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144-748: Secure Flight is intended to prevent individuals on the No Fly List from boarding an aircraft, as well as to subject individuals on the Selectee List to enhanced screening to determine if they are permitted to board an aircraft. The Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act (IRTPA) of 2004 requires the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to assume from aircraft operators the function of conducting pre-flight comparisons of airline passenger information to federal government watch lists for international and domestic flights. The final report of

288-724: A global war on terrorism . He ordered an invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to overthrow the Taliban , destroy al-Qaeda , and capture Osama bin Laden . He also signed the controversial Patriot Act in order to authorize surveillance of suspected terrorists. In 2003, Bush ordered an invasion of Iraq , alleging that the Saddam Hussein regime possessed weapons of mass destruction . Intense criticism came when neither WMD stockpiles nor evidence of an operational relationship with al-Qaeda were found. Before 9/11, Bush had pushed through

432-516: A simultaneous air and land attack on Iraq on March 20, 2003, in what the American media called " shock and awe ." With 145,000 soldiers, the ground force quickly overcame most Iraqi resistance, and thousands of Iraqi soldiers deserted. The U.S. captured the Iraqi capital of Baghdad on April 9, but Hussein escaped and went into hiding. While the U.S. and its allies quickly achieved military success,

576-731: A $ 1.3 trillion tax cut program and the No Child Left Behind Act , a major education bill. He also pushed for socially conservative efforts, such as the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act and faith-based welfare initiatives . Also in 2003, he signed the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act , which created Medicare Part D . During his second term, Bush reached multiple free trade agreements and successfully nominated John Roberts and Samuel Alito to

720-654: A 58–42 vote in January 2006. In the years immediately after Roberts and Alito took office, the Roberts Court was generally more conservative than the preceding Rehnquist Court , largely because Alito tended to be more conservative than O'Connor had been. Bush also appointed 62 judges to the United States Courts of Appeals , 261 judges to the United States district courts , and 2 judges to

864-502: A Redress Control Number to enter it when making their reservation. DHS TRIP may make it easier for an airline to confirm a traveler's identity. False-positive travelers, whose names match or are similar to the names of persons on the No Fly List, will continue to match that name even after using DHS TRIP, so it will not restore a traveler's ability to use Internet or curbside check-in or to use an automated kiosk. It does usually help

1008-620: A boarding pass and entering the departures terminal, so a person on the No Fly List can simply travel under a different name. A " false positive " occurs when a passenger who is not on the No Fly List has a name that matches or is similar to a name on the list. False positive passengers will not be allowed to board a flight unless they can differentiate themselves from the actual person on the list, usually by presenting ID showing their middle name or date of birth. In some cases, false positive passengers have been denied boarding or have missed flights because they could not easily prove that they were not

1152-766: A consular aid. It was repurposed and expanded after 9/11, and again in 2016. The names in Tuscan come from the US Terrorist Identities Datamart Environment (Tide), which is vetted by the FBI's Terrorist Screening Center and populates various US traveller databases, Canada's Tuscan and the Australian equivalent, "Tactics". In a 2010 report, the Government Accountability Office noted that "Membership in

1296-568: A gun and it could become a permanent ban if a judge determines there is probable cause during that time window." The measure, too, failed, on a 55-45 vote (60 votes were required to proceed). The votes on both the Feinstein measure and the Cornyn measure were largely along party lines . With the aim of preventing individuals on the No Fly List from flying in commercial airliners, U.S. airports require all passengers to show valid picture ID (e.g.

1440-531: A judge, but who had worked as a corporate lawyer and White House staffer. Her nomination immediately faced opposition from conservatives (and liberals) who were wary of her unproven ideology and lack of judicial experience. After Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist informed Bush that Miers did not have the votes necessary to win confirmation, Miers withdrew from consideration. Bush then nominated Samuel Alito , who received strong support from conservatives but faced opposition from Democrats. Alito won confirmation in

1584-820: A major economic disaster, and he established the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) to buy toxic assets from financial institutions. At various points in his presidency, Bush was among both the most popular and unpopular presidents in U.S. history. He received the highest recorded approval ratings in the wake of the September 11 attacks, but also one of the lowest such ratings during the Iraq War and 2007–2008 financial crisis. Although public sentiment of Bush has improved since he left office, his presidency has generally been rated as below-average by scholars. The oldest son of George H. W. Bush ,

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1728-529: A partial manual recount, but the United States Supreme Court effectively ordered an end to this process, on equal protection grounds, in the case of Bush v. Gore , leaving Bush with a victory in both the state and the election. Bush won the presidential election with 271 electoral votes compared to Gore's 266, though Gore narrowly won a plurality of the nationwide popular vote, receiving 543,895 more votes than Bush. Bush thus became

1872-527: A passport or driver's license) along with their boarding pass before entering the boarding terminal. At this checkpoint, the name on the ID is matched to that on the boarding pass, but is not recorded. In order to be effective, this practice must assume that 1) the ticket was bought under the passenger's real name (at which point the name was recorded and checked against the No Fly List), 2) the boarding pass shown

2016-504: A reasonable estimation range that approaches $ 1 billion, and he questioned whether the benefits of the list outweigh the costs. The 2023 leak re-ignited criticisms that the No-Fly list is insufficiently secure. Critics note that if it is not possible to abolish the No-Fly list or make placement on it appealable, Congress should at least review and improve the federal government's data security to prevent any future leaks. On April 6, 2004,

2160-558: A resolution called the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Terrorists , authorizing the president to use the military against those responsible for the attacks. On October 7, 2001, Bush ordered the invasion of Afghanistan . General Tommy Franks , the commander of the United States Central Command (CENTCOM), drew up a four-phase invasion plan. In the first phase, the U.S. built up forces in

2304-566: A shift in U.S. public opinion towards support of the war, it failed to convince the French, Russians, or Germans. Contrary to the findings of Blix and ElBaradei, Bush asserted in a March 17 public address that there was "no doubt" that the Iraqi regime possessed weapons of mass destruction. Two days later, Bush authorized Operation Iraqi Freedom , and the Iraq War began on March 20, 2003. U.S.-led coalition forces, led by General Franks, launched

2448-564: A specific known or suspected threat to aviation." The list grew in the immediate aftermath of the September 11 attacks, reaching more than 400 names by November 2001, when responsibility for keeping it was transferred to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). In mid-December 2001, two lists were created: the "No Fly List" of 594 people to be denied air transport, and the " Selectee " list of 365 people who were to be more carefully searched at airports. By 2002,

