Obama urges McConnell, Reid to sustain 9/11 bill veto

President Obama has personally urged Senate leaders to sustain his veto of a bill allowing victims of terrorist attacks and their families to sue countries suspected of supporting that terrorism.

{mosads}“As I noted in my message vetoing the bill and reiterated on our call yesterday, I strongly believed that enacting [the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act] into law would be detrimental to U.S. national interests,” Obama wrote Tuesday in a letter to Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) that was circulated by a firm lobbying for the Saudi government, which is suspected of having ties to the 9/11 terrorist attacks, as 15 of the 19 attackers were Saudi citizens.

“That’s why I vetoed the bill and why I urge you to vote to sustain the veto.”

The Senate is set to vote Wednesday to override the president’s veto, with the House anticipated to follow soon after.

Securing the two-thirds majorities needed to override the president has been widely seen as a fait accompli, despite some Democratic wavering last week.

The White House has lobbied fiercely against the legislation, which it warns would undermine long-standing principles of sovereign immunity.

On Tuesday, the president echoed recent concerns about the impact on U.S. personnel raised by House Armed Services Committee leaders, Defense Secretary Ash Carter and other senior defense and intelligence officials.

They warn specifically that JASTA could open up American military, intelligence and diplomatic personnel overseas to retributive lawsuits.

“The consequences of JASTA could be devastating to the Department of Defense and its service members — and there is no doubt that the consequences could be equally significant for our foreign affairs and intelligence communities,” Obama wrote.

“Without immunity, we could be forced to defend ourselves in foreign courts regardless of whether the United States or its officials had in fact provided support for terrorists acts.”

That specific criticism received only brief mention in the president’s three-page veto statement issued on Friday.

The bill’s backers remain confident that both the House and the Senate will override the veto.

“I will bet that Obama’s veto will not be sustained,” Reid said Tuesday.

In the House, both Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) anticipate there to be enough votes to force the bill into law.