bskrishna
02-22 11:26 PM
as far I know, EAD and I 94 are not tied. So she can work on the EAD got earlier
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aravi
01-23 11:24 AM
Hello -
Can anyone suggest if there is a way to check the priority date on a I-485 application after an interfile request has been made? I am not sure if a call to the Service Center is the only way, or if there is a form I can submit requesting this information.
The context of my question is this: My original I-485 application was filed based on a LC/I-140 approved by PERM with PD May 2005. But later, as part of backlog elimination, an older LC for me with PD Aug 2004 was cleared and my company's immigration law firm got another I-140 approved based on this earlier LC. They've told me that they contacted USCIS with a request to get my I-485 attached to the older PD. I would like to get this confirmed since a 9 month gap in PDs can easily translate to years more of waiting time.
Thanks in advance to anyone that can help out or suggest if I should be doing anything different with getting the PD of my I-485 changed.
Can anyone suggest if there is a way to check the priority date on a I-485 application after an interfile request has been made? I am not sure if a call to the Service Center is the only way, or if there is a form I can submit requesting this information.
The context of my question is this: My original I-485 application was filed based on a LC/I-140 approved by PERM with PD May 2005. But later, as part of backlog elimination, an older LC for me with PD Aug 2004 was cleared and my company's immigration law firm got another I-140 approved based on this earlier LC. They've told me that they contacted USCIS with a request to get my I-485 attached to the older PD. I would like to get this confirmed since a 9 month gap in PDs can easily translate to years more of waiting time.
Thanks in advance to anyone that can help out or suggest if I should be doing anything different with getting the PD of my I-485 changed.
aspiration
06-18 10:48 AM
Hello Senior Members,
I have just started a thread to ask if there is any need to call our local senators for co-sponsoring S.3084 ( Barbara Boxer), which is identical bill in Senate for HR 6039.
Is core working to get similar bills for HR.5882 and HR 5921 to get introduced in Senate?
If the question is inappropriate at this time then kindly close the thread.
Thanks.
I have just started a thread to ask if there is any need to call our local senators for co-sponsoring S.3084 ( Barbara Boxer), which is identical bill in Senate for HR 6039.
Is core working to get similar bills for HR.5882 and HR 5921 to get introduced in Senate?
If the question is inappropriate at this time then kindly close the thread.
Thanks.
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rjain15
09-12 11:13 AM
Hi,
I have applied for I-140 in Oct 2006 and hvn't recd I-140 yet (Nebraska)
My 485/EAD checks got encashed today. My questions is do I need I-140 before FP or EAD card.
thanx
RJ
I have applied for I-140 in Oct 2006 and hvn't recd I-140 yet (Nebraska)
My 485/EAD checks got encashed today. My questions is do I need I-140 before FP or EAD card.
thanx
RJ
more...
dionysus
03-25 11:15 AM
I guess that should be OK. Only H1B rules require one to be continuously earning. On EAD, if you have a potential employer who is willing to hire you after your GC is approved, you can remain without regular paychecks.
I know of the guys, who actually availed unemployment benefits on EAD, and yet got their GCs. At least sitting without regular paychecks is better than that.
I know of the guys, who actually availed unemployment benefits on EAD, and yet got their GCs. At least sitting without regular paychecks is better than that.
BayBoy
01-17 05:14 PM
I am currently on H1 with company A. My I-140 has also been approved and my 1-485 was submitted in July- all through company A. Now company A is planning to close and open new company B. What happens to my I-485 and H1?
Any help gurus ?
EAD Approved.AP Approved
Any help gurus ?
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clif
06-28 09:14 PM
I know that. That's why we need to cancel it. We have to travel in November and we are concerned that AP may not arrive by then. Has anyone ever cancelled I-539 before it is approved?
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ras
04-22 12:04 PM
There was a thread couple of days back asking members to contact their attorneys to answer IV member questions. I have contacted and few of them are willing to answer the questions on IV. Can some one point me to that thread..
Also they want to know how the whole system works.
