Senate Passes Bill Allowing 9/11 Victims to Sue Saudi Arabian Govt.

WASHINGTON — Families of the victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks moved one step closer Tuesday to being able to sue the Saudi Arabian government.

The Senate passed a bill on a voice vote allowing American citizens to sue foreign governments believed to be linked to terrorist attacks on U.S. soil, a measure that President Barack Obama has threatened to veto. The Saudi government has also threatened retaliation if the bill eventually becomes law.

“If the Saudis did not participate in this terrorism, they have nothing to fear from going to court,” Sen. Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., said at a news conference following the bill’s passage. “If they did, they should be held accountable. It’s that simple.”

Majority Whip John Cornyn, R-Texas, on the bill, known as the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act. Schumer was also confident two-thirds of the Senate would be able to override a presidential veto.

This bill has raised concerns about the future of the U.S.-Saudi relations. And White House press secretary Josh Earnest said last month that the bill could result in other countries crafting legislation targeted at the U.S.

“Most countries around the world don’t have the sophisticated justice system that we do, so I don’t think that’s likely to happen,” Cornyn countered. He later added, “I don’t think the United States has any fear from similar standards being applied.”

The Saudi government has threatened to sell $750 billion in U.S. assets in response to the bill, but Cornyn dubbed that a “hollow threat.”

“It hurts them a lot more than it hurts us,” Schumer added.

Ten family members involved in a related lawsuit issued a joint statement praising the Senate’s action, saying the legislation “promises us the truth, accountability and a strong warning that the United States finally will stand behind its promise of justice.”

The bill now heads to the House, where Speaker Paul D. Ryan, R-Wis., has said he would like it to move through the committee process before he makes a decision on the legislation. Cornyn and Schumer said they would be talking to House leadership in their respective parties urging them to expedite consideration for this legislation.

The senators have been working to assuage concerns about the bill, specifically from one of the Senate’s more hawkish members. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., had placed a hold on the measure, but changes ensuring a nation-state would not be liable unless it was the “proximate cause” of the terrorist act led him to lift his hold.

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(Rachel Oswald contributed to this report.)

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