Welcoming the "substantial" submission made to the Congress on the US-India civilian nuclear agreement, Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi today hoped that the Congress will waive the 30-day rule for the legislation to be considered.
"The White House has made a "substantial" submission to the Congress on the US-India civilian nuclear agreement, Pelosi said cautioning that it is important to read the language of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) carefully in context of non-proliferation.
... The submission we received last night -- and it's very -- it's quite substantial. It will require a waiver of our rules, because you need 30 consecutive legislative days to pass before you could take up such legislation," Pelosi said at a news conference.
"And I hope that work can be done so that we can take it up. It does have support in the House," she added.
The Congress, which opened Sept 8, will be in session till Sept 26. It is therefore being asked by Administration to do away with the mandatory 30-day period before it can take up the Agreement for a simple yes-no vote without a debate.
Pelosi, however, also stressed on the importance of principles contained in the Hyde legislation, so that "what we do in India... Does not send a message that it's ok to proceed to a more nuclear state".
Terming nonproliferation as a pillar of American foreign policy, the powerful lawmaker said the civilian nuclear deal between the two countries should not become a "precedent for saying many more countries will join the club".