Congress

Washington, D.C. -

Federal authorities say they have recovered a letter sent to U.S. Sen Roger Wicker (R-MS) that contained the toxin known as ricin on Tuesday.

The incoming mail facility for the U.S. Capital building and congressional office has been shut.

The substance was first detected on a letter at a remote processing facility that was bound for congressional offices and is under going decontamination.

Washington, D.C. -

President Obama has approved more non-leather aid for Syrian rebels who have been fighting a bloody civil war against the Syrian government, lead by Bashar al-Assad in which an estimated 70,000 people have died so far and 2 million have fled the country.

The decisions was apparently made last week during a national security meeting, but the details have not been finalized yet but is likely to include communications equipment, defensive materials and medicine according to some defense analyst.

Rep. Don Young (Alaska) came under criticism after referring to Hispanics and Latinos as "wetbacks" during an interview with a local Alaskan radio station, KRBD.

When speaking about the use of migrant workers, Young said, "I used to own -- my father had a ranch. We used to hire 50 to 60 wetbacks to pick tomatoes," he said. "You know, it takes two people to pick the same tomatoes now."

When asked later about his comment later, Young did not apologize and said that he was just using a term from the bygone days when he lived in central California.

Long lines have been reported at several TSA security checkpoints around the country as the effects of sequestration kick in.

We are already seeing the effects," Homeland Secretary Janet Napolitano said, citing TSA lines that are “150 to 200 percent as long as we would normally expect.”

The TSA has denied overtime, effective immediately, and instituted a hiring freeze. Both have seen immediate affects as lines in some airports are nor 150%-200% longer than normal, with wait times surpassing 1 hour in some cases.