Berman persuaded to drop tough line; Congressional nod likely

Sridhar Krishnaswami

Washington, Sept 26 (PTI) Raising hopes for an early
passage of the Indo-U.S. nuclear deal, the Bush administration
has convinced the House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman
Howard Berman to drop his tough stance on the landmark accord,
and agree to the Senate version of the Bill of Approval.

"Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called Chairman
Berman late in the day. Following the call, Congressman Berman
introduced his new legislation, now referred to as H.R.7081,
the Senate Version of the Bill," a top aide in the House
Foreign Affairs Committee told P.T.I.

Berman, a vocal critic of the 123 agreement with India,
had introduced a bill which was almost identical to the one
overwhelmingly adopted by the Senate Foreign Relations
Committee with a rider that all nuclear assistance to India
would cease if New Delhi conducts a test.

However, his bill had an extra paragraph that would
require that the Senate and the House versions would have to
be reconciled in a committee with the involvement of the
administration.

Berman, whose original Bill had some language that could
have turned out somewhat uncomfortable for the administration
and India, was persuaded to drop killer amendments including
one on Iran that could have sabotaged the legislation.

Congressional and political sources maintain that one
reason why the administration may have gone the extra mile in
persuading Berman is the time factor -- by agreeing to the
Senate version valuable time is saved by way of not having to
reconcile two versions in a conference committee in a
legislative calendar that is coming very close to a finish.

The Berman Bill will be tabled on Saturday for debate and
vote and under the suspension of rules format there could be a
debate of up to forty minutes or more equally divided between
Democrats and Republicans and followed by a vote on the Bill
which has to clear by a two-thirds majority.

The U.S.-India civilian nuclear deal has strong
bipartisan support in the House and the Senate. In 2006, the
Hyde Act was passed by a 85 percent majority in the House of
Representatives.

If the House of Representatives finishes its part of work
on the civilian nuclear deal by Friday, the measure would move
to the Senate and could even clear the Chamber by a unanimous
consent vote the same day itself. However, things are still
uncertain as far as the Senate is concerned, sources said.

Lawmakers, who have been bogged down with the financial
stabilisation package seem anxious to wrap things up by the
weekend but all indications are that the Senate and House will
be in session for a few days more prior to formally bringing
the curtains down on the 110th Congress.