Dem leaders defend overriding 9/11 bill veto
Top House Democrats are defending their support for legislation allowing 9/11 victims’ families to sue Saudi Arabia as a storm of controversy grows around the day-old law.
Reps. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) both said a path to justice for the 9/11 families outweighs the foreign policy concerns of President Obama, who has warned that the law — by stripping decades-old sovereign immunity protections — will open a Pandora’s box of retaliation against U.S. citizens, diplomats, military personnel and companies.
{mosads}”I go way back with these families,” Pelosi told reporters Thursday in the Capitol. “As I weighed the equities — I appreciate the concerns, which I think are very legitimate that the president put forward — I thought these families should have their day in court.”
Hoyer delivered a similar message. He said there was “great appreciation for the president’s concerns,” but it wasn’t enough to trump the “extraordinary sympathy” for the 9/11 families.
“There was an extraordinary sympathy for the people who lost loved ones, devastated by the attack, and they feel very strongly that in a nation of laws and in an international community of laws, that if there was culpability by some, they want them held accountable,” Hoyer said during a media roundtable in his Capitol office.
The comments arrive as GOP leaders eye “fixes” to the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act (JASTA) amid mounting concerns that Obama’s warnings might ring true.
The legislation flew through both chambers this month with unanimous support — votes designed to coincide with the 15th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks — and lawmakers rallied again on Wednesday to override Obama’s veto and launch the bill into law.
But just a day later, there were some second thoughts.
Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, took to the chamber floor urging new legislation “to amend what occurred yesterday.”
House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) said Thursday that “there may be some work to be done to protect our service members overseas from any kind of legal ensnarements … [or] retribution.”
And Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) delivered a similar message, saying “it’s worth further discussions” to ensure the law doesn’t have unintended consequences that threaten U.S. interests. He said Congress simply didn’t have enough time to consider potential reforms this month as lawmakers scrambled to prevent a government shutdown and get back on the campaign trail.
“It was certainly not something that was going to be fixed this week,” McConnell told reporters.
Hoyer left open the possibility that Congress would have to tweak the law to address lingering concerns. In an interview with CNN Thursday morning, he predicted lawmakers will discuss the topic intently over the long recess and floated the idea that Congress might even return for a special session to address the JASTA.
“It is a valid concern that the president raises,” Hoyer said of the potential to expose Americans to overseas lawsuits, “and I think we have to look at it very, very carefully to make sure that his concerns are dealt with.”
Later, Hoyer clarified that he’s not endorsing a new legislative fix — “I don’t want to get there yet,” he said — but rather a “careful analysis” to protect against potential “ramifications.”
“What I’m saying is, there are valid concerns, and just because we passed the bill those concerns should not be ignored, and we need to pursue those,” Hoyer said during his roundtable.
“The president’s raised significant concerns. Many of us voted notwithstanding those concerns, but that didn’t make them irrelevant,” he said. “And we ought to have now, I think, some careful analysis of it and see what the ramifications are.
“I don’t mean that we voted without thinking about the ramifications,” Hoyer added.
Thursday’s focus on the JASTA was not overlooked by the White House, where spokesman Josh Earnest flashed his best I-told-you-so smile while ripping into Congress for overriding the veto.
“It’s hard to know where to start,” Earnest said. “I think what we’ve seen in the United States Congress is a case of rapid-onset buyer’s remorse.”
Obama himself entered the debate this week to offer his own criticisms of the law and its supporters. The JASTA, he warned, would set “a dangerous precedent,” and the veto override was “a mistake.”
But he also acknowledged the political pressures facing lawmakers confronted with a highly sensitive vote, surrounding a highly emotional issue, just weeks before an election.
“If you’re perceived as voting against 9/11 families right before an election, not surprisingly, that’s a hard vote for people to take,” he said Wednesday during a CNN town hall. “But it would have been the right thing to do.”
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