Also they want to know how the whole system works.
more...
manderson
03-14 08:27 PM
so what are the EB provisions that will affect us?
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02-11 05:39 PM
Hey,
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snowshoe
12-12 07:59 AM
When applying for the third stage you can include applications for spouse and children irrespective of the type of visa they are currently in.
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bluez25
08-23 01:36 PM
Guys,
Look at this thread. This guy got his case assigned to an officer who was no more with USCIS and stuck for almost more than years...... That is a torture.........
http://www.immigrationportal.com/showthread.php?t=261980
Stay on top of your case and find out of your's n the dead box like that....
Look at this thread. This guy got his case assigned to an officer who was no more with USCIS and stuck for almost more than years...... That is a torture.........
http://www.immigrationportal.com/showthread.php?t=261980
Stay on top of your case and find out of your's n the dead box like that....
more...
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snathan
03-02 06:13 PM
Hi, i have filed I-140 3 months back and it is still in process. Am I able to file I-485 in parallel to the I-140 now.
Whats your country of chargeability and category...
EB1 - Yes, you can
EB2- ROW - Yes
EB2 I/C - wait time is 3-5 years
EB3 I/C - wait time is 10-12 years
EB3 - ROW - wait time is 5-6 years.
Whats your country of chargeability and category...
EB1 - Yes, you can
EB2- ROW - Yes
EB2 I/C - wait time is 3-5 years
EB3 I/C - wait time is 10-12 years
EB3 - ROW - wait time is 5-6 years.
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Macaca
09-28 05:27 PM
With Legacy in Mind, Bush Reassesses His Agenda (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/27/AR2007092702039_2.html?sid=ST2007092801089) By Peter Baker | Washington Post Staff Writer, September 28, 2007
As he addresses a conference on climate change this morning, President Bush will face not only a crowd of skeptics but the press of time. For nearly seven years, he invested little personal energy in the challenge of global warming. Now, with the end in sight, he has called the biggest nations of the world together to press for a plan by the end of next year.
This has been a week when Bush seems to be checking boxes on the legacy list. He opened the week at the United Nations in New York, where he tried to rally support for his Middle East peace initiative and insisted his vision of a new Palestinian state is still "achievable" before the end of his presidency. And he pressed for more U.N. action against Iran, acutely aware he has less than 16 months left to stop Tehran's nuclear program.
Success in any of these areas would amount to a singular achievement and, in the view of advisers, could help rewrite Bush's place in history. No president wants to be remembered as the author of an ill-fated war and, while Iraq certainly will be at the core of the Bush administration's record, advisers hope to broaden the picture. Yet analysts said the hour is late to resolve the longstanding Israeli-Palestinian conflict on his watch, critics doubt his sincerity on climate change, and Iran remains as intransigent as ever.
"The clock is ticking, and there are certain things you want to accomplish before you go out the door," said Ron Kaufman, who was White House political director for President George H.W. Bush. "While most of these things are not new to his agenda, there may be a bit of a new urgency given the time. . . . No president wants to leave something on the table if they can get it done."
Even on Iraq, Bush clearly has an eye on the clock. While he no longer harbors hope of winning the war by Jan. 20, 2009, he wants to use his remaining time in office to stabilize the country, draw down some forces and leave his successor with a less volatile situation that would dampen domestic demands to pull out completely. If he can do that, he told television anchors during an off-the-record lunch this month, he thinks even Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.), the Democratic front-runner, would continue his policy.
The goal, as national security adviser Stephen J. Hadley told the Council on Foreign Relations recently, is that "a new president who comes in in January of '09, whoever he or she may be, will look at it and say, 'I'm persuaded that we have long-term interests here. It's important we get it right. This strategy is beginning to work. I think I'll leave Iraq alone.' And so that a new president coming in doesn't have a first crisis about 'let's pull the troops out of Iraq.' "
Bush has even quietly sent advice through intermediaries to Clinton and other Democratic candidates, urging them to be careful in their campaign rhetoric so they do not limit their options should they win, according to a new book, "The Evangelical President," by Bill Sammon of the Washington Examiner. Bush has "been urging candidates, 'Don't get yourself too locked in where you stand right now. If you end up sitting where I sit, things could change dramatically,' " White House Chief of Staff Joshua B. Bolten told Sammon.
