The recently-formed bipartisan U.S.-India Political Action Committee (USINPAC) on Nov. 18 announced that it is meeting with senior Senator Orrin Hatch, Utah Republican, in the first of a series of breakfast meetings on Capitol Hill.

Sen. Hatch is the incoming Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee and was scheduled to have breakfast with a dozen participants on Nov. 21. Next month, Sen. Chuck Grassley, Iowa Republican, the incoming Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, will be USINPAC’s guest.

USINPAC, which was formed three months ago by some 20 political activists and entrepreneurs, says its objective is to acquaint leading Senators and Congressmen of both parties with issues relevant to the Indian-American community.

Though recently-formed, USINPAC jumped into Nov. 5 mid-term election fray, giving some $35,000 to several candidates around the country --- Sen. Mary Landreu in New Orleans, Rep. Bob Beauprez in Colorado, Rep. Albert Wynn in Maryland, Sen. Chris Van Hollen in Maryland, as well as Maryland Assemblyman Kumar Barve, Sanjay Puri, executive director of USINPAC and founder of IT company Optimal, told News-India Times.

Puri questioned the achievements of the Congressional Caucus on India and Indian Americans.

“The question is not who signs up for the Caucus for instance, the question is who gives us the results. I would rather have 20 active members in the Caucus rather than 150, most of whom don’t know the community,” Puri contended.

“In 2000, Indian Americans held more than 100 fundraisers and gave more than $7 million, but did not even get several dollars worth in return,” he said. “The goal is trying to consolidate the money, make sure we connect the dots with the right people. It has taken off in a short period.”

The issues that have surfaced initially for the Indian-American community are immigration, strong U.S.-India relations, entrepreneurship, but also questions about the impact of Homeland Security regulations, Puri said.

“But it is not the goal to bring out 50 issues and then have nothing addressed. Rather we should zero in on specific ones and discuss those with our representatives,” he emphasized.

Among those who helped with the founding of USINPAC are Lane Forsythe, who ran a National PAC (NATPAC), V.S. Raghavan, Chairman of the Hindu Temple, Pradeep Ganguly of Maryland, Rabinder Sachdeva, Adjunct Professor of Communications at American University, and Sumit Chibber, a senior officer at Booz Allen.

USINPAC is among several PACs that have sprung up in the last year, including the Indian American Leadership Initiative PAC, Project Impact, apart from the Democratic and Republican initiatives taken on by Indian Americans.