Passage of the bipartisan legislation will likely prove a pyrrhic victory as the White House has already indicated President Obama will veto the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act (JASTA).
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However, the bill faces a potential veto by President Barack Obama amid concerns that it could harm USA relations with Saudi Arabia.
In July, Congress released 28 classified pages from the 9/11 Commission report that many people thought contained links between Saudi Arabia and 9/11.
“This legislation would change long-standing, global law regarding sovereign immunity”, said White House spokesman Josh Earnest said back in May, after the Senate unanimously approved the bill.
But President Barack Obama has vowed to veto the bill because it violates the fundamental principle of sovereign immunity, which protects nation states from both civil and criminal lawsuits.
Opponents of the bill have expressed concern that allowing lawsuits against foreign governments will open up the United States and its citizens to similar, retaliatory measures in countries overseas.
The bill would give victims’ families the right to sue in US court for any role that elements of the Saudi government may have played in the 2001 attacks that killed thousands of Americans in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania. Saudi officials have denied that their government had any role in plotting the attacks. John Cornyn, R-Texas, a co-sponsor of the Senate bill, said in a statement.
JASTA would remove sovereign immunity, preventing lawsuits against governments, for countries found to be involved in terrorist attacks on United States soil.
The US Congress has passed a bill that would allow families of the victims of the 9/11 attacks to sue Saudi Arabia over the assaults that left nearly 3,000 people dead.
Before the Senate approved the measure in May, Saudi Arabia threatened to sell off hundreds of billions of dollars worth of USA assets if the legislation became law. “If Saudi Arabia was culpable, it should be held accountable”.
“If they’ve done nothing wrong, they have nothing to worry about”, he added. Washington has also warned of the possibility of major diplomatic and economic fallout with the Saudis if the legislation passes.
“This is a great day for America”, said Republican Rep. Peter King of NY, speaking on the House floor before the vote.
White House press secretary Josh Earnest said in an email on Friday that “our position has not changed” on the bill, which suggests a veto is all but certain.
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In this case, it would allow suits to proceed in federal court in NY as lawyers try to prove that the Saudis were involved in the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon.
