President Barack Obama will likely reject a bill from Congress that allows relatives of 9/11 victims to sue foreign governments or officials over the terror attacks, the White House said Monday.
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Obama would veto the bill and warned of “unintended consequences”, saying the bill would “change longstanding worldwide law regarding sovereign immunity and the president continues to harbor serious concerns this legislation would make the USA vulnerable in other court systems around the world”. “But the president believes that it’s important to look out for our country, to look out for our service members and look out for our diplomats”, Earnest said.
Differences between the White House and lawmakers backing the bill centers on concerns held by some of the families of victims of the 9/11 attacks and a bipartisan cadre of lawmakers that Saudi Arabia was involved in the attacks.
According to CNN, congress is expected to try to override the veto, which would require a two-thirds vote against the president in each chamber.
The US House of Representatives passed the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act by a unanimous voice vote on Friday.
“I do anticipate the president would veto this legislation when it is presented to him”. The president reportedly fears that enacting such a law could potentially lead to the US being sued in foreign courts itself in the future.
House Speaker Paul Ryan had also said in April that the bill needed to be reviewed “to make sure we are not making mistakes with our allies and that we’re not catching people in this that shouldn’t be caught up in this”.
Saudi Arabia, however, is a US military ally. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), who introduced the bill in the Senate, said in a statement Monday.
The US senate voted unanimously in support of the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act in May.
Obama has voiced opposition to the effort for months, fearing that it could expose the United States to lawsuits by individuals in other countries.
But the White House has long argued there are bigger issues at play than the pending victims’ families lawsuit. Both major candidates to replace Obama, Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton and Republican nominee Donald Trump, have said they oppose the deal.
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The strategic relationship between Saudi Arabia and the US isn’t likely to be threatened regardless of the outcome because the countries share key common interests in maintaining security in the Persian Gulf and countering terrorism, said Thomas Lippman, a Saudi analyst at the Middle East Institute in Washington. John Cornyn, R-Texas – could lead to the first veto override of Obama’s presidency.
