Congressional consideration of Patriot Act renewal gives us a chance to weigh in on an series of issues of crucial importance to overseas American citizens. The Patriot Act gave the FBI and other agencies enormous, unnecessary new powers to violate the privacy of American citizens, simply by alleging that the tools might prevent future terrorist attacks. Hundreds of innocent Muslims have been detained, and many expelled, but no genuine terror cells have been detected in the U.S. Nor have any terror attacks taken place in the U.S. since 2001.
There is a growing consensus that the real terror threat to the U.S. post-9/11 has been massively exaggerated to serve the bureaucratic and political convenience of the Bush Administration.
One price overseas Americans pay for the Patriot Act is the refusal of U.S. banks and investment companies to allow new accounts by U.S. citizens who are not residents of the U.S. See the link below.