] "This is something you have on the shelf," said
] Hoofnagle. "You wait for an opportune moment, like going
] to war, to introduce it. They call this a draft, but this
] bill is definitely close to final and gives a good road
] map of what the Justice Department wants."

I wonder how long the patriot act was on the shelf before September 11th. This is fairly reasonable evidence that these acts are a general effort at widening powers rather then a specific effort to enable the investigation of specific crimes.

Wired News: A Chilly Response to 'Patriot II'