Bush is also rushing to institutionalize some of the controversial tactics he has employed in the battle with terrorists so that they will outlast his presidency. That was a major reason he agreed to put his National Security Agency warrantless surveillance program under the jurisdiction of a secret intelligence court, aides said. And that is why he has pushed to find a way to close the prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and find other ways of handling suspected terrorists, although officials increasingly doubt they will be able to do so.
White House counselor Ed Gillespie said the president's team is not panicked about dwindling time but hopes to push steadily toward some goals that will bear fruit before the end of the administration. "On some of these things we've made a lot of progress," he said. "We may not be in the red zone, but we're at a point where you don't need to throw the long ball. We can get there with three yards and a cloud of dust if we keep moving."
The focus on passing time and the coming judgment of history is common at this point in a two-term presidency, of course. In his final months in office, Bill Clinton also launched an intense effort to solve the Middle East conflict only to have Camp David talks collapse. Joel P. Johnson, who was Clinton's senior adviser in the last part of his presidency, remembers his boss holding "a whip and a chair" trying to force as much change before surrendering the Oval Office.
"It's on your mind every day because you know how long it takes to create a policy and build a campaign around it and enact it or in some way force change before your administration is over," Johnson said. "Literally on your wall and in your mind there is a calendar, and every day you see a red X and you wake up in the morning and you realize 'we only have so much time.' And what focuses your mind is you know on that last day, the story's over and you can't change it anymore."
Bolten has been trying to focus the minds of his colleagues in the Bush White House ever since taking over as chief of staff last year. He gave other top aides clocks set to show how many days and hours remain in this administration and told them to think about big things that could be accomplished in that time. Yet the most ambitious items on Bush's second-term domestic agenda have died, most notably his ideas for restructuring Social Security and immigration laws.
"They're off the table. They're done. Didn't work," said a senior official who insisted on anonymity to speak more candidly about Bush's strategy. "So he's turning to some other things."
One of the other things is climate change. Bush once expressed doubt that human activity has anything to do with warming and renounced the Kyoto treaty imposing mandatory limits on greenhouse emissions. Now he has summoned representatives from the 15 nations that produce the most greenhouse gases to this week's conference in Washington in hopes of producing a plan by the end of 2008.
While the White House points to initiatives and research Bush has sponsored over the years, he has never taken on a high-profile role in confronting the issue until now. Senior European officials said they appreciate the newfound interest. "Some months ago there was no discussion of climate. The words 'Kyoto regime' [did not come] over the lips of a government official here," German Environmental Minister Siegmar Gabriel told reporters yesterday. Alluding to Neil Armstrong's famous walk on the moon, he added, "These are big steps for us and the United States, and small steps for mankind in the international negotiations."
But Bush remains opposed to mandatory emissions caps that environmentalists and many foreign leaders such as Gabriel believe are needed. "I don't think the leopard has changed its spots," said David D. Doniger, a climate analyst at the Natural Resources Defense Council. "Or maybe the better analogy is that the only thing the leopard has changed is his spots."
One conference delegate said negotiators realize the talks will not yield a dramatic change in U.S. policy. "With this administration, we will not reach any result because the time is too short," the delegate said. "But they have the problem, not we. . . . They have the problem [of explaining] to their own people what they're going to do."
As he addresses a conference on climate change this morning, President Bush will face not only a crowd of skeptics but the press of time. For nearly seven years, he invested little personal energy in the challenge of global warming. Now, with the end in sight, he has called the biggest nations of the world together to press for a plan by the end of next year.
This has been a week when Bush seems to be checking boxes on the legacy list. He opened the week at the United Nations in New York, where he tried to rally support for his Middle East peace initiative and insisted his vision of a new Palestinian state is still "achievable" before the end of his presidency. And he pressed for more U.N. action against Iran, acutely aware he has less than 16 months left to stop Tehran's nuclear program.
