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ZAPATA
Border wall hits snag in lake
Danny Zaragoza / Laredo Morning Times
A view of Falcon Lake in Zapata County.
For many Zapata County residents, a wall is not a solution By Jeremy Schwartz AUSTIN A M ER ICAN-STAT E SMAN
ZAPATA, Texas — A few days before a late winter bass fishing tournament, a steady stream of anglers backed their motorboats into the chilly waters of Falcon Lake and zipped away in hopes of finding a lucky spot among the lake’s many inlets and islands. The Austin American-Statesman reports the large-mouth bass are almost always biting in this 154-square mile reservoir, the largest lake on the Rio Grande and in many ways the economic lifeblood of surrounding Zapata County. Since it was created in 1953 with the construction of Falcon Dam, the binational lake has served as both a barrier and conduit between Mexico and Texas. But now that President Donald
Trump is pushing for the construction of a wall or fence along the entire length of the border, some residents fear Falcon Lake could soon be surrounded by concrete. As remote as it is, Zapata County, population 14,000, has not been sheltered from the violence of the drug war taking place on the Mexican side of Falcon Lake. An American jet skier was gunned down in 2010 — officials say the Zetas cartel was responsible. The county’s former sheriff was an early apostle of heightened border security, testifying before Congress in 2006 on the threat of spillover crime. But for many in Zapata County —which gave Trump more support than neighboring counties along the heavily Democratic border — a wall is not the solution. At Falcon Lake Tackle, which sells Wall continues on A10
Danny Zaragoza / Laredo Morning Times
This photo shows the entrance of Falcon Lake County Park and Boat Ramp in Zapata County.
U.S. CONGRESS
Trump, GOP leaders pull health care bill By Robert Pear, Julie Hirschfeld Davis and Jennifer Steinhauer N EW YORK T I ME S NEWS S ERVICE
WASHINGTON — House Republican leaders, facing a revolt among conservatives and moderates in their ranks, pulled legislation to repeal the health care law from consideration on the House floor Friday afternoon in a humiliating defeat for President Donald Trump on the first legislative showdown of his presidency. Speaker Paul Ryan rushed to the White House shortly after noon to tell Trump he did not have the votes for a repeal bill that had been promised for
seven years — since the day President Barack Obama signed his landmark health care act into law. Vice President Mike Pence and Tom Price, the health secretary, rushed to Capitol Hill for a late appeal to House conservatives, but their pleas fell on deaf ears. “You can’t pretend and say this is a win for us,” said Rep. Mark Walker, R-N.C., who conceded it was a “good moment” for Democrats. “Probably that Champagne that wasn’t popped back in November may be utilized this evening,” he said. The Republican bill would have replaced the Affordable Care Act, known informally as
Obamacare, which mandated that almost everyone have health insurance, with a system of age-based tax credits to purchase health insurance plans. But it never won over conservatives who wanted a far more thorough eradication of the health care law. Nor did it have the backing of more moderate Republicans who were anxiously aware of the Congressional Budget Office’s assessment that the bill would leave 24 million more Americans without insurance. With the House’s most hardline conservatives holding fast against it, the bill’s support collapsed Friday after more rank-and-file Republicans came out in opposition, including
Reps. Rodney Frelinghuysen of New Jersey, the soft-spoken chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, and Barbara Comstock of Virginia, whose suburban Washington district went handily for the Democrat nominee, Hillary Clinton, in November. “Seven years after enactment of Obamacare, I wanted to support legislation that made positive changes to rescue health care in America,” he wrote in a statement. “Unfortunately, the legislation before the House today is currently unacceptable as it would place significant new costs and barriers to care on my constituents in New Jersey.” In the end, Republican lead-
ers doomed the bill by agreeing to eliminate federal standards for the minimum benefits that must be provided by certain health insurance policies. “This provision is so cartoonishly malicious that I can picture someone twirling their mustache as they drafted it in their secret capitol lair last night,” said Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass. “This backroom deal will kill the requirement for insurance companies to offer essential health benefits such as emergency services, maternity care, mental health care, substance addiction treatment, pediatric services, prescription drugs and many other basic essential services.” Bill continues on A10