2592-552: A spirited challenge that was supported by many moderates and foreign policy hawks . McCain's loss in the South Carolina primary effectively ended the 2000 Republican primaries , and Bush was officially nominated for president at the 2000 Republican National Convention . Bush selected former secretary of defense Dick Cheney as his running mate; though Cheney offered little electoral appeal and had health problems, Bush believed that Cheney's extensive experience would make him

2736-507: A struggle between the terrorists and the aircraft's passengers. The attacks had a profound effect on many Americans, who felt vulnerable to international attacks for the first time since the end of the Cold War . Appearing on national television on the night of the attacks, Bush promised to punish those who had aided the attacks, stating, "we will make no distinction between the terrorists who committed these acts and those who harbor them." In

2880-476: A terrorist campaign against U.S. targets, orchestrating attacks such as the 1998 United States embassy bombings and the 2000 USS Cole bombing . During Bush's first months in office, U.S. intelligence organizations intercepted communications indicating that al-Qaeda was planning another attack on the United States, but foreign policy officials were unprepared for a major attack on the United States. Bush

3024-539: A terrorist organization does not prohibit a person from possessing firearms or explosives under current federal law," and individuals on the No Fly List are not barred from purchasing guns. According to GAO data, between 2004 and 2010, people on terrorism watch lists—including the No Fly List as well as other separate lists—attempted to buy guns and explosives more than 1,400 times, and succeeded 1,321 times (more than 90% of cases). Senator Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey repeatedly introduced legislation to bar individuals on

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3168-540: A valuable governing partner. With Democratic President Bill Clinton term-limited, the Democrats nominated Vice President Al Gore of Tennessee for president and Senator Joe Lieberman of Connecticut for vice president. Bush's campaign emphasized their own candidate's character in contrast with that of Clinton, who had been embroiled in the Lewinsky scandal . Bush held a substantial lead in several polls taken after

3312-550: Is a "sacred" liberty protected by the U.S. Constitution and ordered the government to change its system for challenging inclusion. A Malaysian academic has been the first to successfully bring a suit involving the No Fly List to trial. On August 18, 2008, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco issued a ruling on behalf of Rahinah Ibrahim, who was a Stanford University graduate student when she

3456-484: Is different from the Terrorist Watch List, a much longer list of people said to be suspected of some involvement with terrorism. As of June 2014, the Terrorist Watch List is estimated to contain over 2,484,446 records, consisting of 1,877,139 individual identities. Before the attacks of September 11, 2001 , the U.S. federal government had a list of 16 people deemed "no transport" because they "presented

3600-428: Is real, and 3) the ID shown is real. However, the rise of print-at-home boarding passes, which can be easily forged, allows a potential attacker to buy a ticket under someone else's name, to go into the boarding terminal using a real ID and a fake boarding pass, and then to fly on the ticket that has someone else's name on it. Additionally, a 2007 investigation showed that obviously false IDs could be used when claiming

3744-518: The 43rd president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 2001, and ended on January 20, 2009. Bush, a Republican from Texas , took office following his narrow electoral college victory over Democratic incumbent vice president Al Gore in the 2000 presidential election , in which he lost the popular vote to Gore by 543,895 votes. Four years later, in the 2004 presidential election , he narrowly defeated Democrat nominee John Kerry , to win re-election and winning both

3888-559: The American Civil Liberties Union "filed a nationwide class-action challenge to the government's No Fly List", in which they charge that "many innocent travelers who pose no security risk whatsoever are discovering that their government considers them terrorists – and find that they have no way to find out why they are on the list, and no way to clear their names." The case was settled in 2006, when "the federal government agreed to pay $ 200,000 in attorneys' fees to

4032-537: The Bill Clinton administration , and with the Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan 's support, Bush argued that the best use of the surplus was to lower taxes. By the time Bush took office, reduced economic growth had led to less robust federal budgetary projections, but Bush maintained that tax cuts were necessary to boost economic growth. After Treasury secretary Paul O'Neill expressed concerns over

4176-519: The Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act , stating that he thought the law would improve the financing system for elections but was "far from perfect." The law placed several limits on political donations and expenditures, and closed loopholes on contribution limits on donations to political candidates by banning the use of so-called "soft money." Portions of the law restricting independent expenditures would later be struck down by

4320-619: The Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2006 , which included many of the president's proposals, but the bill did not pass the House of Representatives. After Democrats took control of Congress in the 2006 mid-term elections, Bush worked with Ted Kennedy to re-introduce the bill as the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2007 . The bill received intense criticism from many conservatives, who had become more skeptical of immigration reform, and it failed to pass

4464-506: The Department of Homeland Security website, print and sign the application, and then submit it with copies of several identifying documents. After reviewing their records, DHS notifies the traveler that if any corrections of data about them were warranted, they will be made. Travelers who apply for redress through TRIP are assigned a record identifier called a "Redress Control Number". Airline reservations systems allow passengers who have

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4608-922: The Enron scandal, Bush signed the Sarbanes–Oxley Act into law. The act expanded reporting requirements for public companies Shortly after the start of his second term, Bush signed the Class Action Fairness Act of 2005 , which had been a priority of his administration and part of his broader goal of instituting tort reform . The act was designed to remove most class action lawsuits from state courts to federal courts, which were regarded as less sympathetic to plaintiffs in class action suits. Bush endorsed civil rights and appointed blacks, women and gays to high positions. The premier cabinet position, Secretary of State, went to Colin Powell (2001–2005),

4752-564: The Government Accountability Office of the U.S. Congress produced a report critical of the CAPPS II system. It characterized the proposal as incomplete and seriously behind schedule, and noted that the TSA had failed to address "developmental, operational, and privacy issues identified by Congress". On July 14, 2004, TSA officials announced that CAPPS II was being pulled from consideration without proceeding to full testing. Critics have alleged that

4896-674: The Iraqi insurgency opposed to the continuing U.S. presence. Fearing the further deterioration of Iraq's security situation, General John Abizaid ordered the end of the planned drawdown of soldiers, leaving over 130,000 U.S. soldiers in Iraq. The U.S. captured Hussein on December 13, 2003, but the occupation force continued to suffer casualties. Between the start of the invasion and the end of 2003, 580 U.S. soldiers died, with two thirds of those casualties occurring after Bush's "Mission Accomplished" speech. After 2003, more and more Iraqis began to see

5040-519: The Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003 , which cut taxes by another $ 350 billion over 10 years. That law also lowered the capital gains tax and taxes on dividends . Collectively, the Bush tax cuts reduced federal individual tax rates to their lowest level since World War II , and government revenue as a share of gross domestic product declined from 20.9% in 2000 to 16.3% in 2004. Most of

