The House of Representatives passed a bill allowing families of 9/11 victims to sue Saudi Arabia.

The Senate drafted legislation in April. Saudi Arabia threatened economic retaliation if the U.S. passed this bill and the Obama Administration pressured both parties not to proceed with the bill, even though families and victims from 9/11 voiced their approval for the legislation.

The Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act amends a 1976 law. From The New York Times:

The bill addresses a 1976 law that gives foreign nations broad immunity from American lawsuits by amending it to allow for nations to be sued in federal courts if they are found to have played any role in terrorist attacks that killed Americans on home soil. It also allows Americans to direct financial damage claims against those who funded the attacks.

The Hill reported in May:

“This bill is very near and dear to my heart as a New Yorker because it would allow the victims of 9/11 to pursue some small measure of justice,” Schumer said, according to the Hill. Schumer even expressed confidence the Senate has the two-third votes it needs to override an Obama veto.

House Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) said the bill had to pass:

“We can no longer allow those who injure and kill Americans to hide behind legal loopholes, denying justice to the victims of terrorism,” Goodlatte said. “There are always diplomatic considerations that get in the way of justice, but if a court proves the Saudis were complicit in 9/11, they should be held accountable,” said Sen. Chuck Schuler, D-New York, a sponsor of the Senate bill. “If they’ve done nothing wrong, they have nothing to worry about.”

In July, Congress released 28 classified pages from the 9/11 Commission report that many people thought contained links between Saudi Arabia and 9/11. Guess what they found:

According to sources familiar with the documents, the information in the pages lays out a number of circumstances that suggest it’s possible two of the 9/11 hijackers living in California in the months leading up to the attack were receiving operational support from individuals loyal to Saudi Arabia.

Hijackers Nawaf al-Hazmi and Khalid al-Mihdhar, who flew a plane into the Pentagon, resided in California before they attacked the World Trade Center. Saudi national Omar al-Bayoumi “helped the two men find an apartment in San Diego and cosigned their lease.” A document released last year stated that al-Bouyoumi has “ties to the Saudi Government and many in the local Muslim community in San Diego believed that he was a Saudi intelligence officer.”



