September
th
11 , 2011. There are many people who wish that this day could have been
prevented, which is why the Patriot Act was passed after this tragic event in our
nations history.
B.
George W. Bush signed the USA Patriot Act into law, weeks after the
events of September 11th, which is supposed to allow federal anti-terrorism
investigations, and to unite our country as a whole. The name of the act is actually
a ten-letter backwards acronym that stands for Uniting and Strengthening America
by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act
of 2001.
C.
According to Electronic Frontier Foundation.org, The Patriot Act broadly
expands law enforcement's surveillance and investigative powers and represents
one of the most significant threats to civil liberties, privacy, and democratic
traditions in US history.
D.
Today I am going to go over the problems with the Patriot Act that are in
todays society, why the act was created, such as what happened to put this act in
affect, and proof that this act has helped our nation become united and to be more
aware of future terrorist attacks.
E.
Many Americans do not agree with the Patriot Act being passed, since they
think that it violates some of their rights, such as the 1st, 4th, 5th, 6th, 8th and 14th
Amendments that are written in the Constitution. Some are also uncertain that this
act can even help us as a nation.

II.

Body
A.
The problems present with the Patriot Act are that Americans do not like
that the government can tap into phones and computers so easily and that they are
not sure if this Act has even been effective in our nation.
1.
In the class poll I asked if you all would feel safe if the U.S tapped
into your phone or computer. Majority said no they would not feel safe, that
you wanted your private files, calls, and texts to be kept to yourself.

a)
Most people say they do not feel safe, for their privacy is
being violated, which is protected in the constitution.
b)
There are also some people that are against the passing of this
Act because they may be afraid that they will get caught doing
something illegal on their own computer or phone by the
government. Which are how many criminals have been caught, by a
casual run in by the government.
c)
The Act is one of the most controversial topics regarding
American citizens privacy and security.
d)
This act gives the government-expanded rights to gain access
to personal and private communications and examine books
Americans buy or check out of the library. These are a wide range of
personal items to investigate, which is why this act is such a problem
for many Americans. They do not feel confidentiality in their own
belongings.
2.
There are many Americans that have been uncertain if the Patriot
Act actually has worked in helping to find and prevent future terrorist
attacks.
a)
This may be because this is not a topic that is always
advertised on the nightly news or in the paper, we usually do not
hear about it, for some of the information is top secret.
b)
It is also proven that people do not like to see something
positive happen in the news, they would rather listen to an article or
broadcast of negativity. According to psychologytoday.com,
Graham Davey states, there is good reason to believe that the
negative sensationalism in news has been gradually increasing over
the past 20-30 years.
B.

Cause
1.
September 11th will always go down in history as a day where we
lost many innocent lives due to these heartless terrorists.
a)
If our government had been more prepared for attacks like
these, the tragic day could have been prevented.
b)
These attacks were a wake up call for our nation, and since
then our government has been trying to prevent from a day like this
ever happening again.

2.
The Patriot Act was created to give the government access to more
investigative power than they had before, due to the events of September
11th.
a)
This event caused a national emergency and put great fear in
Americans eyes towards any terrorist that wanted to hurt us.
b)
To help prevent future attacks, the government decided that
they needed to take action before these events could even happen,
which is why they are able to now wire into computers and phones.
C.

Solution
1.
After having the Patriot Act created, many terrorist attacks have
been prevented and investigated by our government.
a)
According to the LA Times, Three alleged terrorist plots
have been foiled in three U.S. cities: Dallas, New York and
Springfield, Ill. Officials say the cases involved men who, in
separate plots, wanted to bomb a federal building, a subway and a
skyscraper. Failure to prevent these alleged plots could have had
catastrophic results.
b)
These terrorist plots were due to the events of September 11th,
which are usually called copycat terrorists, since they want to prove
something just like the other ones did.
c)
The Patriot Act has helped law enforcement officials
apprehend hundreds of suspects, and it isn't just one provision of the
act that has proved useful, also stated by the LA Times.
2.
So for those Americans that do not think the Patriot Act should have
ever been passed through government, they should take a look at how many
attacks have been avoided.
a)
These attacks are by terrorists that do not follow the law; they
are breaking it, which can be very strenuous on the government and
the officials working on these cases.
b)
In the LA Times, Terrorists seek to evade the law, not follow
it, and are very creative in their attempts to do so. Law enforcement
officials must be able to be dynamic in the face of changing threats
while respecting the Constitution. The Patriot Act provides them this
Capability.

III.

Conclusion
A.
Today I went over the problems with the Patriot Act that are in todays
society, why the act was created, such as what happened to put this act in affect,
and proof that this act has helped our nation become united and to be more aware
of future terrorist attacks.
B.
There are some Americans do not approve of the passing of this Act, but I
have proven to you all why this Act has helped our nation become united and
C.
Many of you who remember September 11th, 2001, do not want to witness
anything else like this event again in your lifetime.
D.
I know that this day will always hit close to home since my dad worked in
the Pentagon, which is why I am for this Act to stay in effect.

Sources
1.
Abramson, Larry. "The Patriot Act: Key Controversies." NPR. NPR, 16 Dec.
2005. Web. 19 Nov. 2014.
2.
Davey, Graham. "The Psychological Effects of TV News." Psychology Today:
Health, Help, Happiness + Find a Therapist. N.p., 19 June 2012. Web. 19 Nov. 2014.
3.

"PATRIOT Act." Electronic Frontier Foundation. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Nov. 2014.

4.
"Reform the Patriot Act." American Civil Liberties Union. N.p., n.d. Web. 17
Nov. 2014.
5.
Sales, Nathan A. "The Patriot Act Is a Vital Weapon in Fighting Terrorism." The
New York Times. N.p., 23 May 2014. Web. 19 Nov. 2014.
6.

User2. Flyer_patriot_act4a (n.d.): n. pag. Web. 19 Nov. 2014.

7.
21, October. "The Patriot Act: Does It Actually Work?" Los Angeles Times. Los
Angeles Times, 21 Oct. 2009. Web. 19 Nov. 2014.