5184-985: The Kyoto Protocol , the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty , and the International Criminal Court . Terrorism had emerged as an important national security issue in the Clinton administration, and it became one of the dominant issues of the Bush administration. In the late 1980s, Osama bin Laden had established al-Qaeda , a militant Sunni Islamist multi-national organization that sought to overthrow Western-backed governments in Saudi Arabia , Jordan , Egypt , and Pakistan . In response to Saudi Arabia's decision to begin hosting U.S. soldiers in 1991, al-Qaeda had begun

5328-553: The OMB under Gerald Ford , was appointed secretary of the treasury, while former Missouri senator John Ashcroft was appointed attorney general. As Bush had little foreign policy experience, his appointments would serve an important role in shaping U.S. foreign policy during his tenure. Several of his initial top foreign policy appointees had served in his father's administration ; Vice President Cheney had been secretary of defense, National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice had served on

5472-602: The Supreme Court . He sought major changes to Social Security and immigration laws, but both efforts failed. The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq continued, and in 2007 he launched a surge of troops in Iraq . The Bush administration's response to Hurricane Katrina and the dismissal of U.S. attorneys controversy came under attack, with a drop in his approval ratings. A global meltdown in financial markets dominated his last days in office as policymakers looked to avert

5616-577: The Truman administration , Bush decided to use his newfound political capital to fundamentally change U.S. foreign policy. He became increasingly focused on the possibility of a hostile country providing weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) to terrorist organizations. During his early 2002 State of the Union Address , Bush set forth what has become known as the Bush Doctrine , which held that

5760-528: The U.S. Intelligence Community and expanded the government's domestic authority to conduct surveillance of suspected terrorists. The Patriot Act also authorized the use of roving wiretaps on suspected terrorists and expanded the government's authority to conduct surveillance of suspected " lone wolf " terrorists. Bush also secretly authorized the National Security Agency to conduct warrantless surveillance of communications in and out of

5904-664: The United States Court of International Trade . Among them were two future Supreme Court associate justices: Neil Gorsuch to a seat on the Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit in 2006, and Brett Kavanaugh to the Court of Appeals District of Columbia Circuit in 2006. Bush's promise to cut taxes was the centerpiece of his 2000 presidential campaign, and upon taking office, he made tax cuts his first major legislative priority. A budget surplus had developed during

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6048-574: The United States Supreme Court . Cheney and White House Counsel Harriet Miers selected two widely respected conservatives, D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals judge John Roberts and Fourth Circuit judge Michael Luttig , as the two finalists. In June 2005, Justice Sandra Day O'Connor unexpectedly announced that she would retire from the court, and Bush nominated Roberts for her position the following month. After Rehnquist died in September, Bush briefly considered elevating Associate Justice Antonin Scalia to

6192-506: The United States federal government 's Terrorist Screening Center (TSC), is one of several lists included in algorithmic rulesets used by government agencies and airlines to decide who to allow to board airline flights. The TSC's No Fly List is a list of people who are prohibited from boarding commercial aircraft for travel within, into, or out of the United States . This list has also been used to divert aircraft away from U.S. airspace that do not have start- or end-point destinations within

6336-505: The airlines themselves , who collect the sensitive (birth date, etc.) information, may do with this. Secure Flight has many similarities with CAPPS II and the No Fly List , and therefore raises the same validated concerns about civil liberties and due process . Specifically, civil libertarians argue that under the Secure Flight program, there are insufficient redress mechanisms for innocent citizens on watch lists. Additionally,

6480-630: The reconciliation , which in turn necessitated that the tax cuts would phase out in 2011 barring further legislative action. After the tax bill was passed, Senator Jim Jeffords left the Republican Party and began caucusing with the Democrats, giving them control of the Senate. After Republicans re-took control of the Senate during the 2002 mid-term elections, Bush proposed further tax cuts. With little support among Democrats, Congress passed

6624-400: The scientific consensus on climate change . Bush stated that he believed global warming is real and a serious problem, although he asserted that there existed a "debate over whether it's man-made or naturally caused". The Bush administration's stance on global warming remained controversial in the scientific and environmental communities. Critics alleged that the administration misinformed

6768-609: The $ 700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) to buy toxic assets . The House rejected TARP in a 228–205 vote; although support and opposition crossed party lines, only about one-third of the Republican caucus supported the bill. After the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 778 points on the day of the House vote, the House and Senate both passed TARP. Bush later extended TARP loans to U.S. automobile companies, which faced their own crisis due to

6912-468: The 1980s, a mixture of Democrats and Republicans defied Speaker Dennis Hastert and passed a campaign finance reform bill. The House approved the bill with a 240–189 vote, while the bill passed the Senate in a 60–40 vote, the bare minimum required to overcome the filibuster. Throughout the congressional battle on the bill, Bush declined to take a strong position. However, in March 2002, Bush signed into law

7056-756: The 2000 election convinced many Republicans, including Congressman John Boehner of Ohio, to accept an education reform bill that increased federal funding. Seeking to craft a bipartisan bill, Bush courted Democratic senator Ted Kennedy , a leading liberal senator who served as the ranking member on the Senate Committee on Health, Education, and Pensions . Bush favored extensive testing to ensure that schools met uniform standards for skills such as reading and math. Bush hoped that testing would make schools more accountable for their performances and provide parents with more information in choosing which schools to send their children. Kennedy shared Bush's concern for

7200-427: The 2000 election, Bush established a stable of advisers, including supply-side economics advocate Lawrence B. Lindsey and foreign policy expert Condoleezza Rice . With a financial team led by Karl Rove and Ken Mehlman , Bush built up a commanding financial advantage over other prospective Republican candidates. Though several prominent Republicans declined to challenge Bush, Arizona senator John McCain launched

7344-473: The 41st president of the United States, George W. Bush emerged as a presidential contender in his own right with his victory in the 1994 Texas gubernatorial election . After winning re-election by a decisive margin in the 1998 Texas gubernatorial election , Bush became the widely acknowledged front-runner in the race for the Republican nomination in the 2000 presidential election . In the years preceding

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7488-452: The 4th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the government's motion to dismiss Mohamed's lawsuit. On January 22, 2014, Judge Anthony J. Trenga denied most of another government motion to dismiss the lawsuit, allowing the case to proceed toward trial. In 2015 Yonas Fikre of Oregon sued the FBI for harm to his reputation and violation of his due process rights to travel, after he was placed on the No Fly List and then removed. In September 2023,

7632-484: The ACLU of Northern California" and to "[make] public, for the first time, hundreds of records about the government's secret 'no fly' list used to screen airline passengers after September 11, 2001." On August 5, 2010, the ACLU filed a lawsuit on behalf of 14 plaintiffs challenging their placement on the No Fly List. and on June 24, 2014, U.S. District Judge Anna J. Brown ruled in favor of the plaintiffs saying that air travel

