President Barack Obama on Friday vetoed legislation allowing families of victims of the September 11 attacks to sue Saudi Arabia, a move expected to prompt the U.S. Congress to overturn his decision with a rare veto override, the first of his presidency.
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The White House is strongly opposed to the legislation, known as the “Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act”, out of concerns it will open the floodgates and leave the US vulnerable to similar suits. He said it would undermine already-strained diplomatic relations with a critical US ally.
He further stated if the members of the House of Representatives override President’s veto, Saudi Arabia might decide to change the denomination of oil sales from dollars to some other currency.
Gravel believes President Obama’s decision to veto the 9/11 bill was aimed at protecting Saudi Arabia’s interests. As the top Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee, Cardin’s decision could influence other Democratic senators who say they’re still on the fence about whether to override or sustain the JASTA veto.
“Even more disappointing is the president’s refusal to listen to the families of the victims taken from us on September 11th, who should have the chance to hold those behind the deadliest terrorist attack in American history accountable”, he said in a statement released Friday. But, he said, “the JASTA would be detrimental to US national interests more broadly”.
The White House has argued that the bill would prompt other nations to retaliate, stripping the immunity the United States enjoys in other parts of the world.
An organization representing numerous 9/11 families said Friday that it was “outraged and dismayed” by the veto, calling Obama’s reasons “unconvincing” and “unsupportable”.
But Republicans will need the backing of Democratic lawmakers, who the White House is lobbying furiously. But prolonged negotiations over a government funding bill and a package to combat Zika virus have delayed the recess, meaning lawmakers are still likely to be in Washington next week to cast an override vote.
“Neither the President nor Congress nor lobbyists for foreign kingdoms should be permitted to make us wait another day to pass JASTA”, she said.
Obama, in a statement accompanying his veto message, said he had “deep sympathy” for the 9/11 families and their desire to see justice for their relatives.
He said it would take the official response to any foreign government supporting terrorism “out of the hands of national security and foreign policy professionals” and instead place it in the hands of private litigants and courts. “JASTA is a narrowly drawn statute that restores longstanding legal principles that have enjoyed bipartisan support for decades”.
“I think there’s a gut instinct that state sponsors of terrorism should have to pay, but proving state sponsorship is often hard”, he said to the Post.
“I worry about trial lawyers trying to get rich off of this”, he told CNN. “And I do worry about the precedents”, Ryan said. The bill had passed by voice vote – meaning lawmakers didn’t have to go on the record with their positions – and the White House was hoping the prospect of a recorded vote would lead some Democrats to reconsider publicly rebuking their president.
“We also make a strong case that the most effective way for the United States to confront state sponsors of terrorism is to level a government-wide designation against them and take appropriate steps, including sanctions, to isolate them from the United States and the rest of the global community, that that is a forceful way to compel them to stop supporting terrorism”, he said.
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Obama yesterday advised Hillary Clinton, who soon faces Republican rival Donald Trump in the first presidential debate, “Be yourself and explain what motivates you”.
