How often have North Carolina's senators worked with John McCain?

A quick search of legislation filed in recent years shows a handful of bills which U.S. Sens. Elizabeth Dole and Richard Burr have cosponsored with the presumptive Republican presidential nominee.

Burr signed on to four McCain-sponsored bills: Imposing sanctions on the Burmese junta, creating a federal gas-tax holiday this summer, requiring illegal immigrants to pay back taxes before becoming citizens and designating a National Mentoring Month.

Dole signed on to the Burmese sanctions and the mentoring month as well as an amendment to name a military spending bill for Sen. John Warner, a Virginia Republican.

In addition, McCain signed on to two Dole bills: Recognizing the Lumbees as a tribe and awarding a Congressional Medal of Honor to Tony Blair.

He did not sign on to any Burr-sponsored bills. 

What bipartisan efforts has U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole worked on?

At Dome's request, the Salisbury Republican's staffers sent a list of bipartisan efforts that she is most proud of from the past six years:

* Climate Change: Dole co-sponsored a "cap and trade" bill to reduce carbon emissions by Independent Sen. Joe Lieberman and Republican John Warner this session.

* Military Family Leave: Dole co-sponsored a bill by Sen. Hillary Clinton to allow some workers 12-month leaves to care for family members wounded in action.

* Lumbee Recognition: Dole worked with Gov. Mike Easley, U.S. Rep. Mike McIntyre, Maryland Sen. Barbara Mikulski, among others, on legislation to recognize the Lumbee tribe.

* Tobacco Quota Buyout: Dole worked with U.S. Reps. McIntyre and Bob Etheridge on a tobacco quota buyout program included in a 2004 jobs bill.

* Catching Fugitives: Dole co-sponsored a bill with Sen. Richard Durbin to give law enforcement agencies help capturing fugitives from the U.S. Marshals.

Dole's staffers also cited her work on 211 expansion with Clinton, creating infrastructure bonds with Sen. Ron Wyden, requiring a White House conference on nutrition with Sen. John Kerry, demanding Iraq fund a greater share of its reconstruction with Sen. Ben Nelson, and amending trade adjustment laws and calling for an Oil and Gas Market Fraud Task Force with Sen. Maria Cantwell.

Previously: Dole's Democratic cosponsors 2003-08.

How bipartisan has U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole been?

From 2003 to 2008, the Salisbury Republican was the primary sponsor of 140 bills. Of them, 80 had no cosponsors, 27 had only Republican cosponsors and 33 had Democratic cosponsors.

Overall, her 264 cosponsors included 164 Republicans and 100 Democrats, or about three-to-two ratio. A bill to give British Prime Minister Tony Blair the Congressional Medal of Honor was the most bipartisan measure, with 30 Democratic cosponsors.

Another bipartisan bill would have phased out reduced-price lunches at public schools by increasing eligibility for free lunches. Six Republican and eight Democrats signed on.

The most frequent Democratic cosponsor was Sen. Barbara Mikulski, who signed on to seven bills, including ones to investigate Camp Lejeune's drinking water and recognize the Lumbee tribe as well as several amendments to bills.

Sen. Joe Lieberman signed onto six bills, including ones to set aside a portion of the gross domestic product for defense spending and provide job training in college. Sens. Ted Kennedy, Tom Harkin, Richard Durbin, Frank Lautenberg and Bill Nelson each signed onto five bills.

Former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards signed onto four Dole bills, including recognizing the Lumbees and honoring Blair.

Previously: Dole's cosponsors in 2003-04, 2005-06, 2007-08.

U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole was fairly bipartisan in the 2003-04 session.

With the candidates for Senate touting their records of bipartisanship, Dome has been taking a closer look at the number of Democrats who signed on to legislation Dole sponsored.

In the 2003-04 session, the Salisbury Republican was the primary sponsor of 16 bills. Of them, eight had no cosponsors and eight had Democratic cosponsors.

A bill to award the Congressional Medal of Honor to British Prime Minister Tony Blair had 48 Republican cosponsors and 30 Democrats, including Sens. Ted Kennedy, Hillary Clinton, Chris Dodd, Joe Lieberman and Chuck Schumer.

Overall, that boosted her Democratic cosponsors to 48, compared to 66 Republican cosponsors, or about a three-to-two ratio.

Her most frequent Democratic cosponsor was fellow North Carolina Sen. John Edwards, who signed on to the Blair honors, a bill to recognize the Lumbee tribe, an amendment on a Medicare bill and another amendment.

Previously: Dole's cosponsors in 2005-06 and 2007-08.

How bipartisan has U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole been?

With the candidates for Senate touting their ability to bridge the partisan divide, Dome decided to take a closer look.

One measure is the number of Democrats who signed onto legislation Dole sponsored.

