Lott Wants Agreement With Dems On
H-1B Visa Measure

Senate Majority Leader Lott today told reporters he intends to seek a procedural agreement with Democratic leaders next week on H-1B visa increase legislation. Lott said "a reasonable agreement" might include "four or five amendments on each side with an hour equally divided." Failing their ability to reach an agreement on time and amendments, Lott said he intends to "force it to the early stages of cloture. It takes time, but I'll try to double track it some way." Lott conceded that there are amendments on both sides that each party finds objectionable, including a Republican proposal to reform the H-2A agriculture guest worker program, and broader immigration relief provisions being advocated by Democrats and the White House. Lott said "relevant" amendments should be the rule.

"You've got people who want to offer everything but the kitchen sink on H-1B, we've got to make a decision here ? Do we want this bill or not?" he declared. A Senate agreement on H-1B legislation fell apart before the August break, apparently due to objections in both parties.

Meanwhile, an architect of a massive media campaign targeting members of Congress who support an increase in the number of H-1B visas has unveiled a new series of advertisements that make other anti-immigration claims. The new ads, which are being run exclusively inside the Beltway for now, are being paid for by NumbersUSA.com, a non-profit educational group. The group's founder, Roy Beck, started NumbersUSA.com about three and a half years ago, about the time he launched Americans for Better Immigration, which lobbies Congress for reductions in overall immigration numbers. The group plans on launching a full time lobbying shop in the Washington area within a year, Beck said in an interview today. ABI also is part of the umbrella group called the Coalition for the Future American Worker, which has run a barrage of local radio and newspaper advertisements targeting House Minority Leader Gephardt and other members of Congress who support an H-1B increase. Individually, ABI has recently run anti-H-1B advertisements in Michigan, targeting GOP Sen. Spencer Abraham, who is a chief sponsor of Senate legislation to increase those caps.

The new NumbersUSA.com radio and print ads seek to link increased immigration to urban sprawl, traffic congestion and deteriorating school quality. Beck said the group plans to air the ads in other parts of the country at some point. Beck added the NumbersUSA.com ads have been in the works for months, and that it was purely coincidental the ads here have begun running at a time when the legislative debate over H-1B visas and amnesty provisions for aliens has been heating up. "I'd say it's a little bit of lucky timing, but we're not disappointed about that," Beck said. These ads are funded through the financial contributions of about 6,000 activists and a handful of foundations, Beck said. He added that the network of "activist" supporters span the country, but are especially concentrated in California, Florida and Virginia. Beck declined to name the contributing foundations. He said they do not include any traditional labor groups, but are organizations that "have shown some concern for some labor issues."

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