For all the excitement about the U.S. Senate’s unanimous passage of the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act (JASTA), allowing the families of victims of 9/11 to sue the Saudi government in federal court, it turns out that the vote was nothing more than an illusion of the prospect of justice and accountability. A last-minute amendment to the final draft of the bill included a provision that allows for the U.S. attorney general and secretary of state to stop any pending legislation against the Saudis.
While JASTA would allow for families of victims of 9/11 to overcome the current restrictions, the new section of the bill would essentially allow the heads of the Justice and State departments to stay any lawsuits indefinitely. The provision allows for the organizational heads to simply “inform the judge hearing the case that the US government has engaged with Riyadh in diplomatic talks to resolve the issue,” according to the NY Post.
The section that was quietly inserted into the legislation — “Stay of Actions Pending State Negotiations” — allows the secretary of state to simply “certify” that the U.S. is “engaged in good-faith discussions with the foreign-state defendant concerning the resolution of claims against the foreign state.”
In turn, the attorney general can petition the court for an extension of the stay for “additional 180-day periods,” effectively delaying lawsuits against the Saudis indefinitely.
These dubious facts that have come to light reveal exactly why there was a unanimous vote for the legislation, as the Senators thought they could trick Americans into believing they had had stood up for the victims of 9/11 and their families. In reality, however, they secretly knew the bill was nothing more than window dressing meant to appease a public looking for accountability.
When questioned about the insertion of this dubious provision into JASTA, bill co-sponsor Chuck Schumer’s office pointed out his comments in the Congressional Record, noting that “if the administration seeks to use this new authority, it should be prepared to provide substantial evidence of good-faith negotiations to the court.”
This statement by Schumer rings hollow as he was the very one responsible for adding the loophole derailing the bill.
The Hill reports that Schumer emphasized that “this bill is very near and dear to my heart as a New Yorker because it would allow the victims of 9/11 to pursue some small measure of justice.” That phony statement highlights the lengths to which this man will lie to the public. If the bill was “near and dear” to his heart, then Schumer wouldn’t have secretly snuck in the provision at the last minute.
The lawyers for the victims’ families claim that despite being given these false assurances by Schumer and bill co-sponsor John Cornyn that there would have to be “real and tangible” proof to secure a stay, they feel betrayed by the Senate.
“How do I feel about the Justice Department being given this power? Not good,” 9/11 widow Kristen Breitweiser told the NY Post. “Their failure to bring their own Saudi indictment reveals how little they care about holding the Saudis accountable for either their funding or operational support of the 9/11 hijackers.”
Be assured that the fix is now in on this legislation as it moves to the House, and the stay provision will almost certainly not be removed. House Speaker Paul Ryan, who recently returned from a visit with Saudi King Salman, has already gone on record as being against the bill.
Ryan wasn’t expected to allow the legislation to the House floor for a vote, but now that the bill is simply a toothless paper tiger meant to propagandize people into thinking there is a semblance of accountability for 9/11, perhaps he will change his tune.
The JASTA 9/11 accountability bill is nothing more than another hoax being perpetrated on the American people by their own government.
Jay Syrmopoulos is a geopolitical analyst, free thinker, researcher, and ardent opponent of authoritarianism. He is currently a graduate student at University of Denver pursuing a masters in Global Affairs. Jay’s work has been published on TheFreeThoughtProject.com, where this article first appeared, Ben Swann’s Truth in Media, Truth-Out, Raw Story, MintPress News, as well as many other sites.
Senator Chuck “Shomer Yisrael” must be Replaced by a Senator who will “Shomer” the U.S.
mauricepinay.blogspot DOT com/2010/04/senator-chuck-shomer-yisrael-must-be.html
I notice the lawsuit against Iran had no problems.
Better if humanity sued the Rockefellers, Rothschilds, et al for a long list of crimes against humanity. They certainly have the deepest pockets and are behind all the major wars, conflicts, false flags, assassinations…
You cannot sue those who judge such matters no more than you can appeal to the Don for how his thugs collect their extortion money from you.
You’re right, Pyra. It would be a very novel form of ‘litigation’, requiring radically different levels of awareness – revolution without the usual Boshelvism connotations. In a round about way I was saying it’s not that productive to go after minions, we know there’s always a fresh crop waiting in the wings.
Yes, you are right there. Always another batch in the making…
Once again this site censors my comment. No patriots at this website.
Those who censor are doomed because those who want to speak will eventually find a work around that allows uncensored discussion. Google, Facebook and apparently Activist Post will eventually be consigned to the dustbin of history.
Hey, tell me about it.
The moment that I asked the question on Natural News (where I had been commenting for years) as to why they had suddenly stopped posting articles that exposed the lies behind the San Bernardino shootings into articles that completely parroted the exact same garbage that the corporate news was saying, I WAS BANNED!
The same thing happened when I commented on Linda Moulton Howe’s Facebook page where I simply pointed out that there are countless scientists that ridicule the IPCC’s AGW global warming position.
I was immediately banned within ten minutes.
I had previously respected both everything Mike Adams and Linda Moulton Howe had previously done in their careers but it appears that to me that all these sites are quickly being infiltrated and completely taken over.
Most of the “alternative news” has been.
Be very very very discriminating on what you read.
Read everything, trust almost nothing.
(although 82.221.129.208 is the first one I check on daily)
This information should come as no surprise to anyone.
This is just a red herring because the Zionist Israelis, Bush and friends drug carte, and United States are the culprits! The Saudis they claim flew the airplanes never died and even one of the family members was asked about their son flying one of the planes and he said go talk to Mossad because he works for them! The Israel “art students” that knew nothing about art and were former controlled demolition experts had access to the WTC buildings for a month, and were even photographed next to cases and cases of plastic equipment parts used for controlled demo!
9/11 was all about getting Americans to believe that Muslims suddenly gone whacko and we must go kill them where a country isn’t controlled by CIA and are oil rich and where they rejected the banking cartels phony paper money and GMO MonSatan control of their land
This is getting interesting – the Sauds say the UsurpedStates are the culprits.
Lets not let Israhell off the hook – 12 dancing Israelis on the van.
Hate to break it to you, Paul Panza, but that “Old World Order” is no different than this New World Order they are working to institute. Use force, theft, coercion, and lots of violence to enforce the will of some on the lives of most. No difference between old and new.