Political Quotes

“Thank you, Senator McCain. Your overview was excellent about the perils we face as a nation if we don't modify the law. I will try to give you a couple of minutes of how did we get to here. After 9/ 11--the most horrific attack on our homeland, maybe ever, I guess, since the Civil War--the bottom line was that we responded as a nation in many ways. The 9/11 families have a special place in American history and our hearts. They have been pursuing legal claims against those responsible for the attack. Sovereign immunity is a concept that protects our government and every other government from doing business because if you don't have the sovereign immunity, you can't function as a government. There are waivers to that concept--a tort. If somebody in Saudi Arabia is driving a car down the streets of New York and they are working for the Embassy and consulate and they hit you, there is a process where you can sue. You can sue your own Federal Government--the Federal Tort Claims Act-- if you are injured as a result of being hit by a military vehicle. Even though sovereign immunity applies, we waived that to allow citizens who have been injured torturously to bring claims in a very controlled process. The 9/11 families, for well over a decade now, have been pursuing nation-states like Saudi Arabia in court, trying to hold them liable for the act of terrorism of the 19 hijackers. Under our law, a tort does not include acts of international terrorism.…”