Book excerpt: For the past four decades, the United States was victimized by both domestic and international terrorism. The September 11, 2001 brutal attacks were the most devastating terrorist acts ever recorded in history. The United States federal legal responses to the challenge of terrorism constitute a substantial and far ranging body of statutory law. The materials included in this volume are the most important laws that concern the threat of terrorism. Many of these laws are part of the general criminal and civil laws of the United States and apply to various forms of criminal and civil activity, including, but not limited, to terrorism. The book also incorporated the latest legislation, the U.S.A. Patriot Act of 2001, signed into law by President George W. Bush on October 26, 2001. Terrorism-related topics include aliens and nationality; armed forces; crimes and criminal procedure; aviation; biological and chemical weapons; foreign relations, antiterrorism assistance, diplomatic security, judiciary and judicial procedure; shipping; transportation; and war and national defense.