Overruled: Congress Soundly Rejects Obama’s Veto of 9/11 Bill

By Paul McLeary

The attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, continue to cast a long shadow over American politics, and have now led to the first congressional override of a veto signed by President Barack Obama.

After a series of impassioned floor speeches Wednesday morning, both the U.S. Senate and House acted with sweeping bipartisan comity, rejecting the president’s opposition to a bill that allows the families of American victims of the 9/11 attacks to sue the government of Saudi Arabia.

The months-long debate over the bill split some longtime national security alliances in surprising ways. GOP Sen. John McCain was a vocal supporter of the bill, while his fellow Republican and usually reliable partner on such issues, Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, argued against it.

The Senate voted 97-1, and the House, 348 to 77.

Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) joined Graham in a failed effort to tweak the legislation and make it harder not only for families to pursue lawsuits, but also for the U.S. to be sued by foreigners in the future. The European Union also signaled its opposition to the bill last week in a demarche to the State Department.

But in the end, despite proclaimed widespread Democratic opposition, only Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada sided with the White House by casting the lone vote against override in the upper chamber

CIA Director John Brennan said in a statement that the bill will have “grave implications” for national security, particularly at the spy agency.

The fight put up by the White House, Pentagon, and intelligence agencies centers around the principle of sovereign immunity, which protects American officials from lawsuits. “If we fail to uphold this standard for other countries,” Brennan said, “we place our own nation’s officials in danger. No country has more to lose from undermining that principle than the United States — and few institutions would be at greater risk than CIA.”

But the Senate was unswayed. As the last lawmaker to speak before the votes were cast, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) made an emotional plea on the chamber’s floor, quoting family members of those who died in the Twin Towers demanding their day in court. He called an override of the presidential veto a “moral imperative.”

The White House expended plenty of effort to block the override, and the Saudi government also opened up the coffers in a massive campaign against the legislation with teams of lobbyists.

Washington’s relationship with Riyadh has been awkward since the 9/11 attacks. Fifteen of the 19 attackers were Saudi citizens.

Source: FP