Congress votes to override Barak Obama's veto on 9/11 bill

US President Barack Obama says the congressional override of his veto on a bill allowing 9/11 lawsuits against Saudi Arabia sets a dangerous precedent. US Congress had voted yesterday to override President Barack Obama's veto of a bill allowing families of 9/11 victims to sue Saudi Arabian officials. In the first veto override of his eight year presidency, the Senate voted 97-1 and the House of Representatives 348-77, turning the bill into a law. 

Mr Obama told the lawmakers had made a mistake. Mr Obama argued in his veto that the bill would undermine US-Saudi relations and warned of tit for tat lawsuits



against US service members in places like Afghanistan and Iraq. He had argued the bill could expose US companies, troops and officials to potential lawsuits abroad. 

Senator Charles Schumer, said in a statement that overriding a presidential veto is not taken lightly. But it was important in this case that the families of the victims of 9/11 be allowed to pursue justice, even if it causes some diplomatic discomforts. Schumer represents New York, the site of the World Trade Center and home to many of the nearly 3,000 people killed in the 2001 attacks, attack survivors and families of victims.