The United States Congress passed legislation last week allowing the families of September 11 victims to sue Saudi Arabia for damages incurred in the attacks.
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Those comments are the clearest indication yet Obama will nix the bipartisan legislation, opening up the possibility Congress could override an Obama veto for the first time.
Obama was expected to meet with Congressional leaders, including House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, on Monday afternoon to discuss the bill.
King said September 11 families deserve their day in court and he’s confident Congress will override the president’s veto, WCBS 880’s Sean Adams reported.
Blumenthal says he is prepared to lead an override effort if the President vetoes the bill. The president reportedly fears that enacting such a law could potentially lead to the US being sued in foreign courts itself in the future. “It only applies to acts of terrorism that are supported or funded or planned by a foreign government”, King said.
The bill addresses a 1976 law that gives foreign nations broad immunity from USA lawsuits by amending it to allow for nations to be sued in federal courts if they are found to have played any role in terrorist attacks that killed Americans on home soil.
“That’s not an effective, forceful way for us to respond to terrorism”, spokesman Josh Earnest said, adding that the text, which has raised major concerns among Washington’s Gulf allies, has yet to reach the president’s desk. “Additionally, the bill authorizes federal courts to exercise personal jurisdiction over and impose liability on a person who commits, or aids, abets, or conspires to commit, an act of worldwide terrorism against a US national”. The House acted on the measure Friday, two days before the fifteen year anniversary of the terror attacks.
“The way this bill is now written exposes the USA … to significant risks in courts across the world”, White House Press Secretary said at his daily briefing Monday. “I hope for the sake of the families who have suffered such losses and fought so hard, the administration will not veto this bill”.
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Closing the detention center at Guantanamo Bay has been an administration priority since Obama took office in 2009. A group of 64 House members signed a letter in August asking Mr. Obama to delay a $1.15 billion arms sale to the kingdom, citing concerns over humanitarian costs in the Yemen conflict, in which the Saudis are heavily involved.
