Can the U.S. Congress approve the peaceful nuclear cooperation agreement this year?
If the Congress follows the requirements of the 2006 Hyde Act and the Atomic Energy Act, there will not be enough legislative days for approval. According to Section 123b of the AEA, the agreement must lie before the House Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for consultation of no fewer than 30 days of continuous session. Given the targeted date of adjournment of September 26, this would leave about 15 days of continuous session. Other impediments to approval this year include the requirement in Section 123d of the AEA for the agreement plus presidential determinations to lie before the entire Congress for 60 days (after the initial 30 days of consultation are over), and a presidential determination required by the Hyde Act that seven conditions for submission of the agreement have been met. These include substantial progress by India on negotiating an Additional Protocol (i.e., strengthened safeguards measures) and a declaration by India to the IAEA
