Republican Rep. Ted Poe wants to know why the U.S. Army stationed in his home state of Texas is presently training Egyptian soldiers to locate and destroy underground tunnels to help protect its borders, while at the same time the U.S.-Mexican border remains porous for underground smuggling?
The congressman says since Sept. 11, 2001, more than 40 smuggling tunnels leading from Mexico into the United States have been discovered. One discovered last year was a whopping 85 feet underground.
Eagle Day
Look for "American Eagle Day" to appear on America's future calendars, as one congressman after another this week has stood up in support of such an observance.
And for good reason. The bald eagle, designated the country's national emblem on June 20, 1782, is the central image of seals of the U.S. president and vice president and the U.S. Postal Service. Nevertheless, in 1963 the number of nesting pairs of the white-headed birds in the lower 48 states dropped to around 400, and in 1967 they were listed as an endangered species.
Through subsequent conservation efforts, the bald eagle population now stands at 10,000 nesting pairs. During a ceremony last August at the Jefferson Memorial, Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne announced the removal of the bald eagle from the endangered list.