Success in any of these areas would amount to a singular achievement and, in the view of advisers, could help rewrite Bush's place in history. No president wants to be remembered as the author of an ill-fated war and, while Iraq certainly will be at the core of the Bush administration's record, advisers hope to broaden the picture. Yet analysts said the hour is late to resolve the longstanding Israeli-Palestinian conflict on his watch, critics doubt his sincerity on climate change, and Iran remains as intransigent as ever.
"The clock is ticking, and there are certain things you want to accomplish before you go out the door," said Ron Kaufman, who was White House political director for President George H.W. Bush. "While most of these things are not new to his agenda, there may be a bit of a new urgency given the time. . . . No president wants to leave something on the table if they can get it done."
Even on Iraq, Bush clearly has an eye on the clock. While he no longer harbors hope of winning the war by Jan. 20, 2009, he wants to use his remaining time in office to stabilize the country, draw down some forces and leave his successor with a less volatile situation that would dampen domestic demands to pull out completely. If he can do that, he told television anchors during an off-the-record lunch this month, he thinks even Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.), the Democratic front-runner, would continue his policy.
The goal, as national security adviser Stephen J. Hadley told the Council on Foreign Relations recently, is that "a new president who comes in in January of '09, whoever he or she may be, will look at it and say, 'I'm persuaded that we have long-term interests here. It's important we get it right. This strategy is beginning to work. I think I'll leave Iraq alone.' And so that a new president coming in doesn't have a first crisis about 'let's pull the troops out of Iraq.' "
Bush has even quietly sent advice through intermediaries to Clinton and other Democratic candidates, urging them to be careful in their campaign rhetoric so they do not limit their options should they win, according to a new book, "The Evangelical President," by Bill Sammon of the Washington Examiner. Bush has "been urging candidates, 'Don't get yourself too locked in where you stand right now. If you end up sitting where I sit, things could change dramatically,' " White House Chief of Staff Joshua B. Bolten told Sammon.
Bush is also rushing to institutionalize some of the controversial tactics he has employed in the battle with terrorists so that they will outlast his presidency. That was a major reason he agreed to put his National Security Agency warrantless surveillance program under the jurisdiction of a secret intelligence court, aides said. And that is why he has pushed to find a way to close the prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and find other ways of handling suspected terrorists, although officials increasingly doubt they will be able to do so.
White House counselor Ed Gillespie said the president's team is not panicked about dwindling time but hopes to push steadily toward some goals that will bear fruit before the end of the administration. "On some of these things we've made a lot of progress," he said. "We may not be in the red zone, but we're at a point where you don't need to throw the long ball. We can get there with three yards and a cloud of dust if we keep moving."
The focus on passing time and the coming judgment of history is common at this point in a two-term presidency, of course. In his final months in office, Bill Clinton also launched an intense effort to solve the Middle East conflict only to have Camp David talks collapse. Joel P. Johnson, who was Clinton's senior adviser in the last part of his presidency, remembers his boss holding "a whip and a chair" trying to force as much change before surrendering the Oval Office.
"It's on your mind every day because you know how long it takes to create a policy and build a campaign around it and enact it or in some way force change before your administration is over," Johnson said. "Literally on your wall and in your mind there is a calendar, and every day you see a red X and you wake up in the morning and you realize 'we only have so much time.' And what focuses your mind is you know on that last day, the story's over and you can't change it anymore."
Bolten has been trying to focus the minds of his colleagues in the Bush White House ever since taking over as chief of staff last year. He gave other top aides clocks set to show how many days and hours remain in this administration and told them to think about big things that could be accomplished in that time. Yet the most ambitious items on Bush's second-term domestic agenda have died, most notably his ideas for restructuring Social Security and immigration laws.
"They're off the table. They're done. Didn't work," said a senior official who insisted on anonymity to speak more candidly about Bush's strategy. "So he's turning to some other things."
One of the other things is climate change. Bush once expressed doubt that human activity has anything to do with warming and renounced the Kyoto treaty imposing mandatory limits on greenhouse emissions. Now he has summoned representatives from the 15 nations that produce the most greenhouse gases to this week's conference in Washington in hopes of producing a plan by the end of 2008.
