President Obama vetoed the bill on September 23, which the Senate and the House of Representatives overturned on September 28 in 97-1 and 348-77 votes respectively.
The bill “Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act” (Jasta) was approved by the Senate in May and the House in September 9, and now will become law.
It stipulates that any sovereign country found to sponsor terrorism on US soil can be subjected to legal action. The bill also amends the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, will allow US citizens to demand punitive measures against Saudi Arabia. Fifteen Saudi citizens were among the nineteen 9/11 hijackers.
The Congress near-unanimously rejected Obama’s veto – his first rejection – revealing a surprising solidarity between the Republicans and the Democrats on this issue.
Democratic Senator Charles Schumer said: “It is important that the families of the victims of 9/11 tragedy be able to pursue justice, even it means discomfort to diplomats.”
President Obama exercised his presidential veto claiming that this action may result in harsh reciprocity from other countries and will put US companies and soldiers in grave danger.
He said: “It has to do with me not wanting a situation where we're suddenly exposed to liabilities for all the work that we're doing all around the world and suddenly finding ourselves subject to private lawsuits.”
Although the Republicans and the Democrats are united both in the Senate and the Congress over this issue, the only support President Obama received was from the secretary of defence, the joint chiefs of staff, and the CIA director in the government. A number of US corporations have also vociferously opposed the creation of the law.
Thursday, June 04, 2026
