House leader wants review of 9/11 bill that would let Americans sue Saudis

Politics | Tue Apr 19, 2016 5:41pm EDT

House leader wants review of 9/11 bill that would let Americans sue Saudis

WASHINGTON | BY PATRICIA ZENGERLE AND SUSAN CORNWELL

U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan did not immediately endorse a Senate bill on Tuesday that would allow Americans to sue the government of Saudi Arabia over the Sept. 11 attacks, saying it should be reviewed to ensure it would not hurt diplomatic relations.

With President Barack Obama traveling to Saudi Arabia Tuesday, lawmakers have been discussing the "Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act," which passed the Senate Judiciary Committee in January but has not been scheduled for debate in the full Senate or the House of Representatives.

"I think we need to review it to make sure that we're not making mistakes with our allies and that we're not catching people in this that shouldn't be caught up in this," Ryan, a Republican, told reporters.

Some U.S. citizens whose relatives were killed in the 2001 attacks want to be able to sue Saudi Arabia because most of the 19 hijackers were Saudi nationals. The al Qaeda militant group, then based in Afghanistan, was blamed and the United States and its allies invaded the country. No U.S. investigation to date has reported finding evidence of Saudi government support for the attacks.

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