The 435-member US House of Representatives will, later on Wednesday afternoon, take up for debate and voting the enabling legislation that, once signed into law, will consummate the US-India civil nuclear cooperation agreement.
The House will debate and vote on the bill as authored by Congressman Henry Hyde (R-Illinois), chairman of the House International Relations Committee and Congressman Tom Lantos (D-California), the ranking Democrat on the committee, which was marked up by the HIRC June 28 by an overwhelming 37 votes in favor to 5 against.
The House will first discuss, beginning around 3.30 pm ET, the rules governing the debate itself. The debate on the legislation is expected to begin around 5.30 ET, followed by the voting, and the final tally will be officially in around 8 pm ET or thereabouts.
Delays are built into the process, not least because various Representatives have tagged on, at last count, three or four amendments to the bill as written by Hyde and Lantos. Procedurally, these amendments will first need to be debated and voted on (indications are that the senior leaders backing the legislation will argue for the amendments to be voted down, since the general perception is that any additions to the bill as it stands could prove to be deal-breakers).
It is only after the amendments are disposed of that the bill proper will be taken up for debate and voting.
While nothing can be predicted with any degree of certainty, buzz around the Capitol is that with an array of heavyweights having thrown their weight behind the bill, it will pass with a sizeable majority.
The Senate however has not yet set a date for debating and voting on its version of the legislation, authored by Senators Richard Lugar and Joseph Biden, chair and ranking Democrat respectively of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. On June 29, the SFRC voted 16 in favor to two against to send the legislation to the full Senate for approval.
