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 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.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Obama did not support the
legislation and would not sign it. Obama will seek to reassure Gulf
allies about Washington's support on his trip.
 Some lawyers working with the Sept. 11 victims' families have
insisted that the bill would come up for a vote quickly and easily
pass Congress. But Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a
Republican, said no vote has been scheduled. Senate aides said there
was at least one Republican "hold" on the measure.
"I'm still looking at it," McConnell told reporters, calling the
measure an "important" bill.
BILL NOT FINALIZED
Republican Senator Bob Corker, chairman of the Senate Foreign
Relations Committee, said lawmakers and the Obama administration
were trying to resolve concerns about whether individuals should be
able to sue foreign governments.
"There are some sovereign immunity issues that need to be worked
through," Corker said. He declined to comment on whether he
supported the legislation, because the bill has not been finalized.
The New York Times reported on Friday that Saudi Foreign Minister
Adel al-Jubeir told U.S. lawmakers his country would be forced to
sell up to $750 billion in U.S. assets in response to the bill if it
passed.
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Several members of Congress and senior aides said they were unaware
of any such threat, outside of the newspaper's report.
Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer, a lead bill sponsor said the
Saudis had not talked to him about that threat. But he, and other
senior Democrats said they wanted the bill to move ahead despite the
White House's objections.
"If the Saudi government was complicit in terrorism, and a trial so
determines, it would be a real deterrent to other governments not to
be complicit in terrorism," said Schumer, who represents New York,
the state hardest hit in the attacks.
Corker said he had been in close contact with the administration,
but had not discussed the bill with Saudi officials for some time.
Ryan said the bill did not come up while he was on a visit to
Riyadh.
Republican Senator Chuck Grassley, the chairman of the Judiciary
Committee who supports the bill, said it was tied up by State
Department concerns about sovereign immunity.
"I think Americans need some redress when they're hurt."
(Additional reporting by Susan Cornwell, Richard Cowan and David
Alexander)
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