Friday, July 28 2006 10:06 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Washington: The Bush Administration today welcomed the 'strong support for the historic Indo-US civilian nuclear deal that passed the House of Representatives by a vote of 359 to 68 and said it hoped the Senate would also 'act favourably' on the initiative as soon as possible.

"We welcome the strong support for the historic US- India civil nuclear cooperation initiative shown by (the) 359 to 68 vote in the House of Representatives," State Department Deputy Spokesman Tom Casey said in a statement.

"We appreciate the hard work of many Members of Congress who crafted this legislation in particular Chairman (Henry) Hyde, Ranking Member (Tom) Lantos, and their staffs and the House's willingness to consider the legislation promptly. We hope the Senate will choose to act favourably on this initiative as soon as possible," he added.

"We look forward to continuing to work with India to fulfill the promise of the July 18, 2005 and March 2, 2006 statements made by President (George W) Bush and Prime Minister (Manmohan) Singh," Casey said.