Indian Country

Our tribal communities have always enhanced New Mexico’s rich culture and traditions.  

Issues that affect Indian Country are a top priority for me. As a former member of the U.S. House of Representatives, I led the effort to reauthorize the Indian Health Care Improvement Act. I also sponsored the Helping Expedite and Advance Responsible Tribal Homeownership (HEARTH) Act, which was signed into law by President Obama in 2012.  The HEARTH Act makes it easier to get a lease on trust land, which helps Native families buy homes and helps attract businesses and jobs to tribal communities.

I proudly cosponsored the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act, a bill to prevent violence against women, including Native women, by bolstering law enforcement efforts and providing necessary resources for victims of domestic violence.

I take pride in working with our tribal communities, and will continue to defend and protect tribal sovereignty, and advocate on their behalf on issues such as education, water access, housing, infrastructure, public safety, and cultural preservation.

Latest

  • Connecting Tribal Communities to High-Speed Internet

    Broadband investment is critical infrastructure investment. Just like access to water, roads, railways, and electricity in the 21st century, broadband internet access determines which communities grow and thrive. For many rural tribal communities, the lack of access to high-speed broadband internet connections leaves far too many of our children unable to learn and compete on an even playing field. Read More

  • Udall, Heinrich Join Conservation Leaders To Celebrate New Public Access To Sabinoso Wilderness, Call For Reauthorization Of Land And Water Conservation Fund

    ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - Today, U.S. Senators Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich joined the National Wildlife Federation, Wilderness Land Trust, Partnership for Responsible Business, Santa Ana Pueblo, and a number of other local conservation leaders and organizations to announce major gains towards improving access to public lands in New Mexico, including opening the Sabinoso Wilderness to the public, and the many successes of the Land and Water Conservation Fund. The event was held at the Petroglyph National Monument Visitor Center in Albuquerque. Read More

  • SF New Mexican: To protect Chaco, the time to act is now

    Chaco Canyon is truly one of the most important cultural sites on Earth. It deserves to be protected from any harmful development that would threaten to damage its precious historical and cultural resources. That's why I joined Senator Tom Udall, New Mexico's Pueblos, and the Navajo Nation to introduce the Chaco Cultural Heritage Area Protection Act. Our bill would ensure the protection of Chaco ruins and the greater landscape surrounding the Chaco Culture National Historical Park by preventing any future leasing or development of minerals owned by the U.S. government that are located within a protected radius around Chaco.  … 

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  • Udall, Heinrich To Speak At Press Conference On Improving Access To Public Lands, Permanently Reauthorizing Land And Water Conservation Fund

    ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - On Tuesday, May 29, at 11 a.m., U.S. Senators Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich will join the National Wildlife Federation, Wilderness Land Trust, Partnership for Responsible Business, Santa Ana Pueblo, and a number of other local conservation leaders and organizations to announce major gains towards improving access to public lands in New Mexico, including opening the Sabinoso Wilderness to the public and the many successes of the Land and Water Conservation Fund. The event will take place at the Petroglyph National Monument Visitor Center in Albuquerque. Read More

  • Heinrich Bipartisan Bill To Safeguard Tribal Items Clears Senate Indian Affairs Committee

    Today, U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich's (D-N.M.) Safeguard Tribal Objects of Patrimony (STOP) Act passed unanimously in the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs and is now eligible for consideration in the full Senate. The bipartisan bill would prohibit the exporting of sacred Native American items and increase penalties for stealing and illegally trafficking tribal cultural patrimony. Read More

  • Chaco Canyon

    Chaco Canyon is a sacred place that is revered by all New Mexicans. The Chaco region holds deep meaning to all of New Mexico's Pueblos, whose history and traditional knowledge reside in its thousands of ancestral sites, and to the Navajo Nation, whose lands surround Chaco Culture National Historical Park (NHP). This rich scenic and cultural treasure was one of the first places protected under the Antiquities Act by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1907, and it has since been designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. … 

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