EW YORK (AP) - Leading backers of Hillary Rodham Clinton's failed presidential bid announced Wednesday the creation of a new online network for her supporters to stay connected and pursue policy goals she has championed.

The organization, NoLimits.org, is headed by longtime senior Clinton aides Ann Lewis and Sarah Nolan. The group has solicited the members of HillaryClinton.com, Clinton's presidential campaign e-mail list, to be part of "a new community dedicated to speaking up, sharing ideas and solving problems in our communities, our cities, our states and our world."

NoLimits.org has been incorporated as a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization and is not intended to be partisan even as it keeps Clinton's most politically active supporters engaged, Lewis said.

"Our goal is to use social networking tools to enable people to stay in touch," Lewis said. "This is about policy and working together to make a difference."

As Barack Obama's new secretary of State, Clinton must abide by strict federal laws that limit her political activity. To comply with the new rules, Clinton dissolved HillPac, her political action committee, and cannot take an active role in paying off the more than $6 million her campaign still owes to vendors.

Lewis said Clinton, the former New York senator, is not connected to NoLimits.org even though the group is using her name, supporter list and activism on issues to recruit members.

For example, in the solicitation e-mail, Lewis cites Clinton's role in passage of a bill in Congress this week that makes it easier for women and others to sue for pay discrimination. Obama is scheduled to sign the bill into law Thursday.

"Remember when Hillary led the fight for equal pay? Democratic women senators picked up that fight," Lewis wrote in her solicitation letter.

By BETH FOUHY, The Associated Press, January 29, 2009