In the 2007-08 session, the Salisbury Republican was the primary sponsor of 75 bills. Of them, 42 had no cosponsor, 18 had only Republican cosponsors and 15 had Democratic cosponsors.

Overall, her 87 cosponsors included 64 Republicans and 23 Democrats, or about a three-to-one ratio.

The most frequent Democratic cosponsors were Sens. Joseph Lieberman and Ted Kennedy. Lieberman, an Independent who caucuses with the Democrats, signed on to bills praising the Coast Guard for a cocaine seizure, creating a student loan program for worker training and committing 4 percent of the gross domestic product to military spending.

Kennedy signed onto the Coast Guard resolution, an amendment that would require the Navy to publicize Camp Lejeune's drinking water contamination, and a resolution honoring the U.S. Marshals' anniversary.

Dole also had Democratic cosponsors on bills recognizing the Lumbee tribe, giving a tax credit for hunger relief, amending the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and the Trade Act of 1974, starting a pilot program for pregnant college students, honoring Veterans Day, creating a Southeast Crescent Authority and researching flow batteries.

The Senate Indian Affairs committee has approved a bill to give the Lumbee tribe of Robeson County federal recognition.

This is as close as the tribe, estimated to be more than 40,000 members strong, has come to federal recognition, reports Barb Barrett. A bill passed the U.S. House last year.

The recognition gives tribal members access to federal benefits for housing, health care and education.

It also would normally allow the tribe to open the casinos, but the Lumbee bill has a caveat: The tribe may not get into the gambling business.

Most federally recognized tribes have been allowed to open casinos, a business that has reaped strong financial benefits for the groups. But other tribes and some members of Congress were concerned about the Lumbee opening a casino on Interstate 95 in Robeson County.

The Senate bill, co-sponsored by Sens. Elizabeth Dole and Richard Burr, now goes to the full Senate for a vote. It must be voted on by the end of the session this year and signed by President Bush in order to become law, but under Senate rules a single senator can block a full floor vote.

That could happen, because other tribes have opposed Lumbee recognition. Many worry that adding tens of thousands of new American Indians to the federal tribal rolls will stretch already limited funds.

U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole is continuing to push for full federal recognition of the Lumbee tribe.

Dole, a Salisbury Republican, testified on the matter this morning before the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs. She noted that the legislation has already been approved by the House.

"The Lumbee are now 'this' close to securing the recognition for which they and their ancestors have tirelessly fought," she said, according to a release from Dole's office. "The ball is in the Senate’s court, and now is the time for us to do what is fair and right."

Read all of Dole's remarks after the jump.

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The U.S. House passed a bill to recognize the Lumbee tribe yesterday.

It took 100 years and dozens of visits to Washington by tribal members on an issue that divided North Carolina's Congressional delegation and its American Indian community.

The bill, which bars the tribe from opening a casino, passed on a 256-128 vote, the first in 14 years by the full House on Lumbee recognition.

"We were crying and a-hugging and thanking the Lord," Jimmy Goins, the Lumbees' tribal chairman, said of the House vote. (N&O)

The bill now heads to the U.S. Senate. Sens. Elizabeth Dole and Richard Burr support recognition, and a key opponent recently died.

In the House, Reps. Patrick McHenry, Heath Shuler, Walter Jones, Virginia Foxx and Sue Myrick voted against the bill. It was sponsored by Rep. Mike McIntyre. (W-SJ) 

Three North Carolina representatives object to federal recognition of the Lumbee tribe.

In a letter sent today, Democratic Rep. Heath Shuler and Republican Reps. Patrick McHenry and Walter Jones urge their colleagues to vote against the Lumbee Recognition Act.

The bill would confer tribal status on the Eastern North Carolina tribe. But the representatives argue that there are "serious questions" about its heritage:

"One outside expert called the Lumbee 'an invented North Carolina Indian tribe.' In fact, the Lumbee group has sought federal recognition as four different, unrelated Indian tribes over the years ('Croatan,' 'Siouan,' 'Cherokee,' and now 'Cheraw'), and Congress has appropriately rejected these efforts for decades."

The representatives have sponsored an alternative bill that would put the Lumbee through an administrative process to determine their status.

Connecticut Rep. Christopher Shays also signed the letter. 

The Lumbee tribe of Robeson County got closer to federal recognition, but only by agreeing to give up the possibility of a casino.

A bill by U.S. Rep. Mike McIntyre, a Lumberton Democrat, passed a House committee by a 24-7 vote after an amendment forbid them from seeking gaming rights, reports Barb Barrett.

"It was a dramatic victory," he said. "From day one, we've tried to keep this on the fast track."

The Lumbees have tried for decades to become a federally recognized tribe, but their efforts have been blocked by other tribes.

Rep. Heath Shuler, a Waynesville Democrat, voted against the bill. He supports his own legislation that would give the Lumbees full recognition, a process that could take years.