While the White House points to initiatives and research Bush has sponsored over the years, he has never taken on a high-profile role in confronting the issue until now. Senior European officials said they appreciate the newfound interest. "Some months ago there was no discussion of climate. The words 'Kyoto regime' [did not come] over the lips of a government official here," German Environmental Minister Siegmar Gabriel told reporters yesterday. Alluding to Neil Armstrong's famous walk on the moon, he added, "These are big steps for us and the United States, and small steps for mankind in the international negotiations."
But Bush remains opposed to mandatory emissions caps that environmentalists and many foreign leaders such as Gabriel believe are needed. "I don't think the leopard has changed its spots," said David D. Doniger, a climate analyst at the Natural Resources Defense Council. "Or maybe the better analogy is that the only thing the leopard has changed is his spots."
One conference delegate said negotiators realize the talks will not yield a dramatic change in U.S. policy. "With this administration, we will not reach any result because the time is too short," the delegate said. "But they have the problem, not we. . . . They have the problem [of explaining] to their own people what they're going to do."
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Blog Feeds
04-28 08:30 AM
On May 1, 2006, hundreds of thousands of immigrants around the country demonstrated against a restrictive immigration bill introduced in Congress. This weekend, similar demonstrations will occur around the US. I'll be attending my 20th law school reunion in Chicago this weekend and am hoping to attend that rally. I'd really rather be at the one in Phoenix and look forward to hearing reports from there.
More... (http://blogs.ilw.com/gregsiskind/2010/04/proimmigration-rallies-set-for-saturday-around-the-country.html)
More... (http://blogs.ilw.com/gregsiskind/2010/04/proimmigration-rallies-set-for-saturday-around-the-country.html)
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pstvak
06-23 01:31 AM
Can someone please tell me on how to reach the customer service personal? What are the options to press after 1-800-375-5283.
I received a Biometric Apt. through my attorney a month back and I appeared for the apt. The time was coincided with my move so it went to attorney and didnt come to my address.
Now I received another notice dated one month later than the first one. So I want to talk to them and findout if it necessary to appear again.
Thanks
I received a Biometric Apt. through my attorney a month back and I appeared for the apt. The time was coincided with my move so it went to attorney and didnt come to my address.
Now I received another notice dated one month later than the first one. So I want to talk to them and findout if it necessary to appear again.
Thanks
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pappu
07-01 10:19 AM
Please do not start a new thread when this topic is already being discussed in another thread. It will help members get information in one place.
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chanduv23
03-21 08:58 PM
Dear New Yorkers, lets keep promoting this group as well as bumping this thread so that more members will join
Join IV-NY (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/immigrationvoiceny) mailing list. Please promote this group and add more members
Join IV-NY (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/immigrationvoiceny) mailing list. Please promote this group and add more members
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vphope
11-03 04:07 PM
Hi
Spouse currently on EAD travelling on AP.
Her H1 is expiring soon.
Will there be any issues while comming back to USA if the H1 gets expired?
(not interested in maintaining the H1 as she is not primary)
Pls give you opinion..
Thanks
Spouse currently on EAD travelling on AP.
Her H1 is expiring soon.
Will there be any issues while comming back to USA if the H1 gets expired?
(not interested in maintaining the H1 as she is not primary)
Pls give you opinion..
Thanks
coolfun
01-28 12:11 AM
Hi,
Gurus - I have few questions and I need your help:
1. My EAD/AP expires in June/July '08. Can I apply for their renewal now?
2. Will there be a finger-printing requirement for the renewal? We had finger print in June 2007 when we applied 485/765/131 together?
3. Is it better to efile or paper file?
4. I will be in India from April to June this year. I have an AP valid till end June. Can I file for EAD/AP renewal and leave for India in April. Is there any risk? I can still use my current AP to enter when I come in early June, right?
Thanks so much.
