Families who lost loved ones in the September 11 attacks are calling on President Barack Obama to sign a controversial piece of legislation. “The President will veto and we’ll override it by a large margin”, Sen.
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The bill allows families of 9/11 victims to sue the Saudi government within the US legal system.
“Lindsey Graham was one of the first signers, and I think he’s allowing himself to be influenced by the Saudi government”.
The House and Senate have both approved the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act.
The administration argues the bill could open up US citizens overseas to retaliatory legal attacks.
Family members of 9/11 victims, however, say the act would serve as a powerful deterrent against terrorism and a tool to expose new facts in court.
“It’s money. At the end of the day it’s money, and money shouldn’t motivate justice”, said Francine Gallagher, 48, who lost her husband in the World Trade Center, leaving her with an 8-week-old son.
Carrying photos of victims and signs saying “Stop protecting terrorism” and “Pass JASTA now”, protesters chanted “Stand with us” and “President Obama, you can’t hide, we’ll get Congress to override”. “Veto the bill, if that’s what you made a decision to do”, said Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn (R-Texas).
But Blumenthal insisted that JASTA would not unfairly target Saudi Arabia, which has been a steadfast ally of the U.S.in the Middle East despite its embrace of an extreme form of Islam – Wahhabism – that considers unbelievers to be heathens. “All of a sudden he’s been wavering”, she said.
Janet Carver and Sylvia Carver, whose sister Sharon died at the Pentagon, said they hoped Obama would sign the bill, noting it passed unanimously.
Ziminski and other 9/11 family members expect Obama will veto the bill.
Sylvia Carver, center, and Janet Carver, right, participate in a protest near the White House on Tuesday.
“Denying us justice is un-American”, said Terry Strada, whose husband died in the NY attacks.
Congressional aides have said the measure appeared to have enough support, two-thirds majorities in both the Senate and the House of Representatives, for lawmakers to override an Obama veto for the first time since he took office in January 2009.
Officials from Saudi Arabia, home to 15 of the 19 terrorists who hijacked airplanes on 9/11, have always been suspected of having at least some unexplained connection to the terrorists, whether or not they knew the men’s intentions. Bracken said. “Let the proof be known”. Chile, she says, was successfully sued after an agent in 1976 assassinated dissident Orlando Letelier with a auto bomb in Washington, D.C.
A White House spokesman was unable to provide a date for when Obama intends to veto the bill.
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White House officials say they are hoping to rally lawmakers to belatedly join the president and uphold his veto. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said Tuesday he “would be surprised if it didn’t get a lot of votes” when it comes up again for a vote, which Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said is likely to happen before the chamber adjourns until after Election Day.
