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U.S. NEWS A5
Wednesday 18 May 2016
Senate approves Sept. 11
legislation despite Saudi threatsÂ
RICHARD LARDNER Â In this March 16, 2016 file photo, Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y. Graham released his hold
Associated Press speaks to reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington. earlier this month, clearing
WASHINGTON (AP) — The the way for Senate action.
Senate passed legislation Associated Press Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.,
Tuesday that would allow the chairman of the Armed
families of Sept. 11 victims have every means at their a foreign country could sue Services Committee, also
to sue the government of disposal to seek justice,†the United States if the door had warned that the leg-
Saudi Arabia, rejecting the Cornyn said. is opened for U.S. citizens to islation, if passed, would
fierce objections of a U.S. Schumer said that any for- take the Saudis to court. alienate Saudi Arabia and
ally and setting Congress eign government that aids undermine a longstanding
on a collision course with terrorists who strike the U.S. yet strained relationship
the Obama administration. “will pay a price if it is prov- with a critical U.S. ally in the
The Justice Against Spon- en they have done so.†Middle East.
sors of Terrorism Act, ap- Senate Democrats had Schumer said it is false to
proved by voice vote, had firmly supported the legisla- claim that the bill encour-
triggered a threat from Ri- tion, putting them at odds ages retaliation or litigation
yadh to pull billions of dol- with the Obama admin- against the United States.
lars from the U.S. economy istration. The White House “We’re not busy training
if the bill is enacted. has said the bill could ex- people to blow up build-
The legislation, sponsored pose Americans overseas ings and kill innocent ci-
by Sens. John Cornyn, R- to legal risks, and spokes- vilians in other countries,â€
Texas, and Chuck Schumer, man Josh Earnest said Tues- Schumer said.q
D-N.Y., gives victims’ fami- day efforts to revise the leg-
lies the right to sue in U.S. islation fell short in address-
court for any role that ele- ing the administration’s
ments of the Saudi govern- concerns about preserving
ment may have played in sovereign immunity.
the 2001 attacks that killed “Given the concerns that
thousands in New York, the we’ve expressed, it’s dif-
Washington, D.C., area ficult to imagine the presi-
and Pennsylvania. dent signing this legisla-
The House still must act on tion,†Earnest told reporters
the legislation. at the White House.
Relatives of Sept. 11 victims Schumer was confident
have urged the Obama the Senate had the nec-
administration to declas- essary two-thirds vote of
sify and release U.S. intel- the chamber to override a
ligence that allegedly dis- presidential veto.
cusses possible Saudi in- “We don’t think their ar-
volvement in the attacks. guments stand up,â€
Saudi Foreign Minister Adel the New York lawmaker
bin Ahmed Al-Jubeir de- said at a news conference
nied earlier this month that after the Senate action.
the kingdom made any Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-
threats over the bill. He said S.C., the chairman of the
Riyadh had warned inves- Senate subcommittee that
tor confidence in the U.S. controls foreign aid, had
would shrink if the bill be- blocked the bill from mov-
came law. ing to the Senate floor un-
“In fact what they (Con- til changes were made to
gress) are doing is stripping ensure the legislation didn’t
the principle of sovereign backfire on the United
immunities, which would States.
turn the world for interna- Graham’s apprehension
tional law into the law of was rooted in the possibility
the jungle,†Al-Jubeir said
in a May 3 statement.
The Treasury Department
said Monday that Saudi
Arabia in March held $116.8
billion in Treasury debt.
Passage of the bill sends
the message that the Unit-
ed States “will combat ter-
rorism with every tool we
have available, and that
the victims of terrorist at-
tacks in our country should
