US-India nuclear deal faces setback in US Congress

Posted 09 27 2008 5:31PM

WASHINGTON - The House took up a landmark U.S.-Indian nuclear cooperation accord on Friday, a deal that faces a major obstacle in the Senate regardless of what the House does.

Supporters warned that while Congress argued over the deal, American businesses were losing opportunities while France, Russia and other countries eye India's multibillion-dollar nuclear market.

The nuclear accord would reverse three decades of U.S. policy by allowing a supply of atomic fuel to India in return for international inspections of India's civilian, but not military, reactors. Time is crucial for the Bush administration proposal, as this year's congressional session could end as early as Sunday.

The accord enjoys strong support from senior lawmakers in both political parties, and the House is expected to approve the deal, possibly Saturday. The agreement looked stalled in the Senate, after at least one lawmaker anonymously blocked a vote on the bill under arcane Senate rules, according to congressional aides who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief reporters.

In the Senate, unlike the House, a single lawmaker can use a procedural maneuver to prevent legislation from passing.

Lawmakers want to wrap up this year's session to campaign for November's elections, but they also must deal with a massive bank bailout plan and other crucial legislation.

Republican Rep. Ed Royce of California said that congressional failure to "push this agreement across the finish line would be foreign policy malpractice" and would hurt relations with a friendly democratic power.

The Bush administration argues that selling peaceful nuclear technology to India would bring the country's atomic program under closer scrutiny.

Critics say the accord would ruin global efforts to stop the spread of atomic weapons and boost India's nuclear arsenal.

Democratic Rep. Ellen Tauscher of California said the "deal would give a country which has a dismal record on nonproliferation all the benefits of nuclear trade with none of the responsibilities."

If the accord does not pass this year, it would fall to a new Congress and president in January, and it is unclear whether it would remain that priority the Bush administration has accorded it. Both presidential contenders, Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain, however, have expressed support for the accord.

The chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Democratic Rep. Howard Berman, also from California, said lawmakers have a choice: "We can approve the agreement now, with the oversight safeguards built into this bill, or wait until the next Congress and start over," he said. "If we wait, however, we will likely only vote on a simple resolution of approval, without any of these oversight improvements."

India has refused to sign nonproliferation agreements and has faced a nuclear trade ban since its first atomic test in 1974. But this month, the 45-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group agreed to lift the ban on civilian nuclear trade with India after contentious talks and some concessions to countries that were fearful it could set a dangerous precedent.

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Associated Press writer Desmond Butler contributed to this report.