CII amid top organisation in paying Congressional trips
CII was among the top international organisations paying for travel of American lawmakers between 2000 and 2005, but it had not registered as a lobbying firm in the US during this period, a report claimed on Tuesday.
By PTI |
WASHINGTON: The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) was among the top international organisations paying for travel of American lawmakers between 2000 and 2005, but it had not registered as a lobbying firm in the US during this period, a report claimed on Tuesday.
In a report dealing with the business aspects of the Indo-US civilian nuclear deal, 'The Boston Globe' daily claimed that CII had spent over $1 million over last six years on "fact finding trips" to India for the lawmakers, their spouses and staffers as also on lobbying US Congress on the deal.
When contacted in New Delhi, CII Deputy Director General Jayant Bhuyan, said, "We are not a lobbying body and have not registered as such because we are an industry association.
"As part of our activities, we take elected Indian representatives to various countries and vice versa. We have got some Congressional representatives to India to participate in our conferences, meet industrial representatives, governments and NGOs as part of awareness programme. And we are doing it for a number of years," he said.
The Boston Globe report said "one of the quietest and most persistent efforts to influence Congress on India policy has come from the CII, which represents some of India's most profitable companies."
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"The group was among the top international organizations paying for congressional travel between 2000 and 2005, even though they were not registered to lobby at the time, according to a review of congressional disclosure records conducted by the Center for Public Integrity, a nonprofit research organization in Washington," it added. Asked if CII had spent $1 million between 2002 to 2005 for bringing lawmakers, spouses and staffers on fact- finding trips to India, Buyan said, "as per a recent report of a Senate Committee, CII had spent $500,000 during this period and this information is in public domain as Congressmen are required to furnish details of who did the hospitality."
The Boston Globe report claimed that CII spent more than $538,000 in travel expenses for trips by 19 Congress members, 11 spouses, and 58 congressional staffers. It claimed most of the travel money spent on Democratic Representative Jim McDermott and his staffers in four trips that are said to have cost about $41,000.
McDermott's spokesperson has maintained that the Congressman has not taken a formal position on the nuclear deal and that the 2004 trip to India was intended to discuss AIDS in workplaces. "Foreign organisations and governments are allowed to lobby the US government, but they must register with federal officials," the Globe report said.
It said in April 2005, the CII registered to lobby for the first time, paying Barbour Griffith & Rogers $520,000 to lobby US government agencies and the firm hired former US Ambassador to India Robert Blackwill, who had also served as deputy national security adviser of President George W Bush, to supervise the effort.
In September 2005, the embassy of India also hired the firm, paying $240,000, it added. The report claimed that out of the 50 members serving on the House Foreign Relations Committee, eight had trips to India paid for by the CII, travelling or sending a staffer. One of them, Representative Barbara Lee, a California Democrat, voted against the proposal last week when the House International Relations committee overwhelmingly approved the deal, it said.
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