Why questions about 9/11 may dog Obama's trip to Saudi Arabia
As President Obama prepares for a trip to Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, the White House has found itself enmeshed in a thorny question that dates to the previous administration鈥檚 earliest days 鈥� did the Saudi government have any responsibility for the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks?
Some families of victims of the 9/11 attacks and a bipartisan group of lawmakers that would let Americans sue foreign countries found to be responsible for terrorist attacks on US soil.
鈥淚f Saudi Arabia ," Sen. Chuck Schumer (D) of New York, a cosponsor of the measure, said Monday. 鈥淭his bill would allow a suit to go forward and victims of terrorism to go to court to determine if the Saudi government participated in terrorist acts. If the Saudis did, they should pay a price.鈥�
But as negotiations continue in Congress, Saudi Arabia has hit back, saying that if those congressional efforts are used to hold its government responsible for the attacks, .
The government has long maintained that it held no responsibility for the attacks and actively shared intelligence with the US, but some victims believe the Saudis played a role in the attacks, in which .
Along with of the 2002 Congressional report on 9/11 that remain classified, the debate has complicated Mr. Obama鈥檚 visit, which is expected to tackle a number of foreign policy issues, including a civil war in neighboring Yemen.
The White House and US State Department have stepped up their efforts in lobbying against the bill. On Monday, White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters the effort would harm international sovereignty and if other countries introduced similar laws.
"It's difficult to imagine a scenario where the president would sign it," he said, adding that he couldn鈥檛 say whether the bill or the 9/11 Commission鈥檚 report would come up during the president鈥檚 trip. However, he added, 鈥渢he fact that it鈥檚 been in the news more recently might change that equation.鈥�
Obama鈥檚 trip to Riyadh 鈥� which follows recent visits by and 鈥� has already been complicated by the president鈥檚 apparent reference to the Saudis and other Gulf and European nations as .
His comments that the countries were not 鈥渃arry[ing] their weight鈥� as international allies prompted an unusually direct response from Saudi Prince Turki al-Faisal, who previously served as his country鈥檚 ambassador to Washington, though in the country鈥檚 leadership.
鈥淣o, Mr. Obama, we are not 鈥榝ree riders鈥�" he wrote . Citing several instances of cooperation between the two governments, including in the wake of nuclear deal with Iran and in sharing intelligence, he added, 鈥渘ow, you throw us a curve ball.鈥�
In its report, the 9/11 Commission said that it 鈥渇ound no evidence that the Saudi individually funded鈥� the attacks. The Saudis have said that they would welcome the release of the classified 28 pages.聽
But former Senator Bob Graham (D) of Florida, who has long pushed for the remaining pages to be declassified, last weekend that he was 鈥渄eeply disturbed by the amount of material that has been censored by this report.鈥�
Mr. Earnest declined to say whether Obama had read the 28 pages. The White House has said the Director of National Intelligence hopes to complete the review process to declassify the pages by the end of the year, NBC reports.
A bipartisan group of lawmakers have been pushing for further action to clarify the Saudi government鈥檚 role. Victims鈥� families have previously attempted to bring the issue to US courts, but have been blocked after Saudi Arabia invoked its sovereign immunity granted to countries under current laws.
鈥淸The bill] makes minor adjustments to our laws that would clarify the ability of Americans attacked on US soil to get justice from those who have sponsored that terrorist attack," Sen. John Cornyn (R) of Texas, the bill鈥檚 sponsor, told NBC.
On the presidential campaign trail, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont also aligned themselves , which boasts Sen. Ted Cruz (R) of Texas as a cosponsor.
Senator Cornyn also dismissed the warning by Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir last month that the country would sell $750 billion in US assets if the measure becomes law, .
鈥淚t seems overly defensive to me and I doubt they can do it," he said on Monday.聽 鈥淚 don't think we should let foreign countries dictate the domestic policy of the United States so, no, it doesn't bother me at all.鈥�
