The House will vote this week on a bill that would allow families of victims of the September 11 terrorist attacks to sue Saudi Arabia in USA courts over its alleged involvement, a House GOP leadership aide confirmed Wednesday.
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Congress on Friday approved a bill that would allow the victims of 9/11 to sue the government of Saudi Arabia – putting lawmakers on a collision course with the White House.
However, the veto could also be an unpopular move that risks political consequences for the Democrats less than two months before the presidential elections on November 8.
The Saudi foreign minister warned the bill would strip the principle of sovereign immunity and usher in the “law of the jungle”. Fifteen of the 19 hijackers who carried out the attacks were Saudi citizens.
Saudi Arabia has tried to block the bill, using the services of its many lobbyists in Washington. New York Sen. Charles Schumer helped to add a new section that gives the US attorney general and the secretary of state power to hinder litigation against the Saudis. “We urge you to sign this bill without delay”, the two senators wrote in the letter, which was released hours after the legislation passed the House unanimously. Its passage was greeted with applause and cheers in the House chamber.
The White House’s opposition to the legislation stems from concern it could weaken US ties with Saudi Arabia, expose USA citizens overseas to legal risks and open the door to lawsuits against the US from foreign countries.
If the president does veto the bill, votes from two-thirds of the members in the House and Senate could override the it.
The United States House of Representatives will reportedly vote this week on a bill allowing families of 9/11 victims to sue Saudia Arabia, a Republican leadership source told Politico Wednesday. This news story is related to Print/149246-US-House-votes-to-allow-911-families-to-sue-Saudi-govt/ – breaking news, latest news, pakistan ne.
Supporters argue that if Saudi Arabia, or any other government, is innocent of involvement in attacks, they have nothing to fear from the legislation.
The Obama administration in July declassified 28 pages of the report from the 9/11 Commission that pointed to multiple links between the terrorists and associates of Saudi Arabian Prince Bandar, the former longtime ambassador to the United States.
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US President Barack Obama (2nd R) walks past Saudi delegates as he arrives for the G20 summit in Hangzhou, China, on September 4, 2016. Bi-partisan members of both the House and Senate took part in a memorial service for the almost 3,000 victims of the attacks just after the House passed the bill.
