Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

posted by cmn32480 on Thursday September 29 2016, @01:17PM   Printer-friendly
from the first-time-for-everything dept.

For the first time since President Obama took office in 2009, Congress has overridden his veto.

The U.S. Senate voted 97-1 to override President Obama's veto of the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act, which would allow victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks to sue Saudi Arabia. The lone dissenting vote was Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nevada), who has "always had the president's back":

In a letter Monday to House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mac Thornberry (R-Tex.) and ranking member Adam Smith (D-Wash.), Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter warned that allowing the bill to become law risked "damaging our close and effective cooperation with other countries" and "could ultimately have a chilling effect on our own counter-terrorism efforts." Thornberry and Smith both circulated letters among members in the last few days, urging them to vote against overriding the veto. CIA Director John O. Brennan also warned of the 9/11 bill's "grave implications for the national security of the United States" in a statement Wednesday.

The House of Representatives voted 348-to-77:

Congress on Wednesday voted overwhelmingly to override a veto by President Obama for the first time, passing into law a bill that would allow the families of those killed in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks to sue Saudi Arabia for any role in the plot.

Democrats in large numbers joined with Republicans to deliver a remarkable rebuke to the president. The 97-to-1 vote in the Senate and the 348-to-77 vote in the House displayed the enduring power of the Sept. 11 families in Washington and the diminishing influence here of the Saudi government.

See also: The Risks of Suing the Saudis for 9/11 by the New York Times Editorial Board and this article in the Saudi Gazette.

Previously: President Obama to Veto Bill Allowing September 11 Victims to Sue Saudi Arabia


Original Submission

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
  • (Score: 2) by bzipitidoo on Friday September 30 2016, @01:16PM

    by bzipitidoo (4388) on Friday September 30 2016, @01:16PM (#408356) Journal

    It does make sense! Why did the US side with the Allies instead of the Central Powers in WWI? Ideology played a large part in that decision. The Central Powers were monarchies, the Allies were democracies. We didn't have anything particularly against the Germans, or at that time any special love for the Brits. Many of our citizens were of German descent, including my grandparents. The feds put the entire county where my grandparents lived under surveillance during WWI because it was so heavily populated with German immigrants.

    The thinking is that a democracy is a more enlightened, wiser nation, less prone to violence and making trouble. And especially, less prone to resorting to war as a solution. Why did Europe have WWI? Because one heir to one monarchy was assassinated? Talk about going way, way over the top. The Emperor of Austria didn't even like the Archduke and was actually not displeased that he was dead! But he was very old and left the official response to some younger, less experienced nobility, and they concocted an ultimatum that the Emperor thought very strong, perhaps too strong. He was also concerned that the Russians would intervene, as indeed they did. What a hell of a way to go to war-- bumble and stumble into it. The Tsar wasn't particularly smart, but the Kaiser of Germany was a hotheaded war enthusiast. If they had been democracies, perhaps they would not have gone to war. Not to say that democracies can't blunder-- consider George W. Bush going to war in Iraq-- but it is less likely.

    Starting Score:    1  point
    Karma-Bonus Modifier   +1  

    Total Score:   2