7776-510: The Ba'ath Party merely as a career move. Bremer's second major order disbanded the Iraqi military and police services, leaving over 600,000 Iraqi soldiers and government employees without jobs. Bremer also insisted that the CPA remain in control of Iraq until the country held elections, reversing an earlier plan to set up a transition government led by Iraqis. These decisions contributed to the beginning of

7920-592: The Bush administration arranged passage of the Economic Stimulus Act of 2008 . Falling home prices started threatening the financial viability of many institutions, leaving Bear Stearns , a prominent U.S.-based investment bank, on the brink of failure in March 2008. Recognizing the growing threat of a financial crisis, Bush allowed Treasury secretary Paulson to arrange for another bank, JPMorgan Chase , to take over most Bear Stearn's assets. Out of concern that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac might also fail,

8064-423: The Bush administration put both institutions into conservatorship . Shortly afterwards, the administration learned that Lehman Brothers was on the verge of bankruptcy, but the administration ultimately declined to intervene on behalf of Lehman Brothers. Paulson hoped that the financial industry had shored itself up after the failure of Bear Stearns and that the failure of Lehman Brothers would not strongly impact

8208-554: The Bush tax cuts were later made permanent by the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 , though that act rolled back the tax cuts on top earners. Contrary to the rhetoric of the Bush administration and Republicans, the budget deficit increased, leaving many to believe the tax cuts were at fault. Statements by President Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney , and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist that these tax cuts effectively "paid for themselves" were disputed by

8352-646: The CBPP, the U.S. Treasury Department and the CBO. Aside from tax cuts, Bush's other major policy initiative upon taking office was education reform. Bush had a strong personal interest in reforming education, especially regarding the education of low-income and minority groups. He often derided the "soft bigotry of low expectations" for allowing low-income and minority groups to fall behind. Although many conservatives were reluctant to increase federal involvement in education, Bush's success in campaigning on education reform in

8496-608: The FBI, Alsup ruled on January 14, 2014 "that Ibrahim did have the right to sue and ordered the government to tell Ibrahim whether she is still on the list." Ibrahim was represented by the San Jose-based law firm of McManis Faulkner. Ibrahim was awarded $ 400,000 in court costs; in January 2019 the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that she was entitled to the "vast majority" of the millions of dollars in costs her lawyers were requesting, and ordered Alsup to rule on whether

8640-566: The Gulf War; after the war, it had submitted to WMD inspections conducted by the United Nations Special Commission until 1998, when Hussein demanded that all UN inspectors leave Iraq. The administration believed that, by 2001, Iraq was developing weapons of mass destruction, and could possibly provide those weapons to terrorists. Some within the administration also believed that Iraq shared some responsibility for

8784-502: The House Paul Ryan oppose this measure, citing due process concerns and efficacy, respectively. Republicans have blocked attempts by Democrats to attach these provisions to Republican-backed measures. The American Civil Liberties Union has voiced opposition to barring weapons sales to individuals listed on the current form of the No Fly List, stating that: "There is no constitutional bar to reasonable regulation of guns, and

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8928-909: The National Commission on the Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States (9/11 Commission Report) recommends that this watch list matching function "should be performed by TSA and it should utilize the larger set of watch lists maintained by the Federal Government" (See 9/11 Commission Report p. 393). To fulfill this recommendation, TSA published the Secure Flight Final Rule on October 28, 2008. The Final Rule went into effect on December 29, 2008. Previously, individual aircraft operators conducted watch list matching using lists provided by TSA. By assuming watch list matching responsibilities from

9072-401: The National Security Council, and deputy secretaries Paul Wolfowitz and Richard Armitage had also served in important roles. Secretary of State Colin Powell had served as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under the first president Bush. Bush had long admired Powell, and the former general was Bush's first choice for the position. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld , who had served in

9216-469: The No Fly List contained only 2,500 names, with an additional 16,000 "selectees" who "represent a less specific security threat and receive extra scrutiny, but are allowed to fly." As of 2011, the list contained about 10,000 names. In 2012, the list more than doubled in size, to about 21,000 names. In August 2013, a leak revealed that more than 47,000 people were on the list. In 2016, California Senator Dianne Feinstein disclosed that 81,000 people were on

9360-427: The No Fly List could serve as one tool for it, but only with major reform." Specifically, the ACLU's position is that the government's current redress process—the procedure by which listed individuals can petition for removal from the list—does not meet the requirements of the Constitution's Due Process Clause because the process does not "provide meaningful notice of the reasons our clients are blacklisted,

9504-422: The No Fly List is the use of credit reports in calculating the risk score. In response to the controversy, Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officials said in 2005 that they would not use credit scores to determine passengers' risk score and that they would comply with all rights guaranteed by the First and Fourth amendments to the United States Constitution . In the midst of this controversy,

9648-400: The No Fly List of 1.56 million entries and Selectee List of 250,000 entries posted by CommuteAir on an unsecured Amazon Web Services cloud server. An analysis published in 2024 concerns over-representation of ethno-religious groups in the list, based on a redacted copy of the leak. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has long criticized the No Fly List and similar lists because of

9792-404: The No Fly List. There is a huge, secretive US anti-terrorism database for Canada specifically, "Tuscan" (Tipoff US/Canada), revealed by Canada's access to information system. The database is used by both the US and Canada, and applies to all borders, not just airports. It is believed to contain information on about 680,000 people thought to be linked with terrorism. The list was created in 1997 as

9936-430: The No Fly List. Laura K. Donohue would later write in The Cost of Counterterrorism: Power, Politics, and Liberty that "antiwar activists, such as Jan Adams and Rebecca Gordan, and political opponents of the Bush administration, such as Senator Edward Kennedy and civil rights attorney David Cole , found themselves included." In June 2016, Timothy Healy, the former director of the FBI Terrorist Screening Center , disputed

10080-454: The Northern Alliance began its offensive on October 19. The capital of Kabul was captured on November 13, and Hamid Karzai was inaugurated as the new president of Afghanistan. However, the senior leadership of the Taliban and al-Qaeda, including bin Laden, avoided capture. Karzai would remain in power for the duration of Bush's presidency, but his effective control was limited to the area around Kabul, as various warlords took control of much of

10224-687: The Selectee List, and the Terrorist Watch List were created by George W. Bush's administration and have continued through the administrations of Barack Obama , Donald Trump and Joe Biden . Former U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee chair Dianne Feinstein said in May 2010: "The no-fly list itself is one of our best lines of defense." However, the list has been criticized on civil liberties and due process grounds, due in part to its potential for ethnic, religious, economic, political, or racial profiling and discrimination . It has raised concerns about privacy and government secrecy and has been criticized as prone to false positives . The No Fly List

