House of Representatives Also Overrides Obama’s Veto: Lawsuit Against Saudi Arabia for 9/11 Becomes Legal
The United States House of Representatives, by approving the Senate resolution, removed President Barack Obama’s ability to veto the bill allowing lawsuits against Saudi Arabia in American courts. On Wednesday evening, 338 House members voted in favor versus 74 against the bill known as the “Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act.”
The House vote takes place following the Senate’s passage on Wednesday, September 28. The Senate, with 97 votes in favor against one vote against, overrode the veto of the United States President.
Last week, Congress passed the bill known as the “Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act,” which gives the families of victims of the September 11 terrorist attacks the legal right to sue Saudi Arabia for its alleged role in those attacks.
Congress’s decision was vetoed by Mr. Obama, but Republican representatives and even Mr. Obama’s own party members in Congress said they would bring it to a vote again.
If two-thirds of Senate members opposed the president’s veto, the veto would be nullified, which happened on Wednesday morning when 97 of 100 senators voted in favor.
This Senate decision is considered a blow to Barack Obama’s foreign policy at the end of his second term as president.
This is the first time during Obama’s presidency that the U.S. Senate has achieved the necessary votes to overturn a presidential veto. If two-thirds of Senate members vote in favor of a bill previously vetoed by the president, the presidential veto is nullified.
According to The Hill, a publication that covers U.S. government political news, not even a single Democratic senator appeared on the Senate floor to support Obama’s position.
Several weeks before the U.S. presidential election and at a time of heightened public concern about Islamic terrorism, American lawmakers, through this vote, demonstrated a firm stance against terrorism in line with public opinion.
Republican Senator John Cornyn and Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer were prominent figures in the Senate vote regarding the presidential veto.
Senator Cornyn said before the vote: “The fact that Democratic and Republican senators agree with the bill known as the ‘Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act’ … is like a miracle.”
President Barack Obama had warned last week that overriding the presidential veto in the Senate would harm the immunity of American military personnel and diplomats, as well as American capital on the international stage.
The U.S. Senate had previously expressed readiness to neutralize the lobbying efforts and attempts by the White House and Saudi Arabia to prevent the override of Obama’s veto.
The nullification of the previous bill—which was vetoed by Obama—allows Saudi Arabia to be sued in American courts because of its involvement in the September 11 attacks.
Government Justification
This is the first time during Barack Obama’s eight-year tenure that one of his presidential vetoes has been overridden.
Barack Obama, while vetoing this bill, warned that other countries could use this bill as a pretext to sue the military and armed forces personnel, diplomats, and other citizens of this country.
Mr. Obama said Friday that if this bill becomes law, it would reduce government action against terrorism.
CIA Director John Brennan, on Wednesday, September 28, while emphasizing the pain that September 11 left behind and expressing sympathy with the families of the victims, said: “I believe that the Senate vote will have a significant impact on the national security of the United States. U.S. government officials working abroad on behalf of our country will suffer the most.”
Families of Victims
Families of September 11 victims say the government’s justification for vetoing this bill is exaggerated and that immunity is not absolute. They say what the bill known as the “Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act” does is give the voices of September 11 attack victims an opportunity to be heard in court.
Source: Voice of America
