U.S. Senate Approves Bill to Sue Saudi Arabia Over 9/11 Attacks

On Tuesday, May 17, the U.S. Senate passed a bill allowing families of the victims of the September 11, 2001 attacks to sue the Saudi government. According to the Associated Press, despite threats from Riyadh to withdraw billions of dollars from its assets in the United States if such a bill were passed, the Senate voted in favor of the "Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act." The legislation grants families of 9/11 victims the right to file lawsuits in U.S. federal courts against Riyadh for any role that elements affiliated with the Saudi government may have played in the attacks. The Associated Press reports that many Democratic senators supported this bill, putting them at odds with the White House. Senators John Cornyn from Texas and Chuck Schumer from New York have been proponents of this legislation. Cornyn stated that such a bill sends the message that the United States "will fight terrorism with every tool at its disposal, and that victims of terrorist attacks in our country must have every opportunity to achieve justice." Schumer emphasized that any foreign government that assists terrorists in attacking the U.S. will "pay the price if it is proven they were involved in such actions." Schumer expressed confidence that the Senate has 67 votes to override a presidential veto. The bill must also be approved by the House of Representatives and then signed by President Barack Obama, who has threatened to veto it. The U.S. government argues that such a bill could expose Americans abroad to legal risks. Although Osama bin Laden, the mastermind behind the New York terrorist attack, was from a family close to the Saudi government and 15 of the 19 perpetrators were Saudi nationals, Riyadh has consistently denied any involvement in the terrorist incident since September 11, 2001, which resulted in the deaths of over three thousand people. According to a report by the New York Times on April 16, Riyadh has threatened to sell $750 billion of its assets in the U.S. to prevent them from being frozen if such a bill is passed. The New York Times reported that Adel al-Jubeir, Saudi Arabia's foreign minister, personally delivered this threatening message to Washington. The British newspaper "The Guardian" reported on May 12 that John F. Lehman, a Republican representative and former member of the congressional commission on September 11, mentioned "clear evidence" that individuals from the Saudi government were part of the support network for the hijackers on September 11. The results of this investigation, known in U.S. media as the "28 pages" report and prepared in 2004, remain classified.