On the eve of President Obama’s trip to Saudi Arabia, families of victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks urged the president Monday to push the Saudi rulers for “accountability.”
The families also told Mr. Obama in a letter that they are “greatly distressed” that the administration is trying to kill a bill in Congress that would allow victims of terrorism to sue foreign governments implicated in such attacks.
“In time, the truth of 9/11 will unfold, and your place in history should not be marked by a campaign to foreclose the judicial process as a venue in which the truth can be found,” they told Mr. Obama.
The White House said Monday that Mr. Obama would veto the legislation, called the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act, sponsored by Sens. Charles E. Schumer, New York Democrat, and John Cornyn, Texas Republican.
White House press secretary Josh Earnest said the act would allow other countries to sue U.S. diplomats and military service members.
“This question of sovereign immunity is something that protects the ability of the United States to work closely with countries all around the world,” Mr. Earnest said. “And walking back that principle would put the United States, our taxpayers and our service members and diplomats at risk. And it’s why he wouldn’t sign the legislation that would do that.”
The 9/11 families who wrote to Mr. Obama said the legislation “will not compromise our diplomatic interests.”
“In truth, it will advance them because it provides a pathway to resolve the question whether the Kingdom or other Saudi interests should appropriately bear responsibility for the 9/11 attack,” they wrote. “Without such resolution, the support of our citizenry for a partnership with a nation as suspect as Saudi Arabia will stand on a foundation of sand.”
Mr. Obama is also under increasing pressure to declassify 28 pages of the 9/11 Commission’s report that reportedly implicate Saudi officials for supporting the suicide hijackers. Fifteen of the 19 terrorists were Saudi nationals.
The White House has said Director of National Intelligence James R. Clapper is reviewing the documents and could make a decision on whether to release the pages to the public by the end of Mr. Obama’s presidency.
The 9/11 families who wrote to the president said there is “no excuse for refusing to reveal the truth, whatever it may be, about the events of 9/11 and to ensure that anyone responsible for the worst terrorist assault in history is held to account.”
Saudi officials are threatening to sell off as much as $750 billion in U.S. assets if Congress approves the bill allowing victims of terrorism to sue foreign governments. The families said they view those threats as “disrespectful and improper” to their lost loved ones.
“Governance should be about the proper accommodation of legitimate interests even when they must be balanced,” they told Mr. Obama. “It is not acceptable instead to succumb to the demands of a foreign government that we abandon principles of American justice while we pursue our diplomatic goals. We can, and we must, be good enough to do both.”
Among the 15 family members signing the letter were Terry Strada, widow of Tom Strada, who died in the North Tower of the World Trade Center, and Alice Hoagland, mother of Mark Bingham, who died on United Airlines Flight 93.
The families also asked Mr. Obama to meet with them when he returns from his trip, which starts Tuesday.
• Dave Boyer can be reached at dboyer@washingtontimes.com.
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