Paveing the way?!

Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996

Way back then action was being taken to control or at least manipulate the influence of NS, or National Security. Could this be one of the lost peices that paved the way for the horrid and despicable PA(Patriot Act)?
Notice the wording, the key word is "act". If we define act it could be used to refure to an action. are these actions real, or rehersals?

Source

Don't skim it, read it. If you do not like to read, WTF are you doing on a computer?