press releases

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) is lauding the momentum of the Bridging the Tribal Digital Divide Act after it passed out of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs yesterday. The legislation would expedite the deployment of affordable broadband service on tribal lands by coordinating and improving the effectiveness of...

WASHINGTON—U.S. Senators Tom Udall (D-N.M.) and Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and U.S. Representative  Xochitl Torres Small (D-N.M.) announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has awarded $318,694 in rural development grants for home construction and rehabilitation, and home repair...

The Pecos watershed is home to some of the state’s most pristine riparian habitat, but Lela McFerrin, vice president of the Upper Pecos Watershed Association, is worried that a proposal to drill new mines in the area will threaten the creeks, streams and drainages that make up the headwaters of the Pecos river.  “What we’re...

New federal claims to extract minerals, including oil, gas and metals, would be barred in the Pecos watershed under a bill introduced by a New Mexico senator. Democratic U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich said he seeks to avoid accidents in the area, such as a disastrous toxic waste spill from a closed mine in the 1990s that killed fish for 11 miles in the...

WASHINGTON – Today, legislation introduced by U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) to protect portions of the Pecos Watershed in northern New Mexico from mineral development received a key hearing in the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Subcommittee on Public Lands, Forests, and Mining. VIDEO: U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) has sent a letter to Indian Health Service Director Rear Admiral Michael D. Weahkee condemning a recent decision to decrease essential services at the Acoma-Canoncito-Laguna (ACL) Hospital. The Pueblo of Acoma has seen a spike in COVID-19 cases. Over a matter of weeks, cases on the Pueblo...

WASHINGTON – Tomorrow, Wednesday, Nov. 18 at 2:30 p.m. ET/ 12:30 p.m. MT, U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), a member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, will participate in a Subcommittee on Public Lands, Forests, and Mining hearing on his legislation to protect portions of the Pecos Watershed in northern New...

As firefighters across the West continue to battle what experts are describing as one of the most destructive wildfire seasons in recent memory, a group of U.S. senators, including Democrats Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich of New Mexico, are trying to get a sense of how prepared the National Guard is to help combat large-scale blazes. Udall and...

New Mexico’s outdoor recreation industry is one of its fastest growing, and officials at the both the state and federal level advocated for it to receive more federal relief funds to survive the COVID-19 health crisis and maintain the momentum. Recently released data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) showed the outdoor...

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Tom Udall (D-N.M.) and Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, have joined 35 Senate colleagues in a letter to the Chairs and Ranking Members of the Senate and House Armed Services Committees urging that they reconcile and retain the bicameral, bipartisan measure to require military...

WASHINGTON—U.S. Senators Tom Udall (D-N.M.) and Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and U.S. Representatives Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), Deb Haaland (D-N.M.) and Xochitl Torres Small (D-N.M.) announced that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has awarded over $15.5 million in COVID-19 emergency...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, issued the following statement in recognition of Veterans Day: “There is no greater service than answering the call to defend our nation. On this day, we all pause to offer our profound gratitude for all those dedicated Americans who...

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) is highlighting the power of outdoor recreation after a new report from the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) released data that the industry yields $788 billion in economic output, comprises 2.1 percent of U.S. GDP, and supports 5.2 million jobs nationwide. The BEA, an agency of the U.S....

WASHINGTON — U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) is lauding the America’s Conservation Enhancement (ACE) Act becoming law. The bipartisan bill includes legislation championed by Senator Heinrich that reauthorizes the North American Wetlands Conservation Act (NAWCA) through 2025 and increases funding for the program to $60 million for...

WASHINGTON—U.S. Senators Tom Udall (D-N.M.) and Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and U.S. Representative  Xochitl Torres Small (D-N.M.) announced that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has awarded $2,043,781 in Self-Help Homeownership Program (SHOP) Grants to Tierra Del Sol Housing...

WASHINGTON—Today, U.S. Senators Tom Udall (D-N.M.) and Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), along with U.S. Representatives Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), Deb Haaland (D-N.M.) and Xochitl Torres Small (D-N.M.), announced that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has awarded nearly $8.5...

WASHINGTON— U.S. Senators Tom Udall (D-N.M.) and Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), and U.S. Representatives Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M), Deb Haaland (D-N.M.) and Xochitl Torres Small (D-N.M.) applauded nearly $2.4 million in federal funding awarded to the New Mexico Public Education Department (NMPED) to expand the number of licensed mental health...

WASHINGTON—U.S. Senators Tom Udall (D-N.M.) and Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), along with U.S. Representatives Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), Deb Haaland (D-N.M.), and Xochitl Torres Small (D-N.M.) announced 15 Tribes and Pueblos across New Mexico will receive spectrum licenses through the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) Rural...

WASHINGTON — Following a request from U.S. Senators Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) last month, the U.S. Department of the Interior has agreed to extend the 2019-2020 Every Kid Outdoors pass into the 2020-2021 school year given the hurdles the pandemic has presented for students and families to accessing America’s...

WASHINGTON—U.S. Senators Tom Udall (D-N.M.) and Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and U.S. Representatives Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), Deb Haaland (D-N.M.) and Xochitl Torres Small (D-N.M.) urged officials in the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to distribute adequate supplies of...