Washington, September 26
Democrats in the United States Senate on Monday night blocked a unanimous consent proposal for consideration of the US-India Civilian Nuclear Cooperation Bill.
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist said he offered a unanimous consent agreement to ensure that the Senate could complete consideration of the legislation “in a reasonable period of time”.
“However, my colleagues on the other side of the aisle objected,” he noted. “The enactment of this legislation is critical to advancing US-India relations and will help create export opportunities for American businesses”.
Mr Frist said the Senate needed time to work out differences with the companion legislation passed by the House of Representatives — a process called a conference.
“Therefore, the Senate cannot afford to wait until November to pass this critical piece of legislation,” he said.
He called on his Democratic colleagues “to work with us to develop a unanimous consent agreement to enable the Senate to consider this important measure on the floor this week”.
