The Hindu : International / India & World : U.S. House rejects six amendments

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jul 28, 2006

International

International - India & World

U.S. House rejects six amendments

Sridhar KrishnaswamiPTI

``A tidal shift in ties between India and the U.S.''

Washington: Democratic Congressman Tom Lantos, a staunch supporter of the Indo-U.S. nuclear deal, said in the House of Representatives on Thursday that it was a landmark pact.

Participating in the debate he said it would be a ``tidal shift in relations between India and the United States'' and lead to a ``new era of mutual respect and cooperation.''

However, critics of the deal say it could boost India's nuclear arsenal and send the wrong message to countries like Iran, whose nuclear ambitions are opposed by the U.S.

``By shipping India fuel for its civilian reactors, this legislation potentially frees up their [India's] entire supply of domestic uranium for use in weapons,'' House Democrat Ed Markey said before the vote.

Under the deal, finalised during U.S. President George Bush's landmark visit to India in March this year, the U.S. will allow civilian nuclear trade with India in return for safeguards and inspections at New Delhi's 14 civilian nuclear plants but its eight military plants will be off-limits.

In the course of leading up to the final vote, the House considered as many as six amendments, three of which were disposed of by voice votes and three others by recorded votes.

Of the three recorded votes, two were described as ``killer amendments``— put forth by California Democrats Brad Sherman and Howard Berman.

The House easily passed the Cliff Stearns amendment which said the nuclear pact entered into is only for ``peaceful, productive purposes, not military.'' The Stearns measure was passed by a whopping 414 votes to zero.

The House also considered changes to a bill proposed by Mr. Lantos and Chair of House International Relations Committee Henry Hyde, which came under the category of Manager's Amendments that had more to do with technical changes to the legislation and changes in language. After minor objections from Mr. Markey the House accepted the amendments.

The joint amendment, proposed by Congresswoman Shiela Lee Jackson of Texas and Dan Burton of Indiana, was approved by the House by a voice vote. The amendment declared the importance of South Asia urging the continuation of the engagement, collaboration and exchanges of the U.S. with and between India and Pakistan.

The Jeff Fortenberry amendment which provided Congress with the ability to assess — to the extent possible — whether annual levels of India's fissile production may imply a possible violation of Article One of the Non-Proliferation Treaty was the final one and accepted by voice vote.

The final tally in the House showed strong bipartisanship with 219 Republicans and 140 Democrats voting for the agreement with only nine Republicans and 58 Democrats voting against it. But, the passage of the Bill was not without its anxious moments towards the very end when Mr. Markey, a Democrat from Massachussetts and critic of the legislation, joined his Republican colleague Fred Upton of Michigan on a motion to recommit the Bill to the House International Relations Committee with instructions.

Mr. Markey and Mr. Upton's suggested amendment was on Tuesday rejected by the House Rules Committee. The amendment would have required that nuclear cooperation with India could only commence after the President had determined that the United States has secured India's full and active support in preventing Iran from acquiring weapons of mass destruction.

The motion to recommit was defeated by a margin of 235 votes to 192.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

International