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US one step closer to ‘100%’ deal with Mexico ending decades-long sewage crisis gripping vacation hotspot: EPA

US one step closer to ‘100%’ deal with Mexico ending decades-long sewage crisis gripping vacation hotspot: EPA

The U.S. and Mexico are one step closer to permanently ending a sewage crisis spewing from across the border into waters off the coast of San Diego, Environmental Protection Agency chief Lee Zeldin announced.  “This week, EPA transmitted to Mexico a proposed ‘100% solution’ that would PERMANENTLY END the decades-old crisis of raw sewage flowing in to the U.S. from Mexico. Next, technical groups from both nations will be meeting to work through the details necessary to hopefully reach an urgent agreement,” Zeldin posted to X on Friday.  Zeldin visited San Diego last month, where he announced talks with his government counterparts in Mexico to end the decades-long issue. The problem, blamed on outdated wastewater infrastructure, has persisted for decades, but has spiraled in recent years as Tijuana’s population skyrocketed.  The sewage water has not only threatened San Diego’s massive tourism industry and local residents, but also poses a national security risk as it pollutes the waters where U.S. Navy SEAL members and candidates train, Fox Digital previously reported.  EPA CHIEF ZELDIN LAUNCHES TALKS WITH MEXICO TO END SEWAGE HITTING SAN DIEGO, NAVY SEALS: ‘OUT OF PATIENCE’ The U.S. Naval Special Warfare Command is headquartered in San Diego and is where Navy SEAL candidates complete their arduous six-month Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL (BUD/S) training at the Naval Amphibious Base Coronado.  In February, the Department of Defense’s inspector general released a report finding that the Naval Special Warfare Center reported 1,168 cases of acute gastrointestinal illnesses among SEAL candidates between January 2019 and May 2023 that were attributed to the contaminated water.  Veterans who spoke to Fox News Digital in April described the contaminated water as a national security crisis.  “This is a huge national crisis,” Navy SEAL vet Jeff Gum, who was sickened by the water when he was working through SEAL training in 2008, told Fox Digital in a Zoom interview last month. “Like half the SEAL teams are located in San Diego; the other half are in Virginia Beach. So when you’ve got half the SEAL teams who are getting exposed to this, then it’s a major issue.”  EPA CHIEF TAKES ON MEXICAN ‘SEWAGE CRISIS’ FLOWING INTO US WATERS WHERE NAVY SEALS TRAIN  Zeldin said last month that he and his counterparts in Mexico had launched good-faith talks to update infrastructure and water management facilities, adding that he zeroed in on the “specifics,” including drafting a “comprehensive list of everything that we believe with full confidence is going to end the crisis” on both the U.S. side of the border and Mexico’s.  “Now, if you don’t do all of the other projects and all you do is clean up the current contamination, that feel-good moment will last about a day,” Zeldin said during a press conference in San Diego last month. “We have to stop the flow in. Mexico needs to fulfill its part in cleaning up the contamination that they caused.”  MEXICO IS POISONING SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA IN A BORDER CRISIS ALMOST NO ONE KNOWS ABOUT “We need Mexico to not just commit to all the projects that will stop the flow, but in order to actually finish this project, they’re going to need to commit to that final cleanup,” he added.  Zeldin first addressed the sewage problem in March before previewing the trip to take on the issue.  “I was just briefed that Mexico is dumping large amounts of raw sewage into the Tijuana River, and it’s now seeping into the U.S.,” he posted to X on March 8. “This is unacceptable. Mexico MUST honor its commitments to control this pollution and sewage!”  Local leaders have been sounding the alarm on the sewage problem. Imperial Beach’s Mayor Paloma Aguirre sent a letter to Zeldin in March describing how the raw sewage has sparked one of “America’s most horrendous environmental and public health disasters,” as billions of gallons have polluted the Pacific Ocean since 2023 alone. MEXICAN SEWAGE GUSHING INTO NAVY SEAL TRAINING WATERS IS US’ ‘NEXT CAMP LEJEUNE,’ VETS WARN “The toxic sewage coming across the border from Mexico into South San Diego County is among America’s most horrendous environmental and public health disasters,” Aguirre’s March 3 letter to Zeldin, published online, reads. “Since 2023, over 31 billion gallons of raw sewage, polluted stormwater and trash have flowed across the Mexican border, down the Tijuana River, through the cities of San Diego and Imperial Beach and into the Pacific Ocean.”  “Our residents, are getting ill due to polluted air,” the letter continued. “Workers, including Navy Seals training in the area, have been sickened on the job by waterborne and aerosolized diseases. Many homeowners have been forced to place air quality monitors on their property so they know whether or not it’s safe to go outside. And the economic impact is profound, with the sewage crisis hurting area tourism, maritime industry jobs and local property values.”  San Diego is one of the nation’s top cities for tourism – behind other national treasures such as New York City, New Orleans and Washington, D.C. – attracting roughly 32 million tourists to the city in 2024, the San Diego Tourism Authority previously reported.  SAN DIEGO SUBURB FACES ‘SEWAGE CRISIS’ FROM LOCAL BEACH During his visit to San Diego last month, Zeldin vowed to bring an end to the issue as Californians run out of patience with the crisis.  “The Americans on our side of the border who have been dealing with this… for decades, are out of patience,” Zeldin said at a Tuesday press conference in San Diego. “There’s no way that we are going to stand before the people of California and ask them to have more patience and just bear with all of us as we go through the next 10 or 20 or 30 years of being stuck in 12 feet of raw sewage and not getting anywhere.” “So we are all out of patience,” he continued. “There’s a very limited opportunity. We’re in good faith, both on the American side and also on the Mexican side, what’s