Gurus - I have few questions and I need your help:
1. My EAD/AP expires in June/July '08. Can I apply for their renewal now?
2. Will there be a finger-printing requirement for the renewal? We had finger print in June 2007 when we applied 485/765/131 together?
3. Is it better to efile or paper file?
4. I will be in India from April to June this year. I have an AP valid till end June. Can I file for EAD/AP renewal and leave for India in April. Is there any risk? I can still use my current AP to enter when I come in early June, right?
Thanks so much.
Macaca
10-06 05:25 PM
Lott Looking to Form New �Gang� (http://rollcall.com/issues/53_38/news/20338-1.html) By Erin P. Billings | Roll Call Staff, October 4, 2007
In what could be a new incarnation of the successful bipartisan �Gang of 14,� Minority Whip Trent Lott (R-Miss.) hosted a meeting this week with a handful of the Senate�s most notable compromisers to figure out how to unclog the gridlock that has slowed the chamber�s progress this year.
About half a dozen moderate and independent-minded Republicans and at least one Democrat � Sen. Ben Nelson (Neb.) � participated in the Members-only huddle, which was held quietly in Lott�s Capitol office Tuesday morning. Afterward, few Senators offered much detail, but several said there�s a feeling among them that the narrowly divided chamber no longer can operate at an impasse and they want to find ways to avoid the growing number of filibusters sidelining Senate legislation this year.
�We�re seeing if there�s a way to bring some people together to bring some more comity to this place,� Nelson said.
Lott declined to discuss the meeting or its goals, saying only: �I think I ought not say anything. Others are going to say too much, so I am not going to say anything.�
According to other Senators, however, the discussion focused on how the deal-minded group could help avert the growing number of standoffs in trying to clear bills through the Senate this Congress. Most particularly, Senators said they vetted ways to work through upcoming fights on such issues as appropriations bills and stalled judicial nominations such as that of Leslie Southwick, Lott�s home-state pick for the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Southwick narrowly cleared the Judiciary Committee last summer but has yet to come up for full Senate consideration. The White House and Republican Senators have been trying to corral 60 votes to advance his confirmation, but are still shy of meeting that mark against powerful Democratic opposition.
�It�s about creating a better environment to get things done for the country,� said Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who participated in the meeting. �We need to get back to being a deliberative body.�
�We�re going to see if we can work beyond the logjam,� said Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine), who also was there and described it as the �beginning of a process.�
Graham, Nelson and Snowe were members of the previous Congress� bipartisan Gang of 14, a group of seven Democrats and seven Republicans who assembled in the face of a bitter partisan Senate standoff over movement of President Bush�s judicial nominees. The group brokered a historic deal to allow for votes on certain stalled Bush picks in exchange for keeping the minority�s option to use the filibuster intact.
That group didn�t formally involve Lott as one of its members, but the then-rank-and-file Mississippi Senator was a primary force behind the scenes leading to its creation. Lott stepped away after the gang officially formed.
Nelson wouldn�t say this week whether Tuesday�s meeting was a step toward
re-creating a similar bipartisan coalition, calling the Gang of 14 �unique.� But the Nebraska Democrat did suggest there are clear parallels in terms of the two groups� goals.
�It�s just a conversation at this point,� Nelson said. �We�re trying to see if there�s an interest in building support for moving legislation and to avoid having as many cloture votes as we�ve had and moving legislation along.�
So far this year, the Democratic majority has called to invoke cloture, a lengthy procedural roadblock that has markedly slowed down Senate action on a whole host of bills, some 56 times. Democrats have argued they are forced to do so against an intransigent 49-seat GOP minority, while Republicans have insisted it shows that Democrats are trying to ram through legislation without their input.
Although not all showed up, sources indicated that about 10 Senators were asked to take part in Tuesday�s meeting. In addition to Lott, Nelson, Graham and Snowe, GOP Sens. Susan Collins (Maine), Bob Corker (Tenn.), John Warner (Va.), John McCain (Ariz.), Gordon Smith (Ore.) and Norm Coleman (Minn.) were invitees.
