How america has changed

How America has changed Over the course of thirteen years, America has changed significantly. Things such as transportation, security and even budgets for defense related agencies have changed drastically. I think that America is much safer today although it is still not a completely safe place to live. The law enforcement still has a ways to go with making america feel safe. If you pass a cop on a high-way or just simply walking down a sidewalk you should not feel threatened or scared, you should feel safe but sadly that is not the case. One of the main things that has changed since 9/11 is traveling. Two months after the attack congress federalized airport security by passing the Aviation and Transportation Security act. Before 9/11, security had been handled at each airport which outsourced to private security companies. The new Transportation Security Act implemented procedures that included stricter guidelines on passenger and luggage screening. This is one of the reasons why America is safer today because this eliminates the possibility of a passenger bringing a potential weapon onto a plane and threatening the lives of other passengers. Another way that America has gotten safer is security has improved significantly. Classified documents leaked last year by government contractor Edward Snowden detail the growth of a massive surveillance state that has secretly seeped into the lives of millions of ordinary Americans. Although it may be slightly creepy that the government is watching you at all times, this is what needs to happen to America in order to become a safer place since 9/11. One last change is budget for defense related agencies have sky-rocketed. Security’s discretionary budget jumped from about $16 billion in 2002 to more than $43 billion in 2011. The Secure Communities program, established in 2008, allows local law enforcement to check the immigration status of every person booked in a county or local jail – even if not ultimately