Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act--Veto

Floor Speech

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Mr. CORKER. Mr. President, over the course of the last several days, I have met with the victims of 9/11 and, like many people in this body have, I don't think I have ever met a more gracious, genuine, sincere group of people. I know they have sought some way of expressing their desire to seek justice in what happened on 9/11. We all have constituents who come up and meet with us. These people certainly have not been from the State of Tennessee, but I have to say, they have presented their case in a way that is most heartfelt, and I have tremendous empathy for all they and their families have gone through.

Yesterday, on the way outside the building, a gentleman came up to me, recognized me, and told me about sitting in his home and seeing the planes go overhead, seeing them kill his wife. He talked to me about the conversation he had with the FBI agent, whom they have now gotten to know, about what had happened.
Senator Schumer and Senator Cornyn have done a remarkable job in shepherding through this piece of legislation. I give them tremendous credit for what they have done. I do want to say, I don't think the Senate nor House has functioned in an appropriate manner as it relates to a very important piece of legislation. We have had no hearings in the U.S. Senate this Congress, and we have had no vote--no vote whatsoever--of record on this piece of legislation. As a matter of fact, today will be the first vote. There is no doubt by fact that we went through the unanimous consent process and no one objected. No one objected. No doubt that registered our ``yes'' votes, if you will, without a record on this piece of legislation.

Yesterday I brought my niece and nephew to this building before it opened, and I told them about the fact that there is a place in the back here that from time to time I have gone to pray before a big vote, and how in recent times there haven't been many votes that have been that decisive or that have weighed on me as much as this vote today.

Today is one of those votes.

I have tremendous concerns about the sovereign immunity procedures that could be set in place by other countries as a result of this vote.

I do. For that reason, I have circulated a letter that lays out those concerns, and numbers of people within this body have signed that letter. They have said we feel there could be in fact unintended consequences as a result of what we know is going to happen today.

I have seen our country's standing in the world be eroded over the course of the last several years. I know there is debate over that. In my opinion, I have seen our standing erode. I am concerned about the consequences that over time this vote will have on that. At the same time, I believe the victims of 9/11 do deserve an outlet, a way, themselves, of seeking justice in this particular case.

This, to me, is not about Saudi Arabia, it is about us, and I don't think the Senate has yet gotten it right as it relates to the best way for the 9/11 victims to seek that justice. I know this bill provides them a way for that to occur. I don't think it is perfect. I think a better way might have been to establish some type of tribunal, where experts could come in and really identify what actually happened on discretionary decisions that took place within the country of Saudi Arabia.

We make decisions around here that we believe are to be in our national interests. I have had tremendous difficulty with this one.

That is the reason we have generated a letter of concern to the two sponsors of this bill who have handled this in the manner they have.

They have done an exemplary job. To me, the Senate has not functioned quite in the manner that it should, nor has the House, and I think we end up today with an imperfect solution.

I have concerns about this legislation not having a waiver. I have concerns about the fact that over time, if this continues to build upon itself, we as a body--a body that, to me, could use some great strengthening. To me, we have a body that is in the process of building itself back to the place it ought to be, and we have done that over the last couple of years. Let's face it. The institution of the United States Senate itself has diminished over time, and we have work to do to overcome that.

On balance, I think this bill has problems. I think we will be dealing with overcoming this over time, and I know numbers of us have joined together to express that, but I do think that to be consistent and to give the victims who have lost so much an opportunity to express themselves in this way is the appropriate thing to do at this time.

I have read the concerns that have been expressed by the head of our Joint Chiefs. I read the letter that came over from the President.

Certainly, there are significant and important points to have been made. As a matter of fact, 6 months ago those points might have led us to a slightly different place today.

So with tremendous reservations and concerns about where this legislation is going to lead us, with tremendous empathy toward the victims--who have lived through so much, have seen loved ones gone, it has affected their lives and will affect their lives for the long term--I am going to support passage of this legislation today, but I do so understanding that there could be in fact unintended consequences that work against our national interests, and with a determination-- should that occur--to work with others within this body to try to overcome that.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that a bipartisan letter to Senators Cornyn and Schumer regarding S. 2040, the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act, from myself and Senators Cardin, Graham, Feinstein, Alexander, Warner, Rounds, Reed, Roberts, Coons, Flake, Udall, Coats, Nelson, Thune, Shaheen, King, Carper, Cotton, McCaskill, Sullivan, Merkley, Risch, Schatz, McCain, Heitkamp, Hirono, and Bennet be printed in the Record.

There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in the Record, as follows:

September 28, 2016.
Hon. John Cornyn,
U.S. Senate,
Washington, DC.
Hon. Charles E. Schumer,
U.S. Senate,
Washington, DC.

Dear Senators Cornyn and Schumer: We are writing regarding the anticipated override of the president's veto of S. 2040, the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act (JASTA).

We appreciate the efforts that you have undertaken to allow the families who lost loved ones on September 11, 2001 to have additional recourse.

We have a great deal of compassion for the families and respect their desire for justice. We understand your purpose in drafting this legislation is to remove obstacles so those who commit or support terrorist acts in the United States face the full range of consequences of the U.S. legal system.

However, concerns have been raised regarding potential unintended consequences that may result from this legislation for the national security and foreign policy of the United States. If other nations respond to this bill by weakening U.S. sovereign immunity protections, then the United States could face private lawsuits in foreign courts as a result of important military or intelligence activities.

We would hope to work with you in a constructive manner to appropriately mitigate those unintended consequences.

Sincerely,

Bob Corker (R-TN), Ben Cardin (D-MD), Lindsey Graham (R- SC), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Lamar Alexander (R-TN), Mark Warner (D-VA), Mike Rounds (R-SD), Jack Reed (D- RI), Pat Roberts (R-KS), Chris Coons (D-DE), Jeff Flake (R-AZ), Tom Udall (D-NM), Dan Coats (R-IN), Bill Nelson (D-FL).
John Thune (R-SD), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Angus King (I- ME), Tom Carper (D-DE), Tom Cotton (R-AR), Claire McCaskill (D-MO), Dan Sullivan (R-AK), Jeff Merkley (D- OR), Jim Risch (R-ID), Brian Schatz (D-HI), John McCain (R-AZ), Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Michael Bennet (D-CO).

Mr. CORKER. With that, Mr. President, I yield the floor. I know the distinguished Senator from New York who sponsored this bill wishes to speak.

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