Congress overwhelmingly voted to override President Obama’s veto of the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act (JASTA) reported Reuters.
In the Senate, there was only one vote to sustain the veto — it was cast by Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid. Two senators abstained — Tim Kaine and Bernie Sanders. The House vote was 348-77 in favor of overriding the Presidential veto.
JASTA had passed unanimously in both the House and the Senate. JASTA will permit the waiver of sovereign immunity claims against foreign nationals when dealing with acts of terrorism on US soil – which could permit September 11th victims’ families to file lawsuits against Saudi Arabia over the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, as fifteen of the nineteen hijackers in those attacks were Saudi nationals.
