The much-talked about process of fine-tuning the enabling legislation in the United States Congress to implement the Indo-US civilian nuclear deal has been postponed.
The International Relations Committee of the House of Representatives was scheduled to carry out the process, known as 'mark-up,' on Wednesday. But in response to a query in this regard, a staffer in the Committee said, "We do not have this measure scheduled for this week."
While the Committee has not put down a firm date on the mark-up, it is believed that it has been pushed back to the week of June 26. The House International Relations Committee and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee may go for the mark-up on June 28 so that lawmakers will have the opportunity to take a look at the measure on their respective floors upon their return from the Independence Day Work Period on July 10.
The Bush administration was very keen that the House and the Senate Committees must finish up their mark-up by the end of the month as the Congress goes away on a recess to coincide with the long weekend of July 4.
Given the Congressional overall agenda and the timeframe, the administration and backers of the civilian nuclear deal are keen that the final vote on the floors of the House and the Senate must be done by the end of July.
When they return from recess on July 10, Congress will be functioning till about July 27 before breaking off for the Summer Work Period on September 5. The time crunch in the US Congress is critical as lawmakers -- all 435 members in the House and one third in the Senate -- will be keen on their re-election prospects in the election of November 7.
The Indo-US civilian nuclear deal has its share of critics, primarily within the framework of non-proliferation, but has the backing of powerful lawmakers like the Chair of the House International Relations Committee Henry Hyde and Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Richard Lugar.