The US India Political Action Committee (USINPAC) is the voice of over 3.2 million Indian- Americans and works on issues that concern the community. It supports candidates for local, state and federal office and encourages political participation by the Indian- American community.
The United States- India Political Action Committee (USINPAC) was founded in 2002 by Democrat and Republican founding members to represent the voice of Indian American grassroots in Washington. Over the last decade, USINPAC has a successful track record of educating lawmakers on a range of issues; supporting and opposing legislation independently as well as working with issue-based coalitions. USINPAC’s primary role is to serve as a resource for Indian Americans visiting Capitol Hill and a variety of Federal Agencies in addition to serving as a resource for lawmakers and their staff.
Accomplishments:
- Extensive political Support (campaign contributions, grassroots work) of candidates seeking elected office.
- Political fundraising for incumbent as well as challengers, particularly in Congressional Districts and States with large Indian American donors and grassroots constituency.
- Support to Democrat and Republican candidates who are aligned with the USINPAC political platform.
- Strong working relationship with US Congress:
- Senate and House Caucus on India and Indian Americans
- Individual Members of Congress in Congressional Districts and States with significant Indian American donors and grassroots constituency.
- Key Senate and House Committees, including Senate Foreign Relations and House Foreign Affairs Committee.
- Legislative Work:
- Anti-Hate Crimes Legislation: Successfully advocated for passage of Local Law Enforcement Enhancement Act (LLEEA), expansion of a 1968 law that allows federal prosecution for hate crimes. Hosted a round-table discussion on Hate Crimes in conjuncture with the Sikh Mediwaatch and Resource Task Force (SMART), The Anti-Defamation League (ADL), and The Indian American Center for Public Awareness (IACPA). Hosted a briefing in conjecture with Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Department of Justice (DOJ)
- Legal Immigration:
- Ongoing advocacy for expansion of orderly and expedited legal immigration of highly skilled workers, including expansion of the work visa such the H1-B visa program and study visa.
- Successful advocacy to suspend a Department of Homeland Security Special Registration Program that would have required special registration for Indian citizens in the United States and also for those seeking visas for entry into the United States from India.
- Ongoing promotion to solve the backlog in visa approval for Indians looking to travel and work in the United States.
- Successful advocacy for significant upgrade of US diplomatic staffing and funding in trade gateway cities in India, including a new U.S. Consul in Hyderabad, India.
- Counter-Terrorism:
- In the aftermath of the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks, organized and hosted legislative briefings on Capitol Hill to update lawmakers and staff on the crisis in
India, which led to the passage of a resolution on the floor of the House of
Representatives. - Launched an online petition that gathered over 16,000 signatures that would make U.S. aid to Pakistan conditional on cooperation and apprehension of the terrorist suspects of the Mumbai attack.
- Held several briefings informing lawmakers of the nature and severity of the threat of Jihadist terrorism crossing into India from Pakistan.
- Promoted humanitarian aid to Pakistan through U.S. based NGOs
- Successfully advocated the passage of a resolution on the floor of the House of Representatives condemning Pakistan for the first time for supporting terrorism in India in the states of Jammu and Kashmir.
- Successfully advocated the passage of resolution on the floor of the House of Representative requesting more information from both the CIA and Executive branch over the extent to which Pakistan is cooperating over its nuclear program and halting Islamic extremism.
- Successfully advocated for Congressional signatures of a “Dear Colleague” Letter co-signed by the then House India Caucus chairs, Ros Lehtinen and Gary Ackerman, which registered a strong protest against the sale of F-16s to Pakistan.
- Small Business:
- Participated in Congressional Hearings – providing expert testimony – as well as conduct informational briefings with the Senate and House Small Business committees.
- Hosted numerous small business technology conferences involving Indian American owned businesses as well as information briefings with Federal Agency Chief Information Officers on Federal budget priorities for information
technology spending. - Global Health
- Organized a briefing on the US and Global Response to HIV/AIDS in India as part of the USINPAC AIDS India Initiative.
- Advocated for greater allocation of resources to fight HIV/AIDS including an increase in $29 million foreign aid funding to fight HIV in 2007.
- Submitted to the State Department a white paper outlining why fighting
HIV/AIDS in India should be a foreign policy priority for the United States. - Between 2005 and 2010 USINPAC held annual briefings to raise awareness of the issue of lack of clean drinking water in India. USINPAC also provided expert testimonies in Congressional hearings on this subject.
- US-India Trade:
- Participated in Congressional Hearings – providing expert testimony – as well as conduct informational briefings with the Senate Foreign Affairs and House
Foreign Affairs Committees. - Successfully advocated for re-instatement of favorable GSP tariff preferences for Indian jewelry.
- Annual US business delegation to India to meet with leading Indian politicians, businessmen, and newsmakers to foster exchange of ideas, communication of business culture, and forge closer business ties.
- US-India Civilian Nuclear Cooperation
- Participated in Congressional Hearings – providing expert testimony – as well as conduct informational briefings with the Senate Foreign Affairs and House
Foreign Affairs Committees. - Conducted meetings with House leadership on the U.S.-Indian Nuclear deal including House Speaker Dennis Hastert, Congressman Charlie Rangel and Congressman Chris Cannon.
- Conducted a briefing with the State Department officials including Assistant Secretary of State Nicholas Burns and Majority Leader Roy Blunt on Civilian Nuclear cooperation.
- Led an Indian American leadership delegation to India to discuss impasses and potential solutions to stalls in the nuclear deal. The delegation met with Indian politicians including Prime Minister, corporate heads as well as the U.S. ambassador to India in New Delhi.