On May 17, 2016, the United States Senate passed a bill allowing family members of 9/11 victims to sue Saudi Arabia for any involvement in the terror attack. According to this news report, previous attempts to hold Saudi Arabia liable through various lawsuits alleging financial support of terrorism have been unsuccessful due to laws that grant foreign nations immunity from suits in U.S. courts. The new bill creates an exception to the immunity laws if foreign states are determined to be responsible for terrorist attacks that kill American citizens on U.S. territory. The Saudi Arabian government has threatened to sell off up to $750 billion in Treasury securities and other assets in the U.S. should the bill become law.