Congressman reveals hidden secret passageway from America’s founding under Capitol floorboards

Congressman reveals hidden secret passageway from America’s founding under Capitol floorboards

Under the floorboards of the U.S. Capitol lie hidden staircases and passageways left over from the iconic building’s original construction in the 18th century, a viral video posted by Republican North Carolina Rep. Tim Moore shows.  “Construction started in the 1700s and there are all sorts of little hidden passageways. As you saw, I just pulled this cover up, and you can see,” Moore said in a video posted to his official congressional X account on Friday, showing a secret door in the floor of the Capitol.  The U.S. Capitol’s construction was commissioned in 1793, with President George Washington laying the cornerstone that same year. The original building was completed in 1826, with various expansions made across the decades, such as a visitor center that opened in 2008.  SECRETS OF THE CAPITOL ROTUNDA Moore took viewers inside the Capitol’s Lincoln Room, which he said is one of his favorites to show visitors to Washington, D.C., noting it’s where Abraham Lincoln would sit by a fire and read letters when he served as a congressman representing Illinois from 1847-1849.  TRUMP TO BUILD NATIONAL CENTER FOR HOMELESS VETERANS WITH FUNDS PREVIOUSLY SPENT ON HOUSING FOR ILLEGAL ALIENS “But the most interesting part of the room is underneath the floorboards,” Moore posted to X.  The North Carolina Republican opened a hidden door on the floor, revealing a dusty and historic staircase leading to what appeared to be another room below.  TRUMP TO CREATE TASK FORCE TO PLAN ‘EXTRAORDINARY CELEBRATION’ FOR 250TH ANNIVERSARY OF AMERICA’S INDEPENDENCE “We’re just off of what’s called Statuary Hall, which at one time was the actual House chamber.… But this is just an example of some of the little hidden secrets in the Capitol,” Moore said.  The lawmaker added that he heard through Capitol building lore that the staircase under the Lincoln Room was used by British soldiers in the War of 1812 to set fire to the historic building. Known as the “Burning of Washington,” British soldiers in August 1814 set fire to the U.S. Capitol, the Washington Navy Yard and the White House – which was then known as the Presidential Mansion – before storms put out the fires and military personnel were called to D.C. to defend it from British forces. The War of 1812 ended in 1815.  TRUMP TO CREATE TASK FORCE TO PLAN ‘EXTRAORDINARY CELEBRATION’ FOR 250TH ANNIVERSARY OF AMERICA’S INDEPENDENCE Moore’s tour of the secret staircase comes as President Donald Trump prepares to kick off America’s 250th anniversary of its founding on July 4, 2026. Trump signed an executive order just days after his inauguration this year detailing how his administration will prepare for the massive celebration, including launching a White House task force, building monuments celebrating the nation’s founding and historical leaders, and protecting monuments from vandalism following such attacks during the riots and protests that swept the nation in 2020.  The Army will hold a 250th anniversary of its founding next month with a planned parade that will stretch from Arlington, Virginia, to the National Mall.

GOP senators launch new push to back mothers with MOMS Act

GOP senators launch new push to back mothers with MOMS Act

EXCLUSIVE: Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., will put forward the MOMS (More Opportunities for Mothers to Succeed) Act on Tuesday, aiming to provide critical support to America’s mothers, both prenatal and post-partum, as Mother’s Day arrives Sunday. Britt said the number of births in the U.S. in 2023 was the lowest since the Carter administration, citing the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). “The Republican Party is the party of life, the party of parents, and the party of families,” she added to Fox News Digital. “At the heart of the MOMS Act is building a comprehensive culture of life to give moms, children and families the support system they need to thrive and live their American Dream.” 5 HIGH TECH MOTHERS DAY GIFTS THAT SHOW YOU REALLY CARE “As a mom myself, I don’t have to wonder what other moms are facing – I’m living it. I know firsthand that there is no greater blessing in life than our children and I also understand the types of challenges that women face during their pregnancy journeys and while raising their kids. I’m proud to support women throughout these seasons of motherhood, and the MOMS Act is part of my continued commitment to fight on their behalf. Britt is joined on the bill by Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., and several dads as well, including Sens. Jim Justice, R-W.Va., Steve Daines, R-Mont., Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., David McCormick, R-Pa., Charles Grassley, R-Iowa and others. McCormick told Fox News Digital he was proud to join such a “pro-family effort,” while warning that the U.S. birth and fertility rates have been “alarmingly low” for some time. FOR MOTHER’S DAY, A VIRGINIA MOM’S STUNNING DISCOVERY REMINDS HER OF GOD’S LOVING PRESENCE “I’m proud to join [my] colleagues in this pro-family effort to help ensure new and expecting mothers can access the resources they need for the long-term health and well-being of themselves and their children,” he said. The MOMS Act would establish a new “pregnancy-dot-gov” for expectant and post-partum mothers as well as those with young children, in order to increase access to adoption agencies, pregnancy resource centers and other assistance by ZIP code. For states like Alabama, where rural communities are especially in need of such support, it would establish a grant program that would help assuage the more than 20 counties in the Yellowhammer State alone that are considered “maternity care deserts.” Britt’s last attempt at putting forward MOMS Act legislation was blocked by Democrats whom she said had erroneously characterized the bill as creating a federal pregnancy database, among other “outlandish” claims. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP The 2025 version also includes Cramer’s Unborn Child Support Act to allow state governments to apply child support obligations during gestation. While no Democrats have yet come out in public support, Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine recently co-sponsored the Child Care Availability and Affordability Act with Britt to strengthen tax credits aimed at lowering the cost of day care and the like.