Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir holds a press conference in Washington, DC, on July 15, 2016, following the release of 28 pages of a 9/11 Congressional report.
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The bill would give victims’ families the right to sue in USA court for any role that elements of the Saudi government may have played in the 2001 attacks that killed thousands of Americans in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania.
In May, the Senate passed the measure, which was sponsored by Sens.
Don DeBar, a radio host and TV commentator based in NY, made the comments on Saturday, after the US Congress unanimously passed a bill that would authorize victims of the 9/11 attacks to sue the Saudi government.
“The president of the United States continues to harbour serious concerns that this legislation would make the United States vulnerable in other court systems around the world”, Earnest said. Washington has also warned of the possibility of major diplomatic and economic fallout with the Saudis if the legislation passes.
The concern is that the law could damage the U.S.’ relationship with Saudi Arabia and create a risky situation for American officials overseas.
A decision by Obama to veto legislation “that would give 9/11 families their well-deserved day in court would truly stain his legacy”, McGlinchey said. The Saudi foreign minister, Adel al-Jubeir, has warned lawmakers that if the bill became law, the country would sell $750 billion in USA assets, including treasury securities.
Democrat Senator Chuck Schumer, a co-sponsor of the bill, told reporters in May that he is confident that if the bill is vetoed the Senate would be able to override it because they do not believe the White House arguments stand up. Saudi Arabia, a key U.S. ally, has denied any role in the attacks. According to the newspaper The Washington Post, Saudi officials put pressure on congresspeople in recent weeks to avoid approval of that measure and threatened to withdraw millions of U.S. dollars from the USA banks and sell an important group of assets of the United States if the document becomes a law. They showed that while the United States probed links between the government of Saudi Arabia and the 9/11 attacks, it found multiple suspicions but no proven ties.
Fifteen of the 19 terrorists involved in the 9/11 terror attacks were Saudi nationals.
Sen. Chuck Schumer has been an outspoken proponent of the bill.
Saudi Arabia has long denied such allegations and campaigned hard against the bill – but supporters shrugged off that pressure, arguing that if Saudis had done nothing wrong, they had nothing to worry about. The Senate unanimously passed the same bill in May. This legislation would change longstanding global law regarding sovereign immunity.
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The 15-year anniversary of the 9/11 attacks will be Sunday, September 11.
