GOP senators express concerns over colleague's Sept. 11 bill

WASHINGTON (AP) — Key Senate Republicans are divided over a GOP senator's bill that would allow families of Sept. 11 victims to sue the government of Saudi Arabia.

The legislation from Cornyn, the No. 2 Senate Republican, has sparked a veto threat from the White House, which believes the bill could expose Americans overseas to legal risks.

The debate over Cornyn's bill underscores the challenges of providing the victims' families with closure and compensation nearly 15 years after al-Qaida extremists hijacked four airplanes and killed thousands of people on U.S. soil Sept. 11, 2001.

The Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act, which Cornyn introduced in September with Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., gives victims' families the right to sue the government of Saudi Arabia in U.S. court for any role that elements of the Saudi government may have played in the attacks.

[...] Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said Wednesday that Cornyn's bill could lead to unintended consequences that stem from U.S. support for the alphabet soup of rebel groups in Syria battling the Islamic State and President Bashar Assad's forces.

Graham, the chairman of the Senate subcommittee that controls foreign aid, has said he'll block the bill from moving to the Senate floor until changes are made to ensure the legislation doesn't backfire on the United States.