press releases

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...

PHOTOS & VIDEOS RUIDOSO, N.M. – Today, U.S. Senators Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) met with families, local and Tribal leaders, firefighters, first responders, and emergency operation commanders in Roswell, Ruidoso, and the Mescalero Apache Reservation, discussing the response to and impacts of the South Fork and Salt...

WASHINGTON — U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) applauded Senate passage of his bipartisan Fire Grants and Safety Act, legislation to extend federal programs that help support local fire departments in New Mexico and across the country. The bill would reauthorize the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Staffing for Adequate Fire and...

RUIDOSO, N.M. – U.S. Senators Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) and U.S. Representatives Teresa Leger Fernández (D-N.M.), Melanie Stansbury (D-N.M.), and Gabe Vasquez (D-N.M.) released the following joint statement, announcing that President Joe Biden has approved a Major Disaster Declaration for Lincoln County and the Mescalero...

RUIDOSO, N.M. — With thousands of New Mexicans displaced due to devastating wildfires, U.S. Senators Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) and U.S. Representatives Teresa Leger Fernández (D-N.M.), Melanie Stansbury (D-N.M.), and Gabe Vasquez (D-N.M.) are calling on President Joe Biden to approve a Major Disaster Declaration request...

WASHINGTON – Today, during a hearing before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee to review the Fiscal Year 2025 (FY25) Budget Request for the U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) pressed U.S. Forest Service Chief Randy Moore on the inadequacy of housing for wildland firefighters, the need to complete fencing in...

Today, during a hearing to review the Fiscal Year 2025 (FY25) Budget Request for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Bureau of Reclamation, U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), a member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee that oversees funding for both agencies, urged Commissioner Camille Touton of the Bureau of Reclamation to expand...

WASHINGTON — U.S. Senators Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) and U.S. Representatives Teresa Leger Fernández (D-N.M.), Melanie Stansbury (D-N.M.), and Gabe Vasquez (D-N.M.) are welcoming $9,309,362 to invest in New Mexico’s public schools, roads, wildfire mitigation, and county services. The funds will be allocated from the U.S....

This month, we mark two years since the worst fire in our state’s history. The Hermit’s Peak/Calf Canyon Fire destroyed hundreds of homes and businesses. The fire, and the flooding that followed, displaced thousands of New Mexicans for weeks and months on end. In a matter of months, this catastrophe wiped away generations of history and uprooted...

WASHINGTON — U.S. Senators Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) and U.S. Representatives Teresa Leger Fernández (D-N.M.), Melanie Stansbury (D-N.M.), and Gabe Vasquez (D-N.M.) are welcoming nearly $2 million from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to fund the development of a comprehensive Watershed Restoration Plan for...

WASHINGTON — U.S. Senators Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) and U.S. Representative Teresa Leger Fernández (D-N.M.) announced over $6,618,321 in federal funding to San Miguel County for reimbursement for county road repairs as a result of the Hermit’s Peak/Calf Canyon Fire. The grant now awaits distribution by the New Mexico’s...

WASHINGTON — U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) welcomed President Joe Biden’s FY24 supplemental funding request that includes substantial investments in New Mexicans’ health and safety by strengthening border security, repairing and expediting the nation’s immigration process, and combatting the flow of...

WASHINGTON - As New Mexico continues to rebuild in the aftermath of the Hermit’s Peak/Calf Canyon, Cerro Pelado, McBride, and Black fires, U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) cosponsored two bills aimed at improving the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) mitigation of disasters like flooding and wildfires."The wildfires...

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) is cosponsoring the bipartisan Fire Grants and Safety Act, legislation to extend federal programs that help support local fire departments in New Mexico and across the country. The bill would reauthorize the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Staffing for Adequate Fire and...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) and U.S. Representatives Teresa Leger Fernández (D-N.M.), Melanie Stansbury (D-N.M.), and Gabe Vasquez (D-N.M.) announced a total of $11,482,174 in Infrastructure Law funding to make New Mexico communities more resilient to wildfires and strengthen the...

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senators Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) and Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and U.S. Representatives-Elect Teresa Leger Fernández (D-N.M.), Melanie Stansbury (D-N.M.), and Gabe Vasquez (D-N.M.) filed a public comment letter to Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Administrator Deanne Criswell and...

WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senators Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) and U.S. Representatives Teresa Leger Fernández (D-N.M.) and Melanie Stansbury (D-N.M.) announced an additional $1.45 billion to fund the Hermit's Peak/Calf Canyon Fire Claims Office. The funding is included as part of the...

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) and U.S. Representatives Teresa Leger Fernández (D-N.M.) and Melanie Stansbury (D-N.M.) announced that New Mexicans impacted by the Hermits Peak/Calf Canyon Fire can now submit a Notice of Loss form to signal interest in beginning the claims process with the...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) and U.S. Representatives Teresa Leger Fernández (D-N.M.) and Melanie Stansbury (D-N.M.) announced the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is waiving cost-share program requirements for agricultural producers and landowners impacted by the Hermit’s...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) and U.S. Representatives Teresa Leger Fernández (D-N.M.) and Melanie Stansbury (D-N.M.) secured $2.5 billion to support New Mexico residents and business owners impacted by this year’s Hermit's Peak/Calf Canyon fires. The aid for New Mexico was...