10368-401: The Senate. After years of financial deregulation accelerating under the Bush administration, banks lent subprime mortgages to more and more home buyers, causing a housing bubble . Many of these banks also invested in credit default swaps and derivatives that were essentially bets on the soundness of these loans. In response to declining housing prices and fears of an impending recession,

10512-468: The September 11 attacks, and hoped that the fall of Hussein's regime would help spread democracy in the Middle East, deter the recruitment of terrorists, and increase the security of Israel . In the days following the September 11 attacks, hawks in the Bush administration such as Wolfowitz argued for immediate military action against Iraq, but the issue was temporarily set aside in favor of planning

10656-558: The Supreme Court in the 2010 case of Citizens United v. FEC . After the passage of the Bush tax cuts and the No Child Left Behind Act, Bush turned his domestic focus to healthcare. He sought to expand Medicare so it would also cover the cost of prescription drugs , a program that became known as Medicare Part D . Many congressional Democrats opposed the bill because it did not allow Medicare to negotiate

10800-434: The TSA has merely chosen to start with a less controversial entry point that they are calling the " Registered Traveler " program. TSA has also begun testing of another program called " Secure Flight ", which is supposed to solve some of the problems of CAPPS I while avoiding the privacy issues of CAPPS II. In January 2009, Marcus Holmes conservatively estimated the total cost of the program to be $ 536 million since 9/11, with

10944-522: The U.S. as an occupying force. The fierce fighting of the First Battle of Fallujah alienated many in Iraq, while cleric Muqtada al-Sadr encouraged Shia Muslims to oppose the CPA. Sunni and Shia insurgents engaged in a campaign of guerrilla warfare against the United States, blunting the technological and organizational advantages of the U.S. military. While fighting in Iraq continued, Americans increasingly came to disapprove of Bush's handling of

11088-605: The U.S., but the airline denied him boarding, presumably because he was on the U.S. No Fly List, and he was returned to prison. While he was imprisoned in Kuwait, a lawsuit was filed on his behalf in the Eastern District of Virginia by the Council on American–Islamic Relations . After the lawsuit was filed, he was allowed to return to the U.S.; the U.S. government then moved to dismiss the lawsuit as moot. On May 28, 2013,

11232-609: The US "Tuscan" (Tipoff US/Canada) database is provided to every Canadian border guard and immigration officer; they have the power to detain, interrogate, arrest and deny entry to anyone listed on it. Unlike the no-fly list, which only applies to airports, Tuscan is used for every Canadian land and sea border, and visa and immigration application. In Pakistan , the no fly list is known as the Exit Control List . Presidency of George W. Bush George W. Bush 's tenure as

11376-484: The US Supreme Court agreed to hear the FBI's appeal against the litigation. Canada's federal government has created its own no fly list as part of a program called Passenger Protect . The Canadian list incorporates data from domestic and foreign intelligence sources, including the U.S. No Fly List. It contains between 500 and 2,000 names. In addition, Canada's access to information system revealed that

11520-665: The United States had launched the Gulf War against Iraq after the latter invaded Kuwait . Though the U.S. forced Iraq's withdrawal from Kuwait, it left Saddam Hussein 's administration in place, partly to serve as a counterweight to Iran . After the war, the Project for the New American Century , consisting of influential neoconservatives like Paul Wolfowitz and Cheney, advocated for the overthrow of Hussein. Iraq had developed biological and chemical weapons prior to

11664-406: The United States was the world's lone superpower , it could act unilaterally if necessary. At the same time, Bush sought to enact the less interventionist foreign policy he had promised during the 2000 campaign. Though the first several months of his presidency focused on domestic issues, the Bush administration pulled the U.S. out of several existing or proposed multilateral agreements, including

11808-486: The United States would implement a policy of preemptive military strikes against nations known to be harboring or aiding a terrorist organization hostile to the United States. Bush outlined what he called the " Axis of Evil ," consisting of three nations that, he argued, posed the greatest threat to world peace due to their pursuit of weapons of mass destruction and potential to aid terrorists. The axis consisted of Iraq , North Korea and Iran . Bush also began emphasizing

11952-401: The United States. McCain's 2000 presidential campaign brought the issue of campaign finance reform to the fore of public consciousness in 2001. McCain and Russ Feingold pushed a bipartisan campaign finance bill in the Senate, while Chris Shays (R-CT) and Marty Meehan (D-MA) led the effort of passing it in the House. In just the second successful use of the discharge petition since

12096-550: The United States. The number of people on the list rises and falls according to threat and intelligence reporting. There were reportedly 16,000 names on the list in 2011, 21,000 in 2012, and 47,000 in 2013. The list—along with the Secondary Security Screening Selection , which tags would-be passengers for extra inspection—was created after the September 11 attacks of 2001. The No Fly List,

12240-571: The White House in the wake of the Dubai Ports World controversy and several botched White House initiatives, and he was replaced by Joshua Bolten. Bolten stripped Rove of some of his responsibilities and convinced Henry Paulson , the head of Goldman Sachs , to replace Snow as secretary of the treasury. After the 2006 elections, Rumsfeld was replaced by former CIA director Robert Gates . The personnel shake-ups left Rice as one of

12384-405: The administration decided to overthrow Afghanistan 's conservative Taliban government, which harbored the leaders of al-Qaeda. Powell took the lead in assembling allied nations in a coalition that would launch attacks on multiple fronts. The Bush administration focused especially on courting Pakistani leader Pervez Musharraf , who agreed to join the coalition. On September 14, Congress passed

12528-709: The agency can differentiate the individual from others who may be on the list.'" In April 2007, the U.S. federal government's "terrorist watch list" administered by the Terrorist Screening Center (which is managed principally by the FBI) contained 700,000 records. A year later, the ACLU estimated the list to have grown to over 1,000,000 names and to be continually expanding. However, according to Homeland Security secretary Michael Chertoff , in October 2008

12672-492: The airline identify the traveler as not being the actual person on the No Fly List, after an airline agent has reviewed their identity documents at check-in. However, DHS TRIP has not been very helpful to travelers who accidentally end up on the No Fly List, as their efforts to clear their names are often futile to the extent that they are not told why they are on the list. On January 19, 2023, Swiss hacker maia arson crimew reported that she had gained access to 2019 versions of

12816-485: The airlines, TSA will: Secure Flight began implementation with select domestic aircraft operators at the beginning of 2009 and completed implementation for all covered domestic and international airlines in December 2010. TSA's Office of Threat Assessment and Credentialing is the lead for the program. Contractors supporting the program have included IBM, Accenture, ESR, InfoZen, and Deloitte. Infoglide Software provided

