On the recordDecember 8, 2016
Mr. President, that is a really good question because the purpose of this legislation is to hold nation-states responsible for aiding terrorist organizations. The YPG Kurds, in the eyes of Turkey, could be a terrorist group. Al Qaeda is certainly considered a terrorist group in the eyes of everybody. We are now chasing terrorists all over the world. We are receiving information from one organization, taking that information, militarizing it, using it in a lethal fashion, and hitting people we don't intend to hit. Here is what would solve this problem. For a liability to exist on any nation-state, including the United States, the only time you can be sued is if you intended and knowingly engaged in the activity, partnering with a terrorist group or separately, with the knowledge that you meant for this to happen. If we don't have that knowing requirement, we are going to open ourselves up to a lot of heartache throughout the world. Mr. McCAIN. Mr. President, isn't it logical to say that you shouldn't hold a government of a country liable if something happened by attack from their country or by one of their citizens that we didn't know about? I mean, this is why I am confused as to why that just doesn't have a logical aspect to it. We don't want to hold people who are not guilty liable for damages.





