US Cong begins key session to approve Indo-US N-deal

The US Congress began a key weekend session where the House of Representatives is set to vote the landmark legislation approving the Indo-US nuclear deal as the fate of the bill in the Senate remains unclear. The House, which completed the debate Friday, is expected to take up the landmark legislation for voting yesterday afternoon.

In the Senate, an anonymous lawmaker has put a "hold" on consideration of the bill which must be lifted before the agreement is brought to the Senate floor or approved by a unanimous consent agreement. The schedule of the Senate is still fluid but it is meeting yesterday with a possible meeting today and re-convening on Wednesday after taking a break on Monday and Tuesday on account of Jewish holidays.

The debate in the House on the Indo-US accord came to a close late Friday evening and as lawmakers gathered for the special session yesterday, the formal vote is likely to come up sometime yesterday afternoon. Senior House staffers have pointed out earlier that there are as many as 45 bills that will have to be debated under the suspension rules prior to the House breaking away for the first vote.

Two postponed votes have been scheduled, the first of which being HR 928 on the Inspector General Reform Act of 2008; followed by HR 7081, the Berman Bill on the US-India Nuclear Cooperation Approval and Non Proliferation Enhancement Act. On the Senate side, the Majority leader, Harry Reid, did not mention the US-India Civilian Nuclear agreement approval legislation, which is before the upper House since the time its Foreign Relations Committee marked it up to the floor on September 23.