12960-431: The basis for those reasons, and a hearing before a neutral decision-maker." In December 2015, Feinstein's amendment to bar individuals on the terror watch list from purchasing firearms failed in the Senate on a 45-54 vote. Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn of Texas put forth a competing proposal to "give the attorney general the power to impose a 72-hour delay for individuals on the terror watch list seeking to purchase

13104-526: The city of New Orleans after the failure of that city's levees . Over eighteen hundred people died in the hurricane, and Bush was widely criticized for his slow response to the disaster. Stung by the public response, Bush removed Federal Emergency Management Agency director Michael D. Brown from office and stated publicly that "Katrina exposed serious problems in our response capability at all levels of government." After Hurricane Katrina, Bush's approval rating fell below 40 percent, where it would remain for

13248-459: The claim that Kennedy had ever appeared on the list, saying that another person with a similar name—who had accidentally tried to bring ammunition on to a plane—was placed on an airline's watch list and Kennedy was mistakenly detained by the airline, not based on the No Fly List. In October 2006, CBS News ' 60 Minutes reported on the program after it obtained a March 2006 copy of the list containing 44,000 names. Many individuals were "caught in

13392-566: The content and quantity of the watch lists has fallen under scrutiny. The Secure Flight Programme applies to non-US flights overflying the United States. TSA uses a table of airport pairs to determine if a flight is overflying the United States. This article incorporates text verbatim from this website , a publication of the US Transportation Security Administration , in the public domain . No Fly List The No Fly List , maintained by

13536-475: The court battle of Terri Schiavo , a comatose Florida woman who ultimately died. In March 2001, the Bush administration announced that it would not implement the Kyoto Protocol , an international treaty signed in 1997 that required nations to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. The administration argued that ratifying the treaty would unduly restrict U.S. growth while failing to adequately limit emissions from developing nations. The administration questioned

13680-508: The decisions of the Bush administration, particularly the launching of the Iraq War, Powell resigned following the 2004 elections. He was replaced by Rice, while then-deputy national security adviser Stephen Hadley took Rice's former position. Most of Bush's top staffers stayed on after the 2004 election, although Spellings joined the Cabinet as secretary of education and Gonzales replaced Ashcroft as attorney general. In early 2006, Card left

13824-506: The economy, but news of the failure caused stock prices to tumble and froze credit. Fearing a total financial collapse, Paulson and the Federal Reserve took control of American International Group (AIG), another major financial institution that teetered on the brink of failure. Hoping to shore up the other banks, Bush and Paulson proposed the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 , which would create

13968-508: The education of impoverished children, but he strongly opposed the president's proposed school vouchers , which would allow parents to use federal funding to pay for private schools. Both men cooperated to pass the No Child Left Behind Act , which dropped the concept of school vouchers but included Bush's idea of nationwide testing. Both houses of Congress registered overwhelming approval for the bill's final version, which Bush signed into law in January 2002. However, Kennedy would later criticize

14112-611: The face of unified opposition, Republicans abandoned Bush's Social Security proposal in mid-2005. Hurricane Katrina , one of the largest and most powerful hurricanes ever to strike the United States, ravaged several states along the Gulf of Mexico in August 2005. On a working vacation at his ranch in Texas, Bush initially allowed state and local authorities to respond to the natural disaster. The hurricane made landfall on August 29, devastating

14256-545: The fears of critics that this would dissolve the traditional separation of church and state in the United States . To further this commitment, he created the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives to assist faith-based service organizations. In 2003, Bush signed the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act , which banned intact dilation and extraction , an abortion procedure. Early in his administration, President Bush became personally interested in

14400-405: The final debate in October, but the unearthing of Bush's 1976 DUI arrest appeared to sap his campaign's momentum. By the end of election night, Florida emerged as the key state in the election, as whichever candidate won the state would win the presidency. Bush held an extremely narrow lead in the vote by the end of election night, triggering an automatic recount . The Florida Supreme Court ordered

14544-615: The first Black appointee at that high a level. He was followed by Condoleezza Rice (2005–2009), the first Black woman. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales (2005–2007) was and remains in 2024 the highest appointed Hispanic in the history of American government. In addition Bush appointed the first senior officials who were publicly gay. However he campaigned against quotas, and warned that affirmative action that involved quotas were unacceptable. He deliberately selected minorities known as opponents of affirmative action for key civil rights positions. Thus in 2001 Bush nominated Linda Chavez to be

14688-433: The first Latina in the cabinet as Secretary of Labor. She had to withdraw when it was reported that a decade earlier she had hired an illegal immigrant. Upon taking office, Bush had little experience with foreign policy, and his decisions were guided by his advisers. Bush embraced the views of Cheney and other neoconservatives , who de-emphasized the importance of multilateralism ; neoconservatives believed that because

14832-575: The first director of the newly created department. The department was charged with overseeing immigration, border control, customs, and the newly established Transportation Security Administration (TSA), which focused on airport security . Though the FBI and CIA remained independent agencies, the DHS was assigned jurisdiction over the Coast Guard , the Immigration and Naturalization Service (which

14976-554: The first of many challenges the U.S. would face in keeping the peace in Iraq. Bush appointed Paul Bremer to lead the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA), which was charged with overseeing the transition to self-government in Iraq. In his first major order, Bremer announced a policy of de-Ba'athification , which denied government and military jobs to members of Hussein's Ba'ath Party . This policy angered many of Iraq's Sunnis , many of whom had joined

15120-411: The following days, Bush urged the public to renounce hate crimes and discrimination against Muslim-Americans and Arab-Americans . He also declared a " War on Terror ", instituting new domestic and foreign policies in an effort to prevent future terrorist attacks. As Bush's top foreign policy advisers were in agreement that merely launching strikes against al-Qaeda bases would not stop future attacks,

15264-610: The fourth person to win the presidency while losing the popular vote . In the concurrent congressional elections , Republicans retained a narrow majority in the House of Representatives , but lost five seats in the Senate , leaving the partisan balance in the Senate at fifty Republicans and fifty Democrats. Rejecting the idea of a powerful White House chief of staff , Bush had high-level officials report directly to him rather than Chief of Staff Andrew Card . Vice President Cheney emerged as

15408-457: The government again run deficits. The Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 won the support of congressional Republicans and a minority of congressional Democrats, and Bush signed it into law in June 2001. The act lowered the top income tax rate from 39 percent to 35 percent, and it also reduced the estate tax . The narrow Republican majority in the Senate necessitated the use of

