This is the core premise of a lawsuit filed by Center City's Cozen O'Connor, asserting that the Saudi government financed Islamist charities that, in turn, bankrolled al-Qaeda, and that some Saudi government employees in the U.S. formed a support network for the hijackers in the months before the attacks. Two trial judges have dismissed Saudi Arabia as a defendant, and the latest decision is on appeal. The firm, meanwhile, has joined with 9/11 survivors and others to push for a bill making it easier to sue the kingdom. The Senate passed the measure unanimously on May 17, and a House vote is expected after the summer recess.