Obama vetoes 9/11 bill allowing American families to sue Saudi Arabia

President Obama.
(Image credit: Pete Souza/White House via Getty Images)

President Obama on Friday vetoed a controversial bill that would have enabled families of people killed in the 9/11 attacks to sue Saudi Arabia for its alleged involvement. The bill has been at the center of an emotional debate in Washington, as the effort was led by top Democrat Sen. Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) and is supported by Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, who was a senator for New York in 2001.

Obama had long promised to veto the bill, which would have ended the immunity from lawsuits foreign countries enjoy within the United States. The bill's detractors argued it would weaken sovereign immunity, with the Obama administration claiming "the bill could lead other nations to alter their laws upholding sovereign immunity ... [and] would have dire consequences for Americans posted overseas," CNN explained.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us
Kimberly Alters

Kimberly Alters is the news editor at TheWeek.com. She is a graduate of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.