The events of the September 11, 2001, attacks have shaped the lives of people and the history of nations for the past fifteen years. The rise of terrorist organizations and the rogue states that fund them have been held up as excuses for the creation and extension of executive powers that curtail our freedoms, justify endless war, and keep people all around the world in a constant state of fear.
Our response has been to be complicit in ever growing control over our private and public lives, but no one has been more affected than the people who have died as a result- and especially those who lost loved ones on 9/11.
The families of first responders, occupants of the fallen towers, and bystanders who were caught in the dramatic implosions of those buildings have been denied justice.
Only recently has a relatively new ray of light shined on these Americans, as the secret 28 missing pages of the 9/11 Commission report have been considered for public perusal. Some of those in government who have been privy to the contents of those pages have told us that Saudi Arabia is implicated in the attack and may be open to litigation by victim’s families should the documents be published.
In response, Saudi Arabia has all but admitted its guilt by threatening the U.S. with harsh sanctions should the papers be released. This has provided an enormous ray of hope, not only to the victim’s families but to everyone who wants to know more about what happened on that day and who is responsible.
Sickeningly, the president has recently vetoed the bill that would give the victim’s families the legal ammunition they need to seek justice against the known terrorist sponsor. It was a move that caused a massive cry of outrage from both sides of the aisle as well as from the public in general.
But, in a move that surprised many people who have been disappointed in Washington for years, Congress has voted to override Obama’s callous veto of the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act that was designed to allow families of the victims to seek justice against Saudi Arabia for any role it may have played in the terrorist plot.
This House and Senate vote represents the first time that Congress has voted to override an Obama veto.
The Saudi Arabian government has vociferously stood in opposition to the bill. President Obama said last week in his veto message that he has a deep and abiding sympathy for the families of those wrongfully slain on 9/11, but that by allowing such private lawsuits against the government of Saudi Arabia in U.S. courts, we would be causing damage to our national interests.
This statement has brought many people to question whether justice for American citizens is something that ranks on the president’s list of national interests, and if it does- that he should provide a much more satisfactory explanation of why protecting a possible sponsor of state terrorism from paying for crimes takes precedence over justice for American citizens.
The Saudi Arabian government has told American legislators that it would liquidate its U.S. Treasury holdings if this bill becomes law.
Obama’s apparent acquiescence with Saudi demands has brought his approval rating both in and outside of Washington to an all-time low. It has created a culture within these legislative bodies where this unprecedented upset of a presidential veto is possible.
Josh Earnest, a White House spokesman has called the vote “the most embarrassing thing to come out of the Senate since at least 1983,” when legislators voted to overturn a veto by President Reagan.
The overriding of a presidential veto takes a two-thirds majority of lawmakers to be present and to vote in the House as well as in the Senate. The fact that this much participation was evoked by the veto sends a stern message to the outgoing president.
97 Senators voted to override the veto. Harry Reid, the Minority Leader, and Nevada Democrat, was the only senator to vote against the override. Sen. Tim Kaine, Hillary Clinton’s running mate, and Virginia Democrat did not attend the vote, neither did Bernie Sanders.
The House voted 348-77 to reject Obama’s unsettling veto of the bill. Democratic Rep. Kathy Castor of Florida indicated her disdain for challenging the president by voting “present.”
This is perhaps the best news to come out of Washington in years, and it appears that there is tremendous political will to see justice delivered to the families of those who lost their lives in New York 15 years ago.
Regards,
Ethan Warrick
Editor
Wealth Authority
