Democratic Minority Leader Harry Reid refused to say Thursday why he cast the lone Senate vote against overriding President Obama’s veto of a controversial bill, but indicated he was trying to avoid a public fight with Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., who supported the override.
“No, no. I got my friend here, I’m not going to do that,” Reid said, referring to Schumer. “And its not the first time I’ve done it. If you go back and look at my record, I’ve been the only guy a number of times.”
The bill, which is now law, allows the families of 9/11 victims to sue foreign countries for supporting the 9/11 hijackers, which is expected to lead to lawsuits against Saudi Arabia. Schumer was one of the more vocal supporters of the bill, and both the House and Senate easily overturned Obama’s veto.
“He told me ahead of time, no surprises,” Schumer said of Reid. President Obama said he sees the action as a “mistake” that would jeopardize national security, setting a “dangerous precedent” for other countries to allow lawsuits against the United States government.
When a reporter pressed Reid about why he didn’t take more action to convince his colleagues to scrap the bill, Reid said, “I answered your question. I’m not going to dwell on this anymore.”
Schumer said the lawmakers figured it would be “better to have the bill than not,” but said he would be willing to look at any proposals addressing dissenters’ concerns as long as the modifications wouldn’t “hurt the families” affected by attacks like on the World Trade Center in his native New York.
“I look at the families,” said Schumer. “I feel their pain, not close to the amount because I didn’t lose a loved one like they did, but this is about justice. And I would say in a very partisan time for any president, and this one in particular, to have only one veto override? That’s a darn good record. I’d be proud of it.”