Although not in attendance Tuesday, Coleman said discussions abound among rank-and-file Senators about how to �fix things� and break some of the legislative stalemate. He added that it�s not a surprise that Lott � one of the Senate�s most notorious deal-makers � would lead the charge.
�It�s a legitimate concern,� Coleman said of the gridlock. �We�re all impacted by the failure of being able to do the things that people sent us here to do.�
In what could be a new incarnation of the successful bipartisan �Gang of 14,� Minority Whip Trent Lott (R-Miss.) hosted a meeting this week with a handful of the Senate�s most notable compromisers to figure out how to unclog the gridlock that has slowed the chamber�s progress this year.
About half a dozen moderate and independent-minded Republicans and at least one Democrat � Sen. Ben Nelson (Neb.) � participated in the Members-only huddle, which was held quietly in Lott�s Capitol office Tuesday morning. Afterward, few Senators offered much detail, but several said there�s a feeling among them that the narrowly divided chamber no longer can operate at an impasse and they want to find ways to avoid the growing number of filibusters sidelining Senate legislation this year.
�We�re seeing if there�s a way to bring some people together to bring some more comity to this place,� Nelson said.
Lott declined to discuss the meeting or its goals, saying only: �I think I ought not say anything. Others are going to say too much, so I am not going to say anything.�
According to other Senators, however, the discussion focused on how the deal-minded group could help avert the growing number of standoffs in trying to clear bills through the Senate this Congress. Most particularly, Senators said they vetted ways to work through upcoming fights on such issues as appropriations bills and stalled judicial nominations such as that of Leslie Southwick, Lott�s home-state pick for the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Southwick narrowly cleared the Judiciary Committee last summer but has yet to come up for full Senate consideration. The White House and Republican Senators have been trying to corral 60 votes to advance his confirmation, but are still shy of meeting that mark against powerful Democratic opposition.
�It�s about creating a better environment to get things done for the country,� said Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who participated in the meeting. �We need to get back to being a deliberative body.�
�We�re going to see if we can work beyond the logjam,� said Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine), who also was there and described it as the �beginning of a process.�
Graham, Nelson and Snowe were members of the previous Congress� bipartisan Gang of 14, a group of seven Democrats and seven Republicans who assembled in the face of a bitter partisan Senate standoff over movement of President Bush�s judicial nominees. The group brokered a historic deal to allow for votes on certain stalled Bush picks in exchange for keeping the minority�s option to use the filibuster intact.
That group didn�t formally involve Lott as one of its members, but the then-rank-and-file Mississippi Senator was a primary force behind the scenes leading to its creation. Lott stepped away after the gang officially formed.
Nelson wouldn�t say this week whether Tuesday�s meeting was a step toward
re-creating a similar bipartisan coalition, calling the Gang of 14 �unique.� But the Nebraska Democrat did suggest there are clear parallels in terms of the two groups� goals.
�It�s just a conversation at this point,� Nelson said. �We�re trying to see if there�s an interest in building support for moving legislation and to avoid having as many cloture votes as we�ve had and moving legislation along.�
So far this year, the Democratic majority has called to invoke cloture, a lengthy procedural roadblock that has markedly slowed down Senate action on a whole host of bills, some 56 times. Democrats have argued they are forced to do so against an intransigent 49-seat GOP minority, while Republicans have insisted it shows that Democrats are trying to ram through legislation without their input.
Although not all showed up, sources indicated that about 10 Senators were asked to take part in Tuesday�s meeting. In addition to Lott, Nelson, Graham and Snowe, GOP Sens. Susan Collins (Maine), Bob Corker (Tenn.), John Warner (Va.), John McCain (Ariz.), Gordon Smith (Ore.) and Norm Coleman (Minn.) were invitees.
Although not in attendance Tuesday, Coleman said discussions abound among rank-and-file Senators about how to �fix things� and break some of the legislative stalemate. He added that it�s not a surprise that Lott � one of the Senate�s most notorious deal-makers � would lead the charge.
�It�s a legitimate concern,� Coleman said of the gridlock. �We�re all impacted by the failure of being able to do the things that people sent us here to do.�
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