The White House said Monday that it stands by its plans to veto a House-and-Senate-passed measure that would make it easier for the families of the Sept. 11 terror attack victims to sue the Saudi Arabian government, which some blame for enabling the perpetrators.
Presidential press secretary Josh Earnest said Obama will continue to make his case against the bill to lawmakers up until they decide whether to hold a vote to override his veto, which would require a two-thirds vote in both chambers.
“I will anticipate for the president to continue to explain his opposition to this legislation and we’ll do that up until Congress ultimately makes a decision on whether or not to override his veto,” Earnest told reporters Monday.
Obama and his administration argue that the bill would harm U.S. diplomats and servicemembers by encouraging other countries to sue them for U.S. policies they are carrying out that foreign citizens believe have damaged them in some way.
The U.S. and other countries recognize the concept of sovereign immunity — meaning that U.S. courts cannot try to prosecute other countries for the actions of their citizens. When it comes to terrorism, the U.S. holds certain countries responsible for supporting terrorist activities by deeming them a state sponsor of terrorism, which carries certain economic and trade restrictions.
“We’ve got a pretty persuasive case to make in terms of the forceful nature of a state sponsor of terror designation and the significant policy consequences that go along with that,” Earnest said.
“I think it makes a lot of sense that that’s a more forceful way for us to confront state sponsors of terrorism as opposed to delegating that decisions to judges in different court rooms across the country,” he added.
