President Bush's controversial deal negotiated two years ago to sell nuclear fuel to India still needs final approval by Congress. To that end, members have posed nearly 50 questions to the State Department seeking clarification about the pact.

The department has responded, but both the questions and answers are shrouded in secrecy. The information is not classified, but the Washington Post reports the administration is worried that "public disclosure would torpedo the deal."

A full understanding of the agreement and any diplomatic understandings that accompany are necessary before Congress approves the pact, which reverses three decades of U.S. policy toward India for its nuclear development. The deal reached three years ago would provide technical aid and fuel for India's civilian nuclear power program.

In the past, the United States has refused such aid over India's development of nuclear weapons and its refusal to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. The pact also allows India to reprocess spent nuclear fuel into weapons-grade material.

Congress gave provisional approval with passage of the Hyde Act but questions remain. The State Department has provided answers. At its request the few members of Congress who know them are keeping the responses secret, raising suspicions.

Daryl Kimball, director of the Arms Control Association, said that "the administration's unwillingness to make their answers more widely available suggests they have something to hide from either U.S. or Indian legislators." The agreement has also drawn opposition within India.

While not classified, the information is diplomatically sensitive.

Questioners are said to seek clarification on what the agreement means to provide India with a "reliable supply of fuel" and "to guard against disruption of fuel supplies." The questions attempt to learn if the commitments are legally binding and whether India and the United States have agreed on a definition of what constitutes a disruption of fuel supplies.

The questions should be raised at public hearings before approval and answered publicly. It is important for Congress and the American people to understand what they are being asked and will be expected to do if the agreement is approved.