Senate Should Stop playing games with U.S.-India nuclear deal

Thursday, September 28th, 2006 Press Releases by IARC

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Mr. Radha Krishnan – (202) 347-1223
IARC Executive Director
info@iarcnational.org

Washington, D.C. – The Indian American Republican Council (IARC) released the following statement from its Chairman Dr. Vijay regarding the floor exchange between the Majority and Minority Senate leaders on September 25.

“In his press release, Mr. Reid said, ‘Last night, I offered a unanimous consent agreement to ensure that the Senate could complete consideration of the U.S.-India Civil Nuclear Cooperation legislation before Congress leaves town this week for the November elections. Unfortunately, the Republican Leader objected to the proposal.’

“However, a careful review of the congressional record shows that it was Leader Frist who first asked for unanimous consent to bring the legislation up, and it was Mr. Reid who objected to his request.

“Why would Mr. Reid put out a press release implying he was the one trying to bring up this bill, when the record clearly shows this isn’t true? Why did he say on the Senate floor he cosponsored the bill, when he didn’t?  All the cosponsors of the original bill S. 2429 were Republicans. Senators John Kerry, Russ Feingold, and Barbara Boxer did everything they could to kill this legislation during its markup. Senate India Caucus Co-chair John Cornyn was publicly speaking out on the importance of this legislation, while India Caucus co-chair Hillary Clinton was silent.  A majority of House Democrats voted for every procedural vote to defeat H.R. 5682 on the House Floor.

“Despite this knowledge, Mr. Reid says in his press release ‘I would encourage people following this debate to review the complete transcript of our discussion last evening.’ To be fair to both sides, we have provided the transcript of the floor exchange below:

UNANIMOUS CONSENT REQUEST–S. 3709 — (Senate – September 25, 2006)
Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, on another issue, I ask unanimous consent that at a time to be determined by the majority leader, in consultation with the Democratic leader, the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 527, S. 3709, the U.S.-India nuclear bill.
I further ask consent that the managers’ amendment at the desk be agreed to as original text for the purpose of further amendment and the only other amendments in order be FEINGOLD on Presidential certification, DORGAN on fissile material production, BOXER on Iran, REID on Yucca Mountain, CRAIG on Yucca Mountain, with no second-degree amendments in order, 1 hour of debate on each amendment, and 1 hour of general debate on the bill, all equally divided in the usual form. . . .
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
Mr. REID. Reserving the right to object, Mr. President. . . . I ask unanimous consent that the majority leader’s request be modified . . . .
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection to the modification?
Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, reserving the right to object, as the Democratic leader said, this is a critically important piece of legislation. That is why I wanted to bring it forward tonight . . . . Enactment of this legislation will create significant export opportunities for U.S. industry, with job creation, with thousands of new jobs created. There are some technical differences between the House and Senate bills that will have to be worked out in conference. Therefore, I do believe we should address this bill before we leave.
Mr. President, right now, I will object to the modification of my unanimous consent request. After a brief discussion, we can come back and see if we are close to being able to take this to the floor under this time agreement, with these amendments. . . . With that, I object to the modification.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection is heard to the modification. Is there objection to the original request?
Mr. REID. I object.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection is heard.
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