Newsmaker: Charles Schumer, US senator

Quick gun Schumer

It is difficult to fathom whether the ‘chop shop’ Senator is India’s friend or foe.

It’s no secret in Washington that Senator Charles “Chuck” Schumer, Democrat of New York, likes to talk. Bob Dole, the former United States Senator and Republican presidential candidate in 1996, is said to have remarked that the most dangerous place in Washington was between Chuck Schumer and a television camera.

Until recently, the prolific talker had been long on sheer volume, but fairly short on any memorable remarks or phrases. August 5, 2010 changed that – he has booked himself several thousand entries on Google forever with his comment during a speech on the Senate floor describing Indian information technology giant Infosys as a “chop shop”.

It was no offhand remark. He used the example in support of a legislation that he has co-authored, which would sharply raise H1B and L1 visa fees for certain employers to generate revenue for border security measures. The Senate broke for its summer recess after passing that bill and Schumer has remained uncharacteristically silent since then, despite the uproar that the Bill and his remarks generated in India and the US.

He may have antagonised an important section of Indian industry, but there was little downside to the legislation here in the US. Labour unions are among the most crucial political and financial backers of the Democratic Party, and the provision that would ostensibly raise the costs of employing foreign workers was political red meat for this key segment, especially in a tough economy. With Democrats widely expected to lose considerable ground in the coming mid-term elections in November, this was a gesture to energise the left-leaning base and loosen their purse strings for the campaigns ahead.

Schumer knows a thing or two about political strategy – he chaired the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee from 2004 to 2008, a period in which the party regained its majority in the Senate. He is among the most senior Democrats in the party and is often mentioned as a likely candidate to succeed or replace Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

The 60-year-old Schumer was elected to the House of Representatives in 1980 and to the Senate 18 years later. Born in the Brooklyn borough of New York City in a working class family, Schumer has staked out a political identity as a champion of the middle class. He is popular in New York, winning his last election in 2004 with over 70 per cent of the vote in the biggest landslide in the state’s senatorial election history. He is up for re-election in November and is leading comfortably in most polls.

Anyone following his legislative career would not have been too surprised with his latest Bill. Senator Schumer has taken seemingly protectionist positions earlier. In June he proposed legislation to limit outsourcing of call center jobs. He has lobbied the US Trade Representative to force India to lift its “illegal trade barriers” and open its market to US dairy exports. And in 2004 he co-wrote an Op-Ed in the New York Times, titled Second Thoughts on Free Trade, which cited an example of a New York firm replacing its software engineers with lower-paid engineers in India to argue that global economic changes warranted a fresh look at the commonly accepted definition of free trade.

Still, it would be unfair to dismiss Schumer as a rabid protectionist. In his 2007 book, Positively American, he called for increasing legal immigration by up to 50 per cent, increasing the number of green cards issued every year, retaining those who come to the US for education, and using immigration to fill high-needs jobs.

He has also spoken in favour of the H1B programme – he opposed a provision in the 2009 stimulus Bill that would have barred banks that took funds from the Troubled Assets Relief Programme from hiring H1B workers. Of course, banks are one of Schumer’s key constituencies in New York.

His latest Bill and talk about chop shops has left many Indian Americans puzzled and dismayed. One of them is Kiran Pasricha, the Deputy Director General of Confederation of Indian Industry based in Arlington, Virginia. She recalls being personally involved in getting Schumer to be the chief guest at the inaugural ceremony of the India@60 gala in 2007 and his enthusiasm at the event. “I don’t know what’s driving him,” she said, referring to his recent remarks about Indian companies.

New York hotelier Sant Chatwal has known and raised funds for Schumer for over 20 years, before he was even elected to the Senate. “He is a great friend of India,” says Chatwal, and points to his strong support for the Indo-US civil nuclear agreement. And, in his blustering style, Chatwal promises, “I’m going to tell him openly that he made a big mistake talking about Infosys.”

Perhaps a closer look at India might help the Senator change his mind. Chatwal says he has been trying to get Schumer to visit, but he has never been to India. He’ll certainly have plenty to talk about if he decides to visit now.