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"I think there's a lot about Saudi Arabia that we don't fully understand. And I want to get to the root cause of it," Bernie Sanders said. | AP Photo Sanders: America needs to get to 'root cause' of 9/11

The United States needs to get to the "root cause" of the 9/11 attacks, Bernie Sanders said in an interview aired Sunday, explaining his support for Senate legislation that would allow the families of terror victims the right to sue foreign governments and entities in federal court, including Saudi Arabia.

"I think there's a lot about Saudi Arabia that we don't fully understand. And I want to get to the root cause of it," Sanders told Chuck Todd on NBC News' "Meet the Press." "The root of what Saudi Arabia has done."

Remarking that there is "some evidence -- and we will have to ascertain whether it's accurate or not -- that money from Saudi Arabia actually funded a 9/11 attack," Sanders noted that Saudi money "is going all over the world" to fund the austere Wahhabi form of Islam.

"And I think that the full extent of the role that Saudi Arabia plays in supporting extremism in this world is something that we should explore," Sanders said.

Hillary Clinton has voiced support for the bill, which is co-sponsored by Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.).

The White House has suggested that President Barack Obama would veto the bill if it came to his desk, concerned that it could lead to retaliatory lawsuits against American citizens living abroad.

Sanders has also called for the declassification of 28 redacted pages from the Joint Congressional Inquiry completed in 2002, which could provide more information on connections between the Saudi government and the hijackers. The Vermont senator told CBS last Monday that he would not read the 28 pages, however, because, "The difficulty is, you see then, if you read them, then you're gonna ask me a question, you're gonna say, 'You read them, what's in them?' And now I can tell you honestly I have not."

For her part, Clinton has declined to comment on whether she has read the portions that remain classified.