President Obama is expected to veto a bill that would allow the families of 9/11 victims to sue Saudi Arabia, White House press secretary Josh Earnest told reporters Monday. “The way that this bill is now written exposes the United States, US diplomats, US service members and, in some situations, even US companies to significant risk in courts all across the world”, he said. Another is that it could prompt other countries to pass similar laws that would “drag” the USA government, corporations and even diplomats into courts in their countries, Earnest said.
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Should Congress wish to override the veto, it would require a two-thirds vote in both the House and Senate.
White House officials continue to insist that President Obama intends to veto the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act (JASTA), which unanimously passed in both the House and Senate, claiming that the weakening of the principle of sovereign immunity is a danger to the US.
Analysts believe that Obama will face a huge legislative battle in the upcoming days against the Congress on the case of JASTA, which would remove sovereign immunity, preventing lawsuits against governments, for countries found to be involved in terrorist attacks on US soil.
The legislation has so far met Senate approval, but the White House has threatened to veto the measure, a move supported by Qatar and the rest of the Gulf countries.
Last May, after visiting Saudi Arabia, Speaker Paul D. Ryan warned that Congress ought to make sure “we’re not making mistakes with our allies”.
But supporters of the bill say the transfers could allow some detainees to eventually return to terrorism. Saudi Arabia, a close USA ally in the Middle East, has voiced strong opposition to the bill.
If Obama shuts down the bill, it will be the 11th veto of his presidency.
The bill was inspired by victims of the 2001 terrorist attacks, and its passage was timed to coincide with the 15th anniversary of the attacks on Sunday. Congress already slighted them when it denuded their bill and then passed it.
Long-standing lawsuits filed by some victims’ families have been blocked by the current sovereign immunity law, but pressure has been growing in Washington during the current election campaign cycle for the law to be changed to allow the lawsuits to go forward.
But he added that Obama’s “words and deeds when standing up for the interests of the 9/11 families speak for themselves”, citing the US military raid that killed al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden in 2011.
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The sponsor of the bill, Sen.
