Congress set to override Obama veto of 9/11 bill
Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Congress is viewed as poised to override President Barack Obama’s veto of a bill that would allow families of Sept. 11 victims to sue Saudi Arabia for the kingdom’s alleged backing of the terrorists who carried out the attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people.
The showdown is scheduled for Wednesday. Proponents of the legislation say they have enough votes for what would be a first: During his nearly two full terms in office, Mr. Obama has vetoed nine bills. None has been overridden.
While there is broad and bipartisan support for bucking the president, the bill’s opponents also are pushing hard to keep the measure from being enacted. They’re warning the U.S. will become vulnerable to retaliatory litigation in foreign courts that could put American troops in legal jeopardy.
The legislation, known as the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act, gives victims’ families the right to sue in U.S. court for any role that elements of the Saudi government may have played in the 2001 attacks that killed thousands in New York, the Washington, D.C., area and Pennsylvania. Under the terms of the bill, courts would be permitted to waive a claim of foreign sovereign immunity when an act of terrorism occurs inside U.S. borders.
Also this week, Senate Democrats are expected to block the stopgap spending plan that’s currently on the table, a senior Democratic aide said.
Even if Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell can rally enough votes for his continuing resolution (he’ll need more than a handful of Democrats given opposition from some members of his own conference), the legislation likely would not arrive in the House until Wednesday or Thursday, meaning that the House vote would be all-but-certain to take place on the verge of government funding expiring.
Mr. McConnell got the gears turning Thursday for a key procedural vote this afternoon to stop a potential filibuster of the Republican spending package that’s generally clean, but leaves by the wayside emergency funding for the lead-plagued water crisis in Flint, Mich.
The inclusion of what Republicans described as a “down payment” on supplemental aid to flood-ravaged communities in Louisiana but not the Flint money drew the ire of Michigan Democrats, and it appears to be a key to Democratic opposition in the Senate.