in the news

Both Sens. Martin Heinrich and Tom Udall voted in favor of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement on Thursday. But the two Democrats felt the trade pact – which replaces the North American Free Trade Agreement – does not do enough to address climate change concerns. “I am disappointed that this deal missed an opportunity to secure...

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) - New Mexico's senior U.S. senator says he intends to hear all the evidence at the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump before making a decision. Democratic Sen. Tom Udall was sworn in Thursday for the upcoming trial. Udall spokesman Ned Adriance said in an email that Udall is pushing for a full and fair trial to ensure...

The International Spy Museum in Washington, D.C., says it is planning to revisit and overhaul an exhibit on torture after lawmakers argued the display was “sanitizing” depictions of torture and suggesting it was “effective.” BuzzFeed first reported that the museum would aim to make changes to its exhibit by...

WASHINGTON — The International Spy Museum is working on sweeping changes to its controversial torture exhibit following backlash from lawmakers, national security and human rights experts, and former intelligence officials. Last month, three Democrats on the Senate Intelligence Committee wrote to the museum, accusing it of...

LAS CRUCES - Apodaca Park will receive a $750,000 grant from the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund via the National Park Service, which the city of Las Cruces had sought since 2018.  The award was announced Thursday by U.S. Senators Martin Heinrich and Tom Udall along with U.S. Rep. Xochitl Torres Small, all D-NM. The Las Cruces City...

CARLSBAD, N.M. (KRQE) – A proposal has been added to the National Defense Authorization Act that includes a move to designate White Sands National Monument as a national park. National parks status typically highlights the area’s recreational benefits, while monuments focus on historic or scientific interests. Lawmakers say the change...

The U.S. House on Wednesday passed a military spending bill that could pump $712 million into weapons-grade plutonium operations, with the aim of having Los Alamos National Laboratory and a South Carolina site produce a combined 80 nuclear cores per year by 2026, a target that critics and some federal agencies call unrealistic. The National...

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A national monument in southern New Mexico is one step closer to being re-designated as a national park. The U.S. House on Wednesday approved a defense spending measure that includes language to boost the classification of White Sands National Monument. President Donald Trump has said he’ll sign the measure,...

White Sands National Monument could become New Mexico's next national park, as the National Defense Authorization Act proceeded through Congress with a conference report, following passage in the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate.  The bill included language to re-designate the national monument as White Sands National Park, and...

Today U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), a member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, annouced the introduction of legislation to establish Bandelier National Park and Preserve. The legislation seeks to build a stronger relationship between the National Park Service and pueblos whose history and culture is deeply rooted in...

For more than a century, visitors have enjoyed the trails, wildlife, waterways, cultural artifacts and history of Bandelier National Monument, a 33,000-acre park in the Jemez Mountains, about 12 miles south of Los Alamos, that gained fame for its ancient cliff dwellings. In an effort to increase protections for the area’s resources —...

SANTA FE, N.M. (KRQE) – Senator Martin Heinrich is pushing ahead with a bill to establish Bandelier Monument as a national park. The bill would help build a stronger relationship between the National Park Service and pueblos by permanently safeguarding tribes’ religious rights and practices in Bandelier. It will also establish a tribal...

U.S. Senators Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and Tom Udall (D-N.M.) sent a letter on Nov. 15 to U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) acting secretary Chad Wolf and DHS inspector Gen. Joseph Cuffari requesting an investigation into oversight and conditions for detainees held at all Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention...

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — U.S. Sens. Martin Heinrich and Tom Udall are calling for an investigation into conditions for detainees at all Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facilities. “We are troubled by continued reports of inhumane treatment at ICE detention facilities that appear to be widespread at facilities housing ICE...

U.S. Sens. Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich on Monday asked federal authorities investigate the conditions and oversight of immigrant detainees held in facilities such as the Otero County Processing Center in New Mexico. In a letter to acting U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf, the Democratic senators from New Mexico said they had “deep...

The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to rule early next year on the Trump administration’s decision to discontinue the seven-year-old Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. But the fate of DACA recipients may not just rest in the hands of the high court. President Donald Trump sent signals again last week that he might be willing to...

LAS CRUCES - The Veterans Affairs outpatient clinic in Las Cruces would be renamed the Las Cruces Bataan Memorial Clinic under legislation proposed by the state's federal delegation. The Las Cruces Community-Based Outpatient Clinic, 3401 Del Rey Blvd., opened in April 2018.  U.S. Sens. Tom Udall (D-N.M.) and Martin...

The Trump administration last week officially notified the United Nations of the U.S.’ intention to withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement through a letter from the Department of State. The move fulfills a promise President Donald Trump made during his 2016 campaign. It isn’t sitting well with members of New Mexico’s...

New Mexico U.S. Rep. Ben Ray Luján and his House of Representatives compatriots have done their part to create a reasonable and appropriate buffer around Chaco Culture National Historical Park. The Chaco Culture Heritage Protection Act – which proposes a 10-mile oil and gas development buffer around the spectacular ruins once inhabited...

KSFR News Director Tom Trowbridge brings you the latest input from Senator Martin Heinrich. The U.S. House of Representatives voted Wednesday to permanently prohibit oil and gas drilling on federal land within a 10-mile radius of Chaco Culture National Historical Park in northwestern New Mexico. The bill, with main sponsor...