US Senate kicks off debate on nuclear deal

WASHINGTON: The US Senate on Wednesday opened a debate on the Indo-US nuclear deal before taking up for vote a legislation on the initiative with a top Congressman asking his colleagues to back the historic accord that enables the two "great" democracies to chart a new course of relationship.
    
Kicking off the debate four days after the House of Representatives gave its nod to the landmark agreement, Christopher Dodd, the Acting Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told the 100-member Senate that the HR 7081 -- the approval legislation for the US-India civilian nuclear agreement -- "must pass".
    
The Connecticut Democrat stressed that the agreement is "not a partisan issue" and has "strong support" on both sides of the aisle.
    
"Today we will talk about this issue and the importance of it," Dodd said in his opening remarks, pointing out that the action has already been taken in the House of Representatives.
    
 A letter from Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice "as well as other supporting information that leads us to the conclusion that this bill ought to be passed, and passed, I hope, overwhelmingly by this body and the message it would send not only to the people and government of India but the direction the 21st century we intend to head on this matter," he said.
    
Rice is engaged in hectic efforts to press the lawmakers to give their approval to the agreement, entered into three years ago between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and US President George W Bush.

"I rise to urge passage of this bill, approving the US-India peaceful nuclear cooperation agreement. This past Saturday the House of Representatives passed this bill by a margin of 298-116, a resounding vote in support for this agreement," Dodd said.
     
This agreement with India, he said, "is as important as it is historic... this bill enables the United and India to chart a new course of relations between our two great democracies. There are compelling geopolitical reasons to move forward with this relationship."
     
"India has become a major actor in the world... sometimes it can be helpful to remind people of the tremendous importance of India's locks in the world in south -- location in the world in South Asia sharing borders with China, Pakistan, and close to Afghanistan," he maintained.
     
"India ... increasingly sees itself in concert with other global powers rather than in opposition. India's Prime Minister who visited Washington just last week has devoted energy and political courage in forging this agreement. It cost him dearly to move forward in his own Parliament to reach the agreement he did only a few weeks ago and in seeking the approval for it in his country of India," Senator Dodd said.      

Dodd, who also Chairs the Banking Committee, listed the requirements that have been met by  India to get to the position it has now and in the process reminded his colleagues that what President Bush has signed off on is only a political commitment that is not legally binding.
    
"The bill before the United States Senate provides additional measures that guide the implement takes of the agreement and they are worthy of note... the grant is based on US interpretations of its temperatures. In other words, it reaffirms that President Bush's assurances about fuel supplies are a political commitment and not necessarily legally binding."

After one hour of general debate, Senators will be discussing two amendments each for one hour. Democratic Senators Russell Feingold of Wisconsin and Tom Harkin of Iowa will be speaking for an additional 15 minutes each during the general debate.
     
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced yesterday that voting on the amendments and the final passage of the legislation will come only late in the evening, perhaps after 7:30 pm (5 am IST on Thursday).
     
Senator Reid also made it known that passage of the amendments and the final approval of the legislation will be through a 60-vote threshold in the Senate.
    
In his opening remarks at the beginning of the Senate session, Reid maintained that the agreement "is an issue that has been worked on long and hard for months and months, and finally we're having the opportunity to get to it".
    
A clearance in the Senate will allow India and the US to sign the landmark accord and resume bilateral nuclear trade. India has already signed a civil atomic cooperation agreement with France, ending 34-years of nuclear isolation.