The Obama administration has expressed concern that the bill would set a president, putting the US government, soldiers, diplomats and even corporation in legal jeopardy in foreign courts.
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The legislation, which also passed the Senate by a wide margin in May, would narrow the scope of foreign sovereign immunity by authorizing federal courts to hear criminal and civil cases against foreign states or officials suspected to have been involved in acts of global terrorism, according to a Congressional Research Service summary.
The White House’s position on legislation that unanimously passed both chambers of Congress potentially sets up a showdown on an emotionally charged topic.
“I have sympathy with the notion of hitting those countries which actively support terrorism”, Lellouche said Friday.
“By saying that he fears retaliatory action, the president is sending one more sign of weakness to the world”, King said in his press release.
Fifteen of the 19 men who hijacked four planes and flew them into targets in NY and Washington in 2001 were Saudi citizens, though Riyadh has always denied having any role in the attacks.
“The families of the 9/11 victims have suffered so much and fought so hard for justice”, said Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of NY.
Richard Durbin, another Senate Democrat, said “We’re all on the record supporting it, so at this point I think it’s a heavy lift for the president to have his veto sustained”.
Earnest also argued that the measure would risk sowing confusion by allowing individual courts to determine which countries sponsor terrorism; the government already has a formal system in place for making such a designation.
“The principle of sovereign immunity protects the United States as much as any other country in the world, given how much the us is involved in the world”, Earnest said.
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.
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 USA military raid that killed al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden in 2011.
A congressman’s advisor told Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper that the congressmen are keen on a vote on the bill sponsored by the democratic Jerrold Nadler. If they are successful, this would be the first time in Obama’s presidency.
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Saudi Arabia has strongly opposed the legislation.
