In a flurry of contacts members of the US Congress, Rice is speaking to key lawmakers by telephone and meeting others in person, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters.

"From her perspective, this is a full court press, working with the Congress," McCormack said, using a basketball analogy for an all-out effort to win passage of the deal before President George W. Bush's term ends in January.

"She has made a lot of calls. She does have a lot of meetings coming up," McCormack said.

US lawmakers returned to work Monday after their August recess -- and are expected to leave Washington again in late September to campaign ahead of the November 4 elections, leaving little time for action on the agreement.

US congressional approval is the final hurdle for the 2005 agreement, which offers India access to Western technology and cheap atomic energy as long as it allows UN nuclear inspections of some of its nuclear facilities.

The United States won approval in Vienna on Saturday for the one-off waiver for India by the Nuclear Suppliers Group, which controls the export and sale of nuclear technology.

The Group was founded to stop other countries emulating India's example in using imported technology to make an atomic bomb.

McCormack said Rice has spoken to House Minority leader John Boehner and Senate Minority leader Mitch McConnell as well as to Joseph Biden, the Democratic chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

She also intends to meet Howard Berman, the Democratic chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and Harry Reid, the Senate majority leader, he said.

"She also intends to try to touch base with all the leadership on the House as well as the Senate side," he said.

"She also intends to reach out to a number of other representatives and senators, including those who originally opposed the deal when it first came up for consideration," McCormack said.

"So we are reaching out to everybody, supporters as well as those who may be on the fence, those who oppose.

"So we're going to do everything we possibly can to move -- to move the deal forward with Congress," he said.

White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe said Monday that the Bush administration "will work with Congress to get this agreement approved. We're hopeful."

The landmark deal signed by Bush and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in July 2005 has stirred huge controversy in India.

Both the main opposition Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party and the communists slammed the deal, saying it would curb India's military options and bring the country's foreign policy too much under US influence.

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