begin quote from:
Former Sen. Bob Graham calls Saudi Arabia's threat to US Congress 'reprehensible but also revealing'
| New York Daily News | - |
Saudi
Arabian officials are hotly against a bill to make it easier for
families of 9/11 victims to sue because they are worried the kingdom's
ties to the World Trade Center terrorists would be revealed during a
trial, said former U.S.
Former Sen. Bob Graham calls Saudi Arabia’s threat to U.S. Congress ‘reprehensible but also revealing’
BY Reuven Blau
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Updated: Sunday, April 17, 2016, 2:49 PM
- A
- A
- A
Michael Springer/Getty Images Former Florida Sen. Bob Graham says Saudi Arabia’s threat to pull $750B from the U.S. economy “says something about Saudi Arabia’s involvement in 9/11.”
“I think the action by Saudi Arabia is reprehensible and also very revealing,” Graham told the Daily News. “They are so fearful of what would emerge if there were to be a full trial. That says something about Saudi Arabia’s involvement in 9/11.”
Graham, who left Capitol Hill in 2005, also slammed the Obama administration.
HO/REUTERS Saudi Arabia has threatened to pull $750 billion from the U.S. economy if Congress passes a bill that could hold the kingdom responsible for any role in the Sept. 11 attacks.
“I think it’s even more objectionable that the U.S. government has been supporting Saudi Arabia and erecting roadblocks to the passage of the legislation.”
The Saudi Arabian government has threatened to sell $750 billion in Treasury securities and other assets in the United States should the U.S. Congress pass a bill that could hold the kingdom responsible for any role in the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, according to a New York Times report on Friday.
THOMAS E. FRANKLIN/AP The bill would take away immunity from foreign governments in cases “arising from a terrorist attack that kills an American on American soil.”
The bipartisan Senate bill is co-sponsored by New York Sen. Chuck Schumer, a Democrat, and Texas Sen. John Cornyn, a Republican.
On Sunday, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton initially said she was unfamiliar with the Schumer bill. But later indicated support for the legislation.
“Obviously, we’ve got to make anyone who participates in or supports terrorism pay a price, and we also have to be aware of any consequences that might affect Americans, either military or civilian or our nation,” she said on ABC’s “This Week.”
Pressed about the pending legislation, she added, “I’ll look into it.”
Shortly afterwards, her campaign issued a statement saying as president she’d work to pass the Schumer bill.
RUSSIA, SAUDI ARABIA OFFER TO FREEZE OIL OUTPUT LEVELS
Rival Bernie Sanders said needed time to review the legislation.
“I have said throughout this campaign we are not taking a hard enough look at Saudi Arabia and it’s not only the people who came from Saudi Arabia and participated in 9/11,” he told George Stephanopoulos. “The evidence is pretty clear. Saudi Arabia is one of the most powerful and wealthiest families of the world.”
Theodore Parisienne/for New York Daily News New York Sen. Chuck Schumer co-sponsored the bill.
“That’s why they can threaten to withdraw hundreds of billions of dollars from our economy,” he added. “The evidence is quite clear that sections of that very large royal family have funded a Wahhabism; this extremely right-wing fundamentalist ideology, which is what ISIS is about, which is what Al Qaeda’s about.”
But he stopped short of supporting the legislation.
“Let me take a look at it,” he said. “But I do believe Saudi Arabia is playing a very dangerous role in fomenting fundamentalism all over the world.”
Thousands of outraged 9/11 family members have been trying to sue Saudi Arabia for years, to no avail.
In September a U.S. judge dismissed claims against Saudi Arabia by families of victims of the attacks, saying that the kingdom had sovereign immunity from damage claims by the families and from insurers that covered losses suffered by building owners and businesses.
“They couldn’t meet the high standards of the law,” said Graham, noting he has submitted an affidavit in support of the families. The two-term governor of Florida and three-term senator has long urged the Obama administration to declassify 28 pages in a congressional inquiry on 9/11 that bring up questions about Saudi Arabia financial backing to the hijackers.
“Once the families can get over this barrier and actually have a jury trial on their claims, then things like the 28 pages will provide the evidence that they will need to sustain their claim that the Saudis were complicit in 911,” he said Sunday.
No comments:
Post a Comment