Page 11 - Us Senate

Cloture motion filed for Garcetti's nomination, step closer to confirmation

The nomination of Eric Garcetti for US Ambassador to India moved a step closer to being confirmed by the Senate as it adopted a cloture motion, indicating that the ruling Democrats have the support of a super-majority for his selection for the key position. Such a move by Senate Majority Leader Senator Chuck Schumer came a day after the Senate Foreign Relations Committee at its business meeting voted 13-8 in favour of his nomination. Garcetti's nomination is pending before the US Congress since July 2021, when he was nominated for the prestigious diplomatic posting by President Joe Biden. His nomination was not brought to the Senate floor for a vote during the last Congress as the ruling Democratic Party did not have enough support to get the 52-year-old close aide of Biden through. On Thursday afternoon, a Senate clerk read and brought the nomination of Garcetti to be Ambassador of the US to India on the Senate floor. "I send the cloture motion to the desk," Schumer said on the f

US Senate panel approves Biden's pick Garcetti for India ambassador

A key senatorial committee on Wednesday voted 13-8 to advance the nomination of Eric Garcetti as US Ambassador to India. Garcetti, 52, is the former mayor of Los Angeles and his nomination has been pending before the US Congress since July 2021, when he was nominated for this prestigious diplomatic posting by President Joe Biden. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee at its business meeting on Wednesday voted 13-8 in favor of the nomination of Garcetti. Now the nomination heads to the Senate floor for a fill vote. Two Republican Senators -- Todd Young and Bill Hagerty -- Wednesday afternoon voted in favour of Garcetti, joining the Democratic lawmakers and passing the nomination through the Senatorial committee. Garcetti wasn't confirmed in Biden's first two years in office amid concerns by some lawmakers that as the then-mayor he hadn't adequately handled allegations against a former senior adviser of sexual assault and harassment. Senator Chuck Grassley this week called for votin

Senate confirms appointment of Arun Subramanian as NY district court judge

The United States Senate on Tuesday confirmed Indian-American Arun Subramanian to be District Judge for the Southern District of New York, thus making him the first South Asian judge to serve on this bench. The United States confirmed the nomination of Subramanian by a vote of 58-37 Tuesday evening. "We have confirmed Arun Subramanian as an SDNY (Southern District of New York) judge. He's a son of Indian immigrants and the 1st South Asian-American judge confirmed to SDNY which has one of the largest South Asian-American populations in the country. He's dedicated his career to fighting for people," Senate Majority Leader Senate Chuck Schumer said immediately after the conformation vote. Before the floor vote, Schumer said Subramanian is the "epitome of the American Dream and a history maker": the child of hard-working immigrants from India, he will become the first South Asian to preside in the Southern District, which has one of the largest South Asian populations in the ...

White House applauds US Senators for introducing bill targeting TikTok

The White House on Tuesday applauded a group of Senators for introducing the Restricting the Emergence of Security Threats that Risk Information and Communications Technology (RESTRICT) Act

Keep teens out of your metaverse dream: US Senators tell Mark Zuckerberg

"Any strategy to invite young users into a digital space rife with potential harms should not be driven by a goal to maximise profit," the senators wrote

Pak PM underscores importance of cooperation as he meets US delegation

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday highlighted the significance of long-standing cooperation with the US and the need to make this partnership diverse and multidimensional. He was talking to a six-member US Senate delegation from the Democratic Party, led by Senate Majority Leader Senator Chuck Schumer that called on him. Other members of the delegation included Senators Maria Cantwell, Amy Klobuchar, Gary Peters, Catherine Cortez Masto, and Peter Welch. According to a statement by the Prime Minister's Office, the Prime Minister underscored the significance of long-standing cooperation between Pakistan and the US and the need to make this partnership diverse and multidimensional. He underlined that parliamentary exchanges between the two countries, as vibrant democracies, are vital to promoting understanding of each other's perspectives at the political level. The Prime Minister highlighted that Pakistan and the US celebrated 75 years of diplomatic relations last year and t

