Photo via The Atlantic
Today, President Obama is expected to veto a piece of legislation that would enable the families of 9/11 victims to sue the kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The president faced increased pressure from families to pass the legislation on the 15th anniversary of the September 11th attacks.
The bill, officially called the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act (JASTA), would change the existing 1976 law that grants foreign countries immunity from American law-suits. The new amendment would allow U.S. citizens to sue nations involved with terrorist activity in federal courts. Victims of families are also subject to financial compensation from those nations that funded terrorist attacks.
JASTA came into the spotlight after Congress released 28 classified pages from a 2002 congressional inquiry into the 9/11 attacks. The 28 classified documents found no significant ties between the Saudi Arabian government and the 19 hijackers.
Despite that, victims’ families want compensation for the death of their loved ones and begged Obama in an open letter not to “slam the door shut and abandon us.”
However, the White House has spoken out against the bill due to the legal jeopardy U.S. citizens would face abroad. A member of the French parliament, Pierre Lellouche, stated last Friday during a conference call that France would consider legislation similar to that of the United States. The American bill would cause a “legal revolution in international law with major political consequences,” said Lellouche.
Emma Ashford, a research fellow at Cairo Institute, rein-forced Obama’s stance against the bill saying, “We are setting a precedent for other countries to sue [the U.S.] if this bill be-comes law.” According to Ashford, American troops and civilians abroad would fall under legal jeopardy and could be sued individually by foreign nations.
President Obama fears the diplomatic consequences if the bill becomes law. If Obama’s veto is overridden by a two-thirds Congressional vote, the Saudis have threatened to liquidate hundreds of billions of dollars worth of American assets. Julien Acalin, a fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, stressed the fact that the “Saudis hold around 4 percent of U.S. debt, which is a relatively small amount.” The Saudis would also be forced to sell off these assets at a lower price, which delegitimizes this threat even further, according to Acalin.
Members of Congress from both parties feel passionately about gaining compensation for the families of 9/11 victims, and believe that the bill would deter further terrorist activities. Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.) believes that this legislation is “one more step we can take to show foreign governments they cannot step aside.”
Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) told reporters last week that even if the President decides to veto the bill, he is confident that a bipartisan override would succeed.