15552-469: The government had acted in bad faith. Gulet Mohamed , a U.S. citizen from Virginia, was placed on the no-fly list as a teenager in 2011 while he was visiting family in Kuwait. Because he was on the no-fly list, he was unable to return to the U.S. before his visa expired. He was taken into custody in Kuwait for overstaying his visa, where he alleges that he "was repeatedly beaten and tortured by his interrogators". Kuwaiti authorities tried to deport him to

15696-527: The implementation of the act, arguing that Bush had promised greater federal funding for education. Shortly after the September 11 attacks , Bush announced the creation of the Office of Homeland Security and appointed former governor of Pennsylvania Tom Ridge its director. After Congress passed the Homeland Security Act to create the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Ridge became

15840-423: The importance of spreading democracy worldwide, stating in 2005 that "the survival of liberty in our land depends on the success of liberty in other land." Pursuant to this newly interventionist policy, the Bush administration boosted foreign aid and increased defense expenditures. Defense spending rose from $ 304 billion in fiscal year 2001 to $ 616 billion in fiscal year 2008. During the presidency of his father ,

15984-511: The invasion of Afghanistan. Beginning in September 2002, the Bush administration mounted a campaign designed to win popular and congressional support for the invasion of Iraq. In October 2002, Congress approved the Iraq Resolution , authorizing the use of force against Iraq. While congressional Republicans almost unanimously supported the measure, congressional Democrats were split in roughly equal numbers between support and opposition to

16128-466: The invasion was strongly criticized by many countries ; UN secretary-general Kofi Annan argued that the invasion was a violation of international law and the U.N. Charter . On May 1, 2003, Bush delivered the " Mission Accomplished speech ," in which he declared the end of "major combat operations" in Iraq. Despite the failure to find evidence of an ongoing WMD program or an operational relationship between Hussein and al-Qaeda , Bush declared that

16272-560: The issue of stem cell research. The Clinton administration had issued guidelines allowing the federal funding of research utilizing stem cells, and Bush decided to study the situation's ethics before issuing his own executive order on the issue. Evangelical religious groups argued that the research was immoral as it destroyed human embryos , while various advocacy groups touted the potential scientific advances afforded by stem cell research. In August 2001, Bush issued an executive order banning federal funding for research on new stem cell lines;

16416-400: The lack of notification to persons included on such lists. The ACLU's stance is that the government has not provided a constitutionally adequate means of allowing individuals to challenge their inclusion on the list and that "constitutional rights are at stake when the government stigmatizes Americans as suspected terrorists and bans them from international travel." Among the complaints about

16560-399: The list. Under the settlement, the government paid $ 200,000 in the plaintiffs' attorneys' fees. A separate suit was brought as a class action "filed by people caught in the name game." In response, "TSA created an ombudsman process, whereby individuals now can download and print out a Passenger Identity Verification Form and mail it, along with certain notarized documents, to the TSA 'so

16704-579: The most powerful individual in the White House aside from Bush himself. Bush brought to the White House several individuals who had worked under him in Texas, including Senior Counselor Karen Hughes , Senior Adviser Karl Rove, legal counsel Alberto Gonzales , and Staff Secretary Harriet Miers . Other important White House staff appointees included Margaret Spellings as a domestic policy adviser, Michael Gerson as chief speechwriter, and Joshua Bolten and Joe Hagin as White House deputy chiefs of staff. Paul H. O'Neill , who had served as deputy director of

16848-412: The most prominent individuals in the administration, and she played a strong role in directing Bush's second term foreign policy. Gonzales and Rove both left in 2007 after controversy regarding the dismissal of U.S. attorneys, and Gonzales was replaced by Michael Mukasey , a former federal judge. After the 2004 election, many expected that the aging Chief Justice William Rehnquist would step down from

16992-560: The need for regime change, and the latter three countries each possessed veto power on the United Nations Security Council . At the behest of British prime minister Tony Blair , who supported Bush but hoped for more international cooperation, Bush dispatched Powell to the U.N. to make the case to the Security Council that Iraq maintained an active WMD program. Though Powell's presentation preceded

17136-493: The order allowed research on existing stem cell lines to continue. In July 2006, Bush used his first presidential veto on the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act , which would have expanded federal funding of embryonic stem cell research. A similar bill was passed in both the House of Representatives and the Senate early in mid-2007 as part of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi 's 100-Hour Plan , but

17280-459: The person on the No Fly List. False positives and abuses that have been in the news include: The DHS Traveler Redress Inquiry Program (TRIP) is a procedure for travelers who are delayed or denied boarding of an aircraft, consistently receive excess scrutiny at security checkpoints, or are denied entry to the U.S. because they are believed to be or are told that they are on a government watch list. The traveler must complete an online application at

17424-490: The popular and the electoral college vote. Bush served two terms and was succeeded by Democrat Barack Obama , who won the 2008 presidential election . He is the eldest son of the 41st president, George H. W. Bush . A decisive event reshaping Bush's administration was the September 11, 2001 event. In its aftermath, Congress created the United States Department of Homeland Security and Bush declared

17568-417: The position of chief justice, but instead chose to nominate Roberts for the position. Roberts won confirmation from the Senate in a 78–22 vote, with all Republicans and a narrow majority of Democrats voting to confirm Roberts. To replace O'Connor, the Bush administration wanted to find a female nominee, but was unsatisfied with the conventional options available. Bush settled on Miers, who had never served as

17712-497: The prices of drugs, while many conservative Republicans opposed the expansion of the government's involvement in healthcare. Assisted by Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert and Senate majority leader Bill Frist , Bush overcame strong opposition and won passage of his Medicare bill. In December 2003, Bush signed the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act , the largest expansion of Medicare since

17856-467: The program's creation in 1965. After winning re-election in 2004, Bush made the partial privatization of Social Security his top domestic priority. He proposed restructuring the program so that citizens could invest some of the money they paid in payroll taxes , which fund the Social Security program. The president argued that Social Security faced an imminent funding crisis and that reform

18000-669: The public and did not do enough to reduce carbon emissions and deter global warming. On January 6, 2009, President Bush designated the world's largest protected marine area. The Pacific Ocean habitat includes the Mariana Trench and the waters and corals surrounding three uninhabited islands in the Northern Mariana Islands , Rose Atoll in American Samoa, and seven islands along the equator. In July 2002, following several accounting scandals such as

18144-550: The resolution. Bowing to domestic and foreign pressure, Bush sought to win the approval of the United Nations before launching an attack on Iraq. Led by Powell, the administration won the November 2002 passage of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1441 , which called on Iraq to dismantle its WMD program. Meanwhile, senior administration officials became increasingly convinced that Iraq did indeed possess WMDs and

