press releases

WASHINGTON - Today, U.S. Senators Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich announced that their bipartisan measure to speed up reimbursements to Tribal, local and state governments for the costs they incurred responding to the Gold King Mine spill has passed the Senate as an amendment to the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA). The measure will expedite...

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) welcomed news from the Department of Justice, the Department of the Army, and the Department of the Interior that the agencies would halt the construction of the Dakota Access pipeline to allow for "a serious discussion on whether there should be nationwide reform with respect to...

WASHINGTON - Today, U.S. Senators Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich and U.S. Representative Ben Ray Luján welcomed the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) decision to add the Bonita Peak Mining District in Colorado's San Juan County - home to the Gold King Mine - to the National Priorities List (NPL) of Superfund sites. The lawmakers have...

FARMINGTON, N.M. (Aug. 16, 2016) -- U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) issued the following statement expressing his concerns with delays in compensation to the people of the Navajo Nation for costs and damages caused by the Gold King Mine spill: "For far too long, Indian Country has been left to fend for itself in dealing with the legacy of...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Tom Udall (D-N.M.), John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) introduced a Senate resolution in support of efforts to stop the theft, illegal possession or sale, and export of Tribal cultural items. The bipartisan Protection of the Rights of Tribes to stop the Export of Cultural and Traditional...

Last week, we objected to the Senate moving forward on the 2017 Intelligence Authorization bill. We are concerned that this bill would undermine a federal board that serves as an independent watchdog for intelligence agencies. We are even more concerned that this bill includes an unnecessary, sprawling expