press releases

WASHINGTON — U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Ranking Member on the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Brooke Rollins on the harmful impacts of the “Department of Government Efficiency’s” (DOGE) actions on the United States Forest Service (USFS). The letter...

WASHINGTON — Today, U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) joined the New Mexico Congressional Delegation and Tina Cordova, Co-Founder of the Tularosa Basin Downwinders Consortium, to mark the one-year anniversary since the Radiation Exposure Compensation (RECA) Reauthorization Act, legislation to compensate Americans exposed to radiation by...

WASHINGTON — Today, U.S. Senators Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Ranking Member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, joined Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), and Tina Smith (D-Minn.) in a press conference on how Trump and Republicans' reconciliation bill will raise energy costs for working families,...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) released the following statement in response to an opinion issued by the Trump Administration’s Department of Justice asserting that Presidents can modify or revoke national monument designations made using the Antiquities Act of 1906. This...

WASHINGTON — U.S. Senators Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and Roger Wicker (R- Miss.), and U.S. Representatives Melanie Stansbury (D-N.M.) and Juan Ciscomani (R-Ariz.) introduced the Maternal and Infant Syphilis Prevention Act, legislation to protect pregnant mothers and infants by requiring the Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary to issue guidance...

In a letter to Secretary Burgum, the N.M. Delegation expressed deep concern at the DOI’s efforts to revoke protections around Chaco Canyon The Delegation’s letter comes on the heels of their reintroduction of the Chaco Cultural Heritage Area Protection Act, legislation to permanently protect Chaco Canyon WASHINGTON — Today, U.S. Senator Martin...

New Mexico’s senior senator is calling for a New Mexico-based Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility to be closed, after his congressional staff observed troubling conditions during a visit in late May. “For years, detainees have been denied adequate access to legal services and medical care while being subjected to inhumane living...

Sporting a Western shirt and jeans, New Mexico’s senior congressional member didn’t mince words as he addressed 150-200 people gathered at the Slide Trailhead on the edge of the Rio Pueblo de Taos Gorge Saturday (June 7). “We could lose this one,” U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich told the crowd, referring to President Donald Trump's so-called "One Big...

Losing this funding would force many public stations to reduce much of their programming or, in some cases, close their doors to the rural communities they serve WASHINGTON — U.S. Senators Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), Ranking Member of the Commerce Subcommittee on Telecommunications and Media, joined 29 Senate Democrats to...

Amid Commerce Department’s stonewalling, senators ask GAO to investigate if Trump officials violated the law or engaged in misconduct & what officials are doing with funding Congress appropriated to serve minority enterprises & create jobs WASHINGTON — U.S. Senators Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), a member of the Senate...

WASHINGTON — Today, U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich, Ranking Member on the Senate Committee of Energy and Natural Resources sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum expressing his grave concern surrounding the Trump Administration’s assault on the Department’s science agency, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). The letter highlights...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) introduced the Treat and Reduce Obesity Act to combat the obesity crisis in the United States by providing regular screenings. The bill would also prevent diseases associated with obesity through expanded coverage of new health care specialists and chronic weight...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) introduced the Treat and Reduce Obesity Act to combat the obesity crisis in the United States by providing regular screenings. The bill would also prevent diseases associated with obesity through expanded coverage of new health care specialists and chronic weight...

WASHINGTON — U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Ranking Member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, and U.S. Representative Gabe Vasquez (D-N.M.), announced that their Aerial Firefighting Enhancement Act of 2025, legislation to strengthen the aerial wildfire suppression fleet and better combat the year-round threat of...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) sent a letter to Secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Brooke Rollins urging her to develop an emergency plan to vaccinate cattle against highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI).  Since the most recent outbreak of HPAI beginning in February 2022, HPAI has...

Heinrich and Luján: “Trump’s budget is an attack on New Mexicans” WASHINGTON — U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, and U.S. Senator Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), a member of the Senate Committee on Finance, released the following statement on President Trump’s Fiscal Year 2026 (FY26) budget request,...

Led by a New Mexico senator and congressman, bipartisan legislation that would allow the Department of Defense to sell excess aircraft and aircraft parts to be used for wildfire suppression is headed to the president’s desk after sailing through the House on Tuesday. With the president’s signature, the legislation could help aerial firefighting...

New Mexico’s senators are urging the Federal Emergency Management Agency to improve its response to catastrophes in Western states. Democratic Sens. Martin Heinrich and Ben Ray Luján called on Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and FEMA Acting Administrator David Richardson to improve FEMA’s response to wildfires and the...

Two federal offices housing wildfire dispatch centers that coordinate the detection of and response to wildfires for much of New Mexico no longer face risk of lease cancellations, U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-NM) said Tuesday. In early March, Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency listed two national forest supervisor’s offices...

“FEMA was originally structured to respond to large-scale hurricanes and disasters on the East Coast, and its current – and outdated – model reflects that legacy.” Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senators Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) and Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) urged the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to implement practical reforms to better address...