Looking for a chance to force Saudi Arabia to respond to allegations about the 9/11 terrorist attacks, a Middletown man is working to build support that would allow the families of the victims to sue the country.
Brett Eagleson, whose father Bruce was in one of the World Trade Center buildings when it collapsed, said he and other relatives of victims want the opportunity to press the country on the issue in a courtroom, although he acknowledges insurance providers and other companies may try to recoup financial losses.
“For the families, the most important factor is to get the truth,” said Eagleson, who has gotten the state’s congressional delegation to sign on as co-sponsors to the bill.
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U.S. Rep. Elizabeth Esty, D-5th District, said in a statement she is “proud to co-sponsor the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act,” or JASTA.
“This bill has a very simple premise — governments that harbor and subsidize terrorists should have to answer for their actions,” she said. “9/11 families in our community have reached out to me with their strong support for this bill, because they want – and deserve – the chance to hold accountable all those who are responsible for the deaths of their loved ones.”
A U.S. House Judiciary Committee subcommittee held a public hearing on the bill Thursday, but it remains unclear if or when the chamber might vote on the proposal after adjourning for summer break later in the day. The bill earned unanimous approval in the Senate in May, but also has detractors who worry about its foreign relations implications, House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wisconsin, among them.
The bill would make a change to the 1976 Foreign Sovereign Immunity Act, which greatly limits lawsuits against foreign sovereign nations, to allow lawsuits by or on behalf of American citizens who are the victim of terrorist attacks on American soil and sponsored by foreign countries.
Eagleson said the Sept. 11, 2001 attack, when terrorists flew planes into the Twin Towers and killed nearly 3,000, “was such a world changing event” that federal lawmakers should amend the act.
Bruce Eagleson, his father, was a Middlefield resident and manager for the Westfield Group, owner of the Westfield Mall, when he was in the south tower doing business for the company at the time of the attack. His family said he was trying to help others escape when the building collapsed. The 53-year-old had previously managed the Westfield Meriden mall for 12 years, overseeing its 1999 expansion and growth into the largest taxpayer and employer in Meriden. A plaque in his memory hangs near an entrance to the mall.
Saudi Arabia has repeatedly denied any connection to the 9/11 attack, but many families of victims have accused the country’s royal family of financially backing al-Qaeda prior to the attack.
Eagleson said many victims’ families want to press the Saudi royal family on 28 pages from a 2002 report, released by Congress Friday, and other evidence that they believe demonstrates a link to the 19 hijackers, 15 or whom were Saudi nationals. Some families previously tried to sue Saudi Arabia, but the U.S. Supreme Court in 2009 declined to hear the case because of the 1976 act.
Ryan, President Barack Obama, and some foreign policy experts have warned that changing the 1976 act could hurt relations with Saudi Arabia and set a dangerous precedent for respecting sovereignty.
Eagleson said those arguments are driven by Saudi Arabia’s lobbyists, but he believes the bill is written to narrowly limit the incidents when it can be invoked. He also expressed disappointment that Obama and some congressional leaders aren’t behind the idea.
“The only way for this bill to work is if all three branches stand behind the bill,” he said, acknowledging that the U.S. would likely need to use sanctions or other measures to get Saudi Arabia to comply.
