Chris Smith: “I want to thank Chairman Goodlatte for his extraordinary work on this legislation, Mr. Conyers, and, of course, Peter…”

“I want to thank Chairman Goodlatte for his extraordinary work on this legislation, Mr. Conyers, and, of course, Peter King who has been absolutely tenacious picking up the good work that Dan Lungren, a former member of Congress and Attorney General of California, had done on this legislation previously. This is a bipartisan piece of legislation, and it has to be signed by the President. I certainly hope--echoing comments of the previous speaker--that the President will, indeed, sign it into law. This bill holds the promise of some measure of justice for the victims of al Qaeda's horrific terrorist attack on the United States 15 years ago this Sunday. Time has not diminished the suffering of those who have lost loved ones on that day, nor has it brought accountability and, certainly, has not brought closure. This bill aims to change that to some degree by overturning the legal challenges that have stood between the victims and the justice they rightly seek from foreign governments and individuals suspected of financing the 9/11 attacks. I have worked extensively with the 9/11 survivors and the family members. I have worked with the Jersey Girls, as they became known, who pushed so hard for the 9/11 Commission that was chaired by my former Governor Tom Kean, who did yeoman's work to get to the bottom of what happened and what we might do to mitigate such a crisis going forward.…”