“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.
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One of the fears held by the Obama administration is that that the law could open the USA government up to lawsuits in countries around the world, 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.
Based on the vote totals in the House and Senate, Congress has enough votes to override a veto should Obama issue one.
The bill passed unanimously in the House on Friday and passed unanimously in the Senate in May.
Prior to the House vote, Speaker Paul D. Ryan told reporters Thursday that members had weighed concerns about the bill but that most seemed to believe the arguments for the legislation were more compelling. In July, a 28-page 2002 congressional report on the September 11, 2001 terror attacks was released Friday and it indicated some of the hijackers had ties to people in the Saudi government. “You’re bound to see the Obama administration do everything they can to sustain a veto”. “I hope for the sake of the families who have suffered such losses and fought so hard, the administration will not veto this bill”. It submits those countries to a whole list of limitations and restrictions that isolate them not just from the USA, but in many cases, the rest of the world, he said. Congress already slighted them when it denuded their bill and then passed it.
If Mr Obama does veto the law, the vote to override is not likely until after the November elections.
Earnest said that the law runs would run the risk of allowing individual courts to determine which countries sponsor terrorism, jeopardizing the system the federal government has in place.
“The president intends to veto this legislation …”
A person touches the south reflecting pool at the National September 11 Memorial and Museum on the 15th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks in Manhattan, New York, U.S., September 11, 2016.
Law would allow victims to sue Saudi government.
Still, many members of Congress expressed continued support this week for the bill. The Senate passed the bill in May.
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When US Vice President Joe Biden visited Ankara several weeks later, he said he understood the “intense feeling” in Turkey over Gulen.
