The nuclear deal may enter a critical phase this week when the House International Relations Committee starts the mark-up on Wednesday.
NEW YORK: With about 50 working days left before the US Congress adjourns for the year, supporters of the Indian nuclear deal are aware that time is running out and are asking the powerful House International Relations Committee to send a message to the floor of the House.
According to advocates for the agreement, the nuclear deal may enter a critical phase this week when the House International Relations Committee starts the mark-up on Wednesday. Although the parallel Senate Foreign Relations Committee has not set a date for its mark-up, it is expected to follow suit.
It is during the arduous legislative mark-up process that some senators and representatives might try and ambush the India-US nuclear cooperation pact by introducing amendments to the deal unacceptable to New Delhi. While there is strong support for the Indian nuclear deal in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, there are concerns that changes in legislation are easier in this committee. Here any Senator can offer an amendment during the mark-up process and have it accepted by a simple voice vote.
“The mark-up dates are not written in stone but we are expecting some forward movement during these next two weeks. The House International Relations Committee may even start the process on Wednesday,” an advocate for the agreement told DNA.
Graham Wisner, who is lobbying Congress on behalf of the US-India Business Council, which represents General Electric, Raytheon and other big US firms told Bloomberg; “This is the full-court press right now…until the end of June.” Advocates for the deal are optimistic that the House International Relations Committee will approve some kind of India measure by the end of June to expedite the situation. The need for Congressional action is urgent as the protracted hearings in the two committees have already ended. Now the legislative mark-up process is important to keep the approval effort on track.
Congressman Jim McDermott, a senior Democrat leader who is one of the five founders of the jumbo-sized Congressional Caucus on India and Indian Americans, said the Indian nuclear deal was unlikely to win final approval this year because of Congressional elections in November and a mountain of domestic legislation that Congress had to green-light by August. There are 11 domestic bills that are pending in Congress.
“I have no doubt that there will be something worked out on this issue – I don’t foresee the Indian nuclear deal being something that is just left by the wayside. It would be nicer if it were resolved in a more orderly fashion without being mixed in with elections and falling presidential approval ratings, but the fact is that the real world intervenes,” McDermott told DNA.
“This will probably be decided in 2007 after the elections,” he said while stressing that India should not read any delays as lack of support for the landmark agreement.
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