Specter renews push to let U.S. citizens sue Saudi Arabia over 9/11

WASHINGTON - Sharpening his tone on long-standing allegations that Saudi Arabia helped fund the 9/11 attacks, Sen. Arlen Specter (D., Pa.) said Wednesday that he would press for enactment of legislation to make it easier for U.S. citizens to sue the kingdom for damages.

Specter said he was convinced by evidence developed by the 9/11 Commission and in litigation against the government of Saudi Arabia that Saudi officials knew government financial support of Islamist charities would end up in the hands of terrorists.

"I believe that this is what the evidence shows," Specter said.

Specter made his remarks after a Senate subcommittee hearing on legislation that would expand the circumstances under which U.S. citizens could sue foreign governments accused of supporting terrorists. Specter is sponsoring the bill along with Sens. Charles Schumer (D., N.Y.) and Lindsey Graham (R., S.C.).

The bill would effectively overturn a decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in 2008 that dismissed Saudi Arabia and senior members of the Saudi royal family as defendants in a lawsuit alleging that they had responsibility for the attacks.

That decision was appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court last year, which refused to hear the case after U.S. Solicitor General Elena Kagan argued that U.S. law barred such lawsuits and that the litigation held the potential to upset relations with an important ally, Saudi Arabia.

The lawsuit was spearheaded by the Center City law firm of Cozen O'Connor, which is representing dozens of insurance companies seeking to recover damages suffered as result of the 9/11 attacks. Other law firms, including Motley Rice L.L.C., a noted South Carolina-based plaintiffs firm, are representing individual plaintiffs.

Specter faces an uphill battle for his legislation, in part because of concern in the executive branch and on Capitol Hill that expanding the rights of U.S. citizens to sue foreign governments could expose the United States and its allies to similar litigation.

But several legal experts testified at the hearing before the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Drugs that lawsuits could serve as a useful deterrent to foreign governments that aid terrorist groups while also providing victims a measure of justice. They urged the Senate to pass Specter's bill.

"The act would increase the scope of civil litigation directed against those who materially support terrorism, which may prove especially effective when directed against the financier of terror and by providing incentives to foreign states to ensure that those closely affiliated with them [do not] further the efforts of terrorist organizations," said Richard Klingler, a lawyer with the firm of Sidley Austin L.L.P. and a former White House lawyer under President George W. Bush.

Lee Wolosky, a former National Security Council official under Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, agreed. He pointed to two cases: litigation against Arab Bank, a large Jordan-based financial institution accused of knowingly disbursing payments to families of suicide bombers, and Chiquita Brands International Inc., accused by the Justice Department of paying paramilitary organizations in Colombia as a way to ward off attacks, as examples in which litigation served as as a deterrent.

One witness, John Bellinger, a former senior Justice Department official under President George W. Bush, warned that expanding the rights of U.S. citizens to sue foreign governments could trigger lawsuits against the United States and its allies.

Specter dismissed those concerns, however, saying the legislation was so narrowly tailored that it was unlikely the United States would be the target of similar lawsuits.