18288-422: The rest of his tenure in office. Although he concentrated on other domestic policies during his first term, Bush supported immigration reform throughout his administration. In May 2006, he proposed a five-point plan that would increase border security , establish a guest worker program , and create a path to citizenship for the twelve million illegal immigrants living in the United States. The Senate passed

18432-516: The rest of the country. While the Karzai's government struggled to control the countryside, the Taliban regrouped in neighboring Pakistan. As Bush left office, he considered sending additional troops to bolster Afghanistan against the Taliban, but decided to leave the issue for the next administration. After the September 11 attacks, Bush's approval ratings increased tremendously. Inspired in part by

18576-572: The same position during the Ford administration , rounded out the key figures in the national security team. Rumsfeld and Cheney, who had served together in the Ford administration, emerged as the leading foreign policy figures during Bush's first term. O'Neill, who opposed the Iraq War and feared that the Bush tax cuts would lead to deficits, was replaced by John W. Snow in February 2003. Frustrated by

18720-619: The surrounding area and inserted CIA and special forces operatives who linked up with the Northern Alliance , an Afghan resistance group opposed to the Taliban. The second phase consisted of a major air campaign against Taliban and al-Qaeda targets, while the third phase involved the defeat of the remaining Taliban and al-Qaeda forces. The fourth and final phase consisted of the stabilization of Afghanistan, which Franks projected would take three to five years. The war in Afghanistan began on October 7 with several air and missile strikes, and

18864-539: The system" as a result of sharing the exact or similar name of another person on the list; TSA officials said that, as of November 2005, 30,000 people in 2005 had complained that their names were matched to a name on the list via the name matching software used by airlines. In January 2006, the FBI and ACLU settled a federal lawsuit, Gordon v. FBI , brought by Gordon and Adams under the Freedom of Information Act in order to obtain information about how names were added to

19008-399: The tax cut's size and the possibility of future deficits, Vice President Cheney took charge of writing the bill, which the administration proposed to Congress in March 2001. Bush initially sought a $ 1.6 trillion tax cut over a ten-year period, but ultimately settled for a $ 1.35 trillion tax cut. The administration rejected the idea of "triggers" that would phase out the tax reductions should

19152-534: The terror watch lists (such as the No Fly List) from buying firearms or explosives, but these efforts have not succeeded. Senator Dianne Feinstein of California revived the legislation after the November 2015 Paris attacks and President Barack Obama has called for such legislation to be approved. Republicans in Congress such as Senate Homeland Security Committee chair Ron Johnson and former Speaker of

19296-414: The toppling of Hussein "removed an ally of al-Qaeda" and ended the threat that Iraq would supply weapons of mass destruction to terrorist organizations. Believing that only a minimal residual American force would be required after the success of the invasion, Bush and Franks planned for a drawdown to 30,000 U.S. troops in Iraq by August 2003. Meanwhile, Iraqis began looting their own capital, presenting one of

19440-472: The two lists combined contained over a thousand names, and by April 2005 contained about 70,000 names. For the first two and a half years of the program, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Transportation Security Administration (TSA) denied that the program existed. In 2004, then-U.S. Senator Edward Kennedy was denied boarding a flight because his name was similar to an alias found on

19584-445: The underlying identity resolution technology. TSA met its goal to vet 100 percent of all domestic commercial flights by early 2010 and 100 percent of all international commercial flights by the end of 2010. TSA has stated it will not collect or use "commercial data" to conduct Secure Flight watch list matching. It has also released a Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA). The TSA policy, however, makes no mention of any limitations on what

19728-592: The weak economy. Though TARP helped end the financial crisis, it did not prevent the onset of the Great Recession , which would continue after Bush left office. On his first day in office, President Bush reinstated the Mexico City policy , thereby blocking federal aid to foreign groups that offered assistance to women in obtaining abortions . Days later, he announced his commitment to channeling more federal aid to faith-based service organizations, despite

19872-519: Was arrested at the San Francisco-Oakland International Airport in 2005, overturning a lower court decision and allowing her case against inclusion in the No Fly List to proceed through the court system. A public trial began on December 2, 2013 in San Francisco in the courtroom of U.S. District Judge William Alsup . After the government revealed that Ibrahim had ended up on the list because of human error by

20016-616: Was briefed on al-Qaeda's activities, but focused on other foreign policy issues during his first months in office. On September 11, 2001, al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked four airliners and flew two of them into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City , destroying both 110-story skyscrapers. A third plane crashed into Pentagon , and a fourth plane was brought down in Pennsylvania following

20160-757: Was divided into three agencies), the United States Customs Service (which was also divided into separate agencies), and the Federal Emergency Management Agency . The Homeland Security Act represented the most significant departmental reorganization since the National Security Act of 1947 . On October 26, 2001, Bush signed into law the Patriot Act . Passed on the president's request, the act permitted increased sharing of intelligence among

20304-470: Was likely to furnish those WMDs to al-Qaeda; CIA Director George Tenet assured Bush that it was a "slam dunk" that Iraq possessed a stockpile of WMDs. After a U.N. weapons inspections team led by Hans Blix , as well as another team led by Mohamed ElBaradei , failed to find evidence of an ongoing Iraqi WMD program, Bush's proposed regime change in Iraq faced mounting international opposition. Germany, China, France, and Russia all expressed skepticism about

20448-571: Was necessary to ensure its continuing solvency. Bush expected a difficult congressional battle over his proposal, but, as he put it, "I've got political capital, and I intend to spend it." Groups like the AARP strongly opposed the plan, as did moderate Democrats like Max Baucus , who had supported the Bush tax cuts. Ultimately, Bush failed to win the backing of a single congressional Democrat for his plan, and even moderate Republicans like Olympia Snowe and Lincoln Chafee refused to back privatization. In

20592-606: Was staunchly opposed to euthanasia and supported Attorney General John Ashcroft's ultimately unsuccessful suit against the Oregon Death with Dignity Act . However, while he was governor of Texas , Bush had signed a law giving hospitals the authority to remove life support from terminally ill patients against the wishes of spouses or parents, if the doctors deemed it as medically appropriate. This perceived inconsistency in policy became an issue in 2005, when Bush signed controversial legislation to initiate federal intervention in

20736-554: Was vetoed by Bush. After the Supreme Court struck down a state sodomy law in the 2003 case of Lawrence v. Texas , conservatives began pushing for the Federal Marriage Amendment , which would define marriage as a union between a man and a woman. Bush endorsed this proposal and made it part of his campaign during the 2004 and 2006 election cycles. However, President Bush did break from his party in his tolerance of civil unions for homosexual couples. Bush

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