Martin's Blog

Dear Friend, 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...

PHOTO: U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich visits with families and staff at the First Born Program in Farmington, a home visiting program for first-time parents, May 2, 2018. Dear Friend, Our state faces unique challenges, but we can all agree that in order to succeed we have to put our children first. Earlier this month, when I was in Farmington, I...

PHOTO: U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich hikes in the Dripping Springs Natural Area in Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument with attendees of the New Mexico Outdoor Economics Conference, May 4, 2018. Dear Friend, Southern New Mexico has become a national model for how much public lands and specially designated areas can boost local economies....

Dear Friend, Today, I was proud to stand with the thousands of New Mexicans and millions of Americans who raised their voices in an unprecedented grassroots effort and public comment campaign to oppose the Federal Communication Commission's (FCC) decision to dismantle net neutrality rules. In a bipartisan vote, the Senate passed a resolution to...

Dear Friend, Our leaders should be a reflection of our shared American values. Based on my extensive examination of Gina Haspel's record, both classified and unclassified, and the many New Mexicans I heard from who told me they wanted more information about her past, I voted against Ms. Haspel's nomination this morning in the Senate Intelligence...

Dear Friend, 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...

Dear Friend, I have some exciting news to share on our effort to restore strong net neutrality protections to preserve a free and open internet. Yesterday, I joined 49 other senators--including one Republican--to officially file a petition to force a vote on the Senate floor to undo the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) disastrous new rules...

PHOTO: U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich unveils the White Sands National Park Establishment Act alongside local community, May 4, 2018. Dear Friend, Yesterday, I unveiled the White Sands National Park Establishment Act, legislation I plan to introduce to designate White Sands National Monument as New Mexico's newest national park. Everyone who visits...

Dear Friend, To help New Mexicans go solar, I launched an online Solar Toolkit to provide a starting point for more New Mexico businesses, Tribes, local governments, schools, and power providers to consider whether installing solar is a better way to meet their energy needs. The toolkit highlights success stories from around the state and provides...

Dear Friend, When 80 percent of New Mexicans who live in rural tribal lands still lack access to high-speed internet, it's clear that we need to invest more in rural broadband infrastructure. Last week, during National Library Week, I hosted a Tribal Broadband Panel at the Capitol with the American Library Association to address the urgent need to...

PHOTO: U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich tours the Roosevelt Wind Farm in Dora, N.M., April 5, 2017. April 11, 2018 Dear Friend, Last week, I was in Roosevelt County touring the Roosevelt Wind Farm and the future site of the Sagamore Wind Project, which will be the largest wind farm in New Mexico's history. Every new wind farm means hundreds of local,...

Dear Friend, Scott Pruitt has been surrounded by ethical problems and has failed to take the core mission of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) seriously. He has been plagued by conflicts of interest and built a long track record that is antithetical to the EPA's responsibility to keep our nation's land, air, and water clean. And perhaps...

PHOTO: U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich presents Navajo Code Talker Adolph Nagurski's Congressional Silver Medal posthumously to his son Benjamin (second from left). Also pictured (from left to right) Navajo Code Talker Thomas H. Begay and Navajo Nation President Russell Begaye, April 3, 2018. April 4, 2018 Dear Friend, Yesterday, I was proud to...

PHOTO: U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich meets with students from Aztec and Santa Fe High Schools in advance of the March for Our Lives, March 23, 2018. March 23, 2018 Dear Friend, Today, I sat down with high school students from Aztec and Santa Fe who traveled to Washington, D.C. to participate in the March for Our Lives to end gun violence and mass...

Dear Friend, Americans must be confident that their votes--and only their votes--are what counts in electing our public leaders. This week, as part of our larger investigation into Russia's interference in the 2016 election, the Senate Intelligence Committee held hearings and released our findings and recommendations on threats to election...

PHOTO: U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich and New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas listen to community organizations and local service providers about the need for more resources on the ground to combat the opioid epidemic, February 23, 2018. March 21, 2018 Dear Friend, We know all too well that the opioid and heroin addiction epidemic is a...

PHOTO: U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich at Central New Mexico Community College (CNM) with students and faculty, April 19, 2017. March 12, 2018 Dear Friend, There's no question that in order to continue to grow our economy, we must have a well-educated and well-trained workforce. Over the years, I've made a point to hear directly from New Mexico...

Dear Friend, The heated rhetoric about our border region coming from Washington, D.C. is wildly out of touch with the realities of our experiences in New Mexico. Spending $25 billion to construct President Trump's wall in our backyards is not only an outlandish waste of taxpayers' money, it is also not a smart investment in border security or what...

Dear Friend, New Mexico makes enormous contributions to our nation as the only state that hosts two national security laboratories. The value of the contributions that Sandia and Los Alamos National Laboratories make to science, national security, and our state's economy cannot be understated. The labs' achievements and success depend on building...

PHOTO: U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich meets with wildland firefighters in the Gila National Forest, July 3, 2017. Dear Friend, Especially after such a dry winter, as we head into wildfire season here in New Mexico, it's important for each of us to do our part to protect our communities from unintended fires. Learning about wildfire danger and being...