Congress approves bill allowing families of Sept. 11 victims to sue Saudi Arabia
The White House has indicated it may veto a bill approved by Congress on Friday that allows families of Sept. 11 victims to sue Saudi Arabia.
The legislation would eliminate sovereign immunity for foreign governments in cases involving terrorist attacks within the United States, the Washington Post reports. The bill was sent to the president after the House gave its approval by voice vote.
According to the article, “Bill supporters are bracing for a veto fight with the White House, which argues the bill could harm the United States’ relationship with Saudi Arabia and establish a legal precedent that jeopardizes American officials overseas.”
U.S. law already allows citizens to sue countries that are designated as state sponsors of terrorism by the U.S. government. The new bill doesn’t require such a designation, which would allow suits against Saudi Arabia, according to a Wall Street Journal op-ed (sub. req.) that opposes the bill. The authors are John Bolton, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, and former U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey.
The belief that Saudi Arabia was implicated in the attacks surfaced after the government withheld 28 pages from a report that dealt with possible evidence of Saudi involvement. The pages have since been released, with some redactions, and they don’t add much to information already available, the Post says. Families of victims hope to learn more through the courts.
