SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Despite Obama's Veto Threat, US House Votes to Allow 9/11 Victims to Sue Saudi Arabia
With the bill's strong bipartisan backing, Obama could face his first veto override
Sep 09, 2016
The U.S. House of Representatives on Friday overwhelmingly voted to allow families of 9/11 victims to sue nations, including Saudi Arabia, for any role their government may have played in the terrorist attacks.
As the New York Times explains,
The bill addresses a 1976 law that gives foreign nations broad immunity from American lawsuits by amending it to allow for nations to be sued in federal courts if they are found to have played any role in terrorist attacks that killed Americans on home soil. It also allows Americans to direct financial damage claims against those who funded the attacks.
The bill, which passed the Senate in May, now heads to President Obama, who has signaled he will veto the legislation.
In April, White House press secretary Josh Earnest said, "It could put the United States and our taxpayers and our service members and our diplomats at significant risk if other countries were to adopt a similar law," adding, "The whole notion of sovereign immunity is at stake."
Obama, for his part, said in April, "If we open up the possibility that individuals and the United States can routinely start suing other governments, then we are also opening up the United States to being continually sued by individuals in other countries." That, according to some observers, reflected the fear that the legislation could make U.S. officials the subject of lawsuits over drone strikes.
As Reuters reports, "If Obama carries out that threat and the required two-thirds of both the Republican-majority House and Senate still support the bill, it would be the first time since Obama's presidency began in 2009 that Congress had overridden a veto."
ThinkProgress writes that the House vote sets off "a diplomatic nightmare for President Barack Obama," as "[t]he legislation is sure to antagonize a key U.S. ally in the Middle East which already has tense relations with the administration."
Still, as Reuters reported this week, "Obama's administration has offered Saudi Arabia more than $115 billion in weapons, other military equipment and training, the most of any U.S. administration in the 71-year U.S.-Saudi alliance."
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
The U.S. House of Representatives on Friday overwhelmingly voted to allow families of 9/11 victims to sue nations, including Saudi Arabia, for any role their government may have played in the terrorist attacks.
As the New York Times explains,
The bill addresses a 1976 law that gives foreign nations broad immunity from American lawsuits by amending it to allow for nations to be sued in federal courts if they are found to have played any role in terrorist attacks that killed Americans on home soil. It also allows Americans to direct financial damage claims against those who funded the attacks.
The bill, which passed the Senate in May, now heads to President Obama, who has signaled he will veto the legislation.
In April, White House press secretary Josh Earnest said, "It could put the United States and our taxpayers and our service members and our diplomats at significant risk if other countries were to adopt a similar law," adding, "The whole notion of sovereign immunity is at stake."
Obama, for his part, said in April, "If we open up the possibility that individuals and the United States can routinely start suing other governments, then we are also opening up the United States to being continually sued by individuals in other countries." That, according to some observers, reflected the fear that the legislation could make U.S. officials the subject of lawsuits over drone strikes.
As Reuters reports, "If Obama carries out that threat and the required two-thirds of both the Republican-majority House and Senate still support the bill, it would be the first time since Obama's presidency began in 2009 that Congress had overridden a veto."
ThinkProgress writes that the House vote sets off "a diplomatic nightmare for President Barack Obama," as "[t]he legislation is sure to antagonize a key U.S. ally in the Middle East which already has tense relations with the administration."
Still, as Reuters reported this week, "Obama's administration has offered Saudi Arabia more than $115 billion in weapons, other military equipment and training, the most of any U.S. administration in the 71-year U.S.-Saudi alliance."
The U.S. House of Representatives on Friday overwhelmingly voted to allow families of 9/11 victims to sue nations, including Saudi Arabia, for any role their government may have played in the terrorist attacks.
As the New York Times explains,
The bill addresses a 1976 law that gives foreign nations broad immunity from American lawsuits by amending it to allow for nations to be sued in federal courts if they are found to have played any role in terrorist attacks that killed Americans on home soil. It also allows Americans to direct financial damage claims against those who funded the attacks.
The bill, which passed the Senate in May, now heads to President Obama, who has signaled he will veto the legislation.
In April, White House press secretary Josh Earnest said, "It could put the United States and our taxpayers and our service members and our diplomats at significant risk if other countries were to adopt a similar law," adding, "The whole notion of sovereign immunity is at stake."
Obama, for his part, said in April, "If we open up the possibility that individuals and the United States can routinely start suing other governments, then we are also opening up the United States to being continually sued by individuals in other countries." That, according to some observers, reflected the fear that the legislation could make U.S. officials the subject of lawsuits over drone strikes.
As Reuters reports, "If Obama carries out that threat and the required two-thirds of both the Republican-majority House and Senate still support the bill, it would be the first time since Obama's presidency began in 2009 that Congress had overridden a veto."
ThinkProgress writes that the House vote sets off "a diplomatic nightmare for President Barack Obama," as "[t]he legislation is sure to antagonize a key U.S. ally in the Middle East which already has tense relations with the administration."
Still, as Reuters reported this week, "Obama's administration has offered Saudi Arabia more than $115 billion in weapons, other military equipment and training, the most of any U.S. administration in the 71-year U.S.-Saudi alliance."
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.