President Barack Obama on Friday vetoed a bill that would have allowed the families of 9/11 victims to sue Saudi Arabia.
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The bill, named Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act (JASTA), would remove the sovereign immunity in US courts from Saudi government, which is not designated state sponsor of terrorism by the United States.
Bin Laden, the mastermind of the September 11, 2001 terror attacks which killed almost 3,000 people in New York, Washington D.C. area and Pennsylvania, was a wealthy Saudi national.
The Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act (JASTA), as the bill is known, would reform a 1976 law granting other countries immunity in U.S. courts – a principle known as “sovereign immunity” – opening up the possibility of lawsuits brought by private citizens against states suspected of helping terrorists carry out attacks on USA soil.
The bill would have given 9/11 families the right to sue in US court for any role that elements of the Saudi government may have played in the attacks.
Earnest stressed that Obama had a strong record of looking out for the families of those who lost loved ones in the September 11 attacks and that he had ordered the operation to take Osama bin Laden off the battlefield.
Congressional sources said White House appeals to security-minded senators like Dianne Feinstein may yet be enough to avoid the rebuke. “It’s why the president’s going to veto it”.
Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton had also said she supports JASTA.
Though the concept of sovereign immunity generally shields governments from lawsuits, the bill creates an exception that allows foreign governments to be held responsible if they support a terrorist attack that kills USA citizens on American soil. Out of President Bill Clinton’s 36 vetoes, two were overridden; President George H.W. Bush had 29 vetoes (in one term) and lost only one.
In a statement issued after Obama’s veto, the families who sought the bill’s passage said they were “outraged and dismayed”, while expressing confidence in the bill’s prospects.
“The bill is not balanced, sets a unsafe precedent, and has real potential to destabilise vital bilateral relationships and the global economy”, GE Chief Executive Jeffrey Immelt said in a letter to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who backs the legislation.
The Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act would allow the families of 9/11 victims to sue Riyadh if it is found to be legally liable for helping to support the devastating terror attacks.
The Saudi government held $117 billion in U.S. Treasury debt in March, according to Treasury figures obtained by Bloomberg.
The move on Friday means Obama will potentially face the first veto override in his presidency.
The White House argues the legislation would undermine sovereign immunity and potentially expose U.S. officials and service members to litigation.
The US-Saudi relationship had already been strained by Obama’s engagement with Saudi’s Shia foe Iran and the July release of a secret report on Saudi involvement in the attacks. “Our assumption is that the veto will be overridden”.
Such a rebuke – which Congressional sources say could come as early as next Tuesday – would mark Obama’s last months in office and show the White House to be much weakened. If the Saudis are as entirely innocent as they say they are, Quinn adds, “why be afraid of an exploration of the facts?”
The Senate had passed the bill in May by a voice vote.
“If JASTA were enacted, courts could potentially consider even minimal allegations accusing USA allies or partners of complicity in a particular terrorist attack in the United States to be sufficient to open the door to litigation and wide-ranging discovery against a foreign country”, Obama said.
Elsewhere in his remarks, Gravel argued that it makes “political” and “logical” sense not to support Saudi Arabia because of the bad things it has done.
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With no recorded votes on the Bill, it is unclear exactly how many members will back the override. The administration was also apprehensive about undermining a longstanding yet hard relationship with Saudi Arabia.
