On December 16, 2004 Voyager 1 at 94 AU crossed the heliospheric termination shock and began the exploration of the vast region of the heliosheath. At the termination shock the observed intensity of anomalous cosmic rays > 4 MeV/n was much below that expected at what was generally believed to be their acceleration site while the galactic cosmic ray intensity (150-380 MeV/n He) was close to its solar maximum value. Based on the observations of Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 in the immediate foreshock region and of the initial 2.2 years of Voyager 1 in the heliosheath we propose that there were 3 major temporal effects that collectively produced the low anomalous cosmic ray intensity at the time of the termination shock crossing: (a) The passage of the large interplanetary transients associated with the intense October/November 2003 solar events and subsequent solar activity played a major role in reducing the energetic particles over the ~4 month period prior to the termination shock crossing. (b) The close correlation between the anomalous and galactic cosmic rays over cycle 23 suggests a long-term solar cycle modulation of the anomalous cosmic rays at the termination shock. (c) There is a variation of the anomalous cosmic ray intensity associated with the reversal of the interplanetary magnetic field at the termination shock over the cycle 23 solar maximum. In early 2007 the GCR He is approaching its expected solar minimum value at Voyager 1 and Voyager 2, and the effects of cosmic ray modulation in the heliosheath can be determined directly. In addition, there has been a significant increase in the intensity of 2.5-140 MeV electrons starting in the immediate foreshock region. These electrons are especially sensitive to the passage of transients through the heliosheath. It should also be possible to estimate their local interstellar intensity.