On the 28th of September, Congress voted to override President Obama’s decision to veto the legislation that would allow families of victim's from the 9/11 attacks to sue the government of Saudi Arabia for their suspected support of the terrorists that pursued these horrific attacks. This happens to be the first override to take place during the run of Obama’s presidency.
While voting, the White House encouraged the House and the Senate to support Obama in his decision, but the government strongly disagreed. According to the Washington Post, the Senate vote was 97 to 1 and the House vote was 348 to 77. The administration officials tried to make it clear that the passing of this bill would later come to hurt the U.S. If this is passed, it opens up doors for similar lawsuits to be pressed against our country and, overall, creates a national security threat. The legislation would ultimately encourage other nations to retaliate and sue American diplomats and military personnel for any events that have taken place overseas or any events that may occur in the future. The House and the Senate argued that they would not side with President Obama due to their belief that it is these families’ rights to pursue justice for the wrongs committed against them.
The government officials that have chosen to side with President Obama are well aware that, against their wishes, this veto will be overridden. These officials, along with other member of our nation, are concerned with what the passing of this bill may do to the US. Former Republican New Jersey Governor Tom Kean made his opinion known when he joined FOX Business Network for an interview on Thursday.
Kean states that he believes Obama was right to reject the bill and that “American soldiers, American business people, American tourists, what have you, could get caught up in a way that we are not going to like. For that reason and a couple other reasons, I am sorry they did it.”
Kean expressed that he has great sympathies for the families of 9/11 and that he does not blame them for wanting to get justice for their loss.es But, he also mentions that he does not believe this bill is the right solution to the problem at hand and that the US will regret passing this bill. The chance of retaliation from other countries far outweighs the small amount of justice that will come out of a court case against Saudi Arabia.
