WASHINGTON: A US congressional committee on Tuesday endorsed a sweeping civilian nuclear energy deal between India and the United States, which supporters said would usher New Delhi into the top tier of global powers. Lawmakers on the Foreign Relations Committee in the House of Representatives voted 37-5 in favour of the controversial agreement. Both the administration of President George W Bush and lawmakers are confident the deal will secure majority bipartisan support in the Senate's Foreign Relations Committee before full House and Senate votes, possibly next month. "This is a historic hearing," said the committee's top Democrat, Tom Lantos, a sponsor of the House bill. "In terms of the impact of this legislation on the new geostrategic alignment between India and the US for the balance of the 21st century, the importance of this legislation cannot be overstated," he said before the vote.