Industry regroups to push for passage of N-bill

EVEN as the lawmakers are away from the Capitol Hill in their respective constituencies campaigning for the November 7 elections, the US industry has regrouped itself to push for lame duck passage of India nuclear deal as early as mid-November.

The Congress is scheduled to reconvene after the elections on November 13 and is likely to take up some of its important unfinished business including the Indo-US civil nuclear deal during what is called the lame duck session before a new Congress is set up next year.

Given the importance of this session for the nuclear deal, the US corporate sector meeting for the second time in a less than a fortnight this past week decided to evolve a strategy to ensure that the bill No. S-3709 is on top of the agenda in the session and that the debate is limited to one day.

Some of the prominent companies who were represented at the meeting in Washington as core committee members of Coalition for Partnership with India were Boeing, General Electric, Lockheed Martin, General Motors, Ford Motors and Bechtel Corporation and US India Business Council that has spearheaded the campaign at the Capitol Hill.

There was consensus at this meeting that effort is made to ensure that the civilian nuclear bill is listed as a priority, if not first, on the list of businesses of Senator Majority leader Bill Frist for the lame duck session.

The bill was not among the top 15 priorities of Frist in the previous session. This resulted, many say, in bringing the nuclear agreement at the fag end of the session in September and thus the confusion and differences with the Democrats on the timing of the debate.

The second strategy as developed at the meeting is to get Senate minority leader, Harry Reid, to agree on the number of amendments that would limit the debate on nuclear deal to not more than a day.

Number of hours to be given for the debate has been a major issue of difference between the Republicans and the Democrats. In September while Frist wanted to give six hours for debate a on the issue, Reid is believed to have insisted on debate on all his amendments. It is reported that the number of such amendments at one time reached to 19.

During the meeting, representatives of the US corporate giants underscored the fact that it is very important for them to ensure the passage of the bill by the year-end, so that it can be signed into a law by the President. For this it is crucial that the Senate takes it up for discussion and voting as one of its first few agenda items on their table.

The House of Representatives has already passed the bill with an overwhelming 359-68 majority. Hoping that their efforts could bear fruit, the meeting of the US corporate sector also decided to work simultaneously for the speedy processing of conference and related Congressional procedures soon after the Senate vote on this issue.

Congressional norms require a reconciliation of the bills passed by the Senate and the House of Representatives as there are difference between the two. The Congressional staff has already been understood to be sounded off on this issue.

Finally, November 13, the Coalition for Partnership with India in association with the US Chamber of Commerce and USIBC is hosting the Indian American community at the Capitol Hill who can go and meet the Senators and push for the early passage of the bill.