US-India caucus takes on Congressional heavies as co-chairs

Washington: The appointment of Rep Joseph Crowley (Dem) and Rep Ed Royce (Rep) as co-chairs of the Congressional Caucus on India and Indian-Americans in the 112th Congress has been welcomed by the US India Political Action Committee, which said both the representatives have been valued friends of the Indian-American community, and have also worked consistently towards strengthening US-India relations.

Crowley is currently a member of the Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia in the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, and was a key proponent of the US-Indian civilian nuclear cooperation agreement.

Rep Royce is a senior member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and was recently named chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Terrorism, Non-proliferation and Trade in the 112th Congress.

The India Caucus is the largest country caucus in the US Congress. It has played an important role in furthering a robust US-India relationship, which is today one of the defining relationships of US foreign policy.

The objective of the Congressional Caucus on India and Indian Americans is to voice the concerns of the Indian-American community on the Hill.

The Caucus was founded in 1993 by Frank Pallone (Dem) and Bill McCollum (Rep), who served as co-chairmen until October 1998. They were succeeded by Gary Ackerman (Dem) and James Greenwood (Rep).

The US India Political Action Committee is a bi-partisan non-profit organization and the voice of 2.7 million Indian-Americans. It works to impact policy on issues of concern to the Indian-American community in the United States. It also provides bipartisan support to candidates for federal, state and local office who support the issues that are important to the Indian-American community.