US Republican senator seeks removal of subsidies on wheat, rice in India

A powerful Republican Party Senator has urged the Biden administration to speak to the Indian government about the subsidies it gives to its wheat and rice growing farmers, which he claimed is against the norms of the World Trade Organization. Rice and wheat farmers throughout the country are seriously impacted by India's blatant WTO violations, Senator John Boozman from Arkansas said during a Congressional hearing on the 2023 Farm Bill organised by the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry. We continue to engage India in multilateral forums on this issue, raising questions in the WTO, and working on counter notifications in years past to bring out really what we view as the truth to their subsidisation policy, replied Alexis Taylor, USDA Under Secretary for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs. He was responding to a question from Boozman, who is a Ranking Member of the Agricultural Committee. Could you tell us a little bit about what you are doing in your ...

Ro Khanna's US Senate plan sparks speculation about his White House bid

Indian-American Congressman Ro Khanna has said that he is weighing a Senate bid in California, sparking speculation among Democrats in several key US states that he may be eyeing to run for the White House in the future, according to a media report. Those close to Khanna, 46, say he is keeping his options open ahead of a potential presidential run in 2028 or beyond. But others in his orbit are talking about an even more compressed timeline: running in 2024 if President Joe Biden, 80, decided not to, according to Politico, a political newspaper company based in Arlington County in the US. I think he would be a great United States senator, said Mark Longabaugh, a Democratic strategist whose firm did media consulting for Khanna last year. But I also think, should Biden decide not to run, I think he's a very plausible candidate for president of the United States. So I think that those decisions are yet to be made. Khanna, who is a US representative from California's 17th congressional

Indian-American Usha Reddi takes oath as Kansas state Senator in US

Indian-American city commissioner Usha Reddi took oath as senator in the US state of Kansas, replacing current Manhattan Senator Tom Hawk, who announced his retirement last month

Kevin McCarthy fails in marathon votes for speaker, US House adjourns

Failing to elect party leader Kevin McCarthy as the new speaker of the House, Republicans adjourned in disarray Tuesday night, ending a raucous first day of the new Congress but hoping to somehow regroup on Wednesday from his historic defeat. The abrupt end to a long, messy Day One showed there is no easy way ahead for McCarthy who promised to fight to the finish to claim the gavel despite opposition from the chamber's most conservative members. Needing 218 votes in the full House, McCarthy got just 203 in two rounds - less even than Democrat Hakeem Jeffries in the GOP-controlled chamber - and fared even worse with 202 in round three. Tensions rose as night fell on the new House majority, and all other business came to a halt. The House agreed to return at noon Wednesday. "Kevin McCarthy is not going to be a speaker," declared Rep. Bob Good, R-Va., among the holdouts. McCarthy had pledged a battle on the floor for as long as it took to overcome right-flank fellow Republicans who we

Trump's team takes victory lap over dying subpoena of Jan 6 Committee

With Republicans poised to retake control of the House as the new Congress is sworn in on January 3, 2023, any outstanding subpoenas issued by the committee are set to expire

Indian journalist Rana Ayyub receives support from US Senator Patrick Leahy

A prominent US Senator has expressed support for Indian journalist Rana Ayyub, noting that her work is driven by a sense of purpose and a love for her country and the ideals for which it stands. In a statement on Thursday, Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy said, Rana Ayyub is an award-winning Indian journalist who has courageously reported on religious violence, extrajudicial killings, and other matters of public interest in India. Her important work is driven by a sense of purpose and a love for her country and the ideals for which it stands. Yet she faces online harassment and trolling, death threats, and baseless government retaliation for her reporting," Leahy said. "Despite the immense pressure to silence her by government officials who should be protecting her, she continues to expose the abuses of those in power, the Senator from Vermont added. Citing the Committee to Protect Journalists, Leahy said that in 2022 alone at least 38 journalists were killed, 294 were imprisoned,

