Thursday, July 20 2006 09:47 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Washington: A senior US law maker expressed confidence that the Senate will clear the Indo-US civilian nuclear deal with a 'substantial margin' but has warned against pushing Senators 'too hard' to pass the legislation as it will give a feeling that it is being forced on them without time for adequate deliberations.

Senator John Cornyn, who is the founder and co-chair of the Senate India Caucus, also agreed with Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Richard Lugar that the relevant legislation may not be taken up by the full Senate prior to it going on recess on August 4.

"I think this legislation looks very good. Things move slowly in the Senate it is the nature of the beast. It is also a function of the narrow windows of time available to bring things to the floor. But I think it is moving very well. It is getting good bi-partisan support and that to me is an indication that it will be successful," Senator Cornyn said.

He was responding to a query after addressing war veteran groups pushing for the clearance of the nuclear deal.

Asked about the possibility of the Senate taking up the legislation prior to the start of its August recess the Texas Senator replied, "I think that will be hard to get it done by then. We have so many other issues that have been pressing for a long time."

He cautioned, "What we have to be careful about is that we have to push as hard as we can, but we don't want to push it too hard and have Senators feel like we are trying to force this on them without adequate time to understand and adequate deliberations."