US Senate passes $1.7 trillion spending bill to fund govt, aid Ukraine

The Senate passed a massive $1.7 trillion spending bill Thursday that finances federal agencies through September and provides another significant round of military and economic aid to Ukraine one day after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's dramatic address to a joint meeting of Congress. The bill, which runs for 4,155 pages, includes about $772.5 billion for domestic programs and $858 billion for defense and would finance federal agencies through the fiscal year at the end of September. The bill passed by a vote of 68-29 and now goes to the House for a final vote before it can be sent to President Joe Biden to be signed into law. This is one of the most significant appropriations packages we have done in a very long time, said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. The range of people it helps is large and deep." Lawmakers were racing to get the bill approved before a partial government shutdown would occur at midnight Friday, and many were anxious to complete the ta

US Senator wants 'robust discussion' with India on religious freedom

A Republican US Senator has urged Secretary of State Antony Blinken to hold a robust discussion with India on the issue of religious freedom of minorities. Senator James Lankford sent a letter to Blinken after the State Department in its annual release of Countries of Particular Concern, Special Watch List, and Entities of Particular Concern designations did not follow the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom's recommendations, specific to India, Nigeria, and Afghanistan. In its report early this year, the USCIRF had urged the Department of State to designate India as a country of particular concern on religious freedom issues. The Biden administration did not agree with the recommendations of the USCIRF. Lankford is asking for the State Department's legally required explanation to Congress on its designations, a media release said. India was not formally designated despite overt and repeated severe violations of religious freedom. India is an important secu

US seeks strong defence ties with India; pumps billions to counter China

The USD 858 billion defence bill passed by the US Senate seeks to strengthen defence ties with India, including supporting efforts to reduce India's reliance on Russian-built military equipment and funds billions of dollars to take measures to address the challenges posed to America's national security by China. The National Defence Authorisation Act, known as the NDAA, was approved by the Senate with 83-11 votes on Thursday. The bill was passed by the House of Representatives with 350-80 votes on December 8. Now it heads to the White House for President Joe Biden to sign it into law. As passed by the House and the Senate, the NDAA seeks to strengthen US-India relations by directing the Departments of Defence and State to pursue greater engagement and expanded cooperation with India related to emerging technology, joint Research and development, defence and cyber capabilities, and other opportunities for collaboration including for reducing India's reliance on Russian-built defence

US House passes referendum for vote on Puerto Rico's political status

The U.S. House passed a bill Thursday that would allow Puerto Rico to hold the first-ever binding referendum on whether to become a state or gain some sort of independence, in a last-ditch effort that stands little chance of passing the Senate. The bill, which passed 233-191 with some Republican support, would offer voters in the U.S. territory three options: statehood, independence or independence with free association. It is crucial to me that any proposal in Congress to decolonize Puerto Rico be informed and led by Puerto Ricans, said Rep. Ral Grijalva, D-Ariz., chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, which oversees affairs in U.S. territories. The proposal would commit Congress to accept Puerto Rico into the United States as the 51st state if voters on the island approved it. Voters also could choose outright independence or independence with free association, whose terms would be defined following negotiations over foreign affairs, U.S. citizenship and use of the U.S

US Senate passes record $858 billion defense bill, sends bill to Prez Biden

The fiscal 2023 NDAA authorizes $858 billion in military spending and includes a 4.6% pay increase for the troops, funding for purchases of weapons, ships and aircraft, and support for Taiwan

US Senate votes to ban TikTok app on govt-owned phones amid data concerns

The Biden administration has been attempting to forge an agreement with TikTok that would allow the video-sharing site to keep operating in the US by enacting additional safeguards on how US user data

US House passes defence spending Bill in Taiwan aid, China bristles

Beijing claims Taiwan as part of its territory - to be reunited one day by force, if necessary - and has become more bellicose toward the island under President Xi

US Congress sends bill on same-sex marriage to White House after approval

The US Congress approved a bill on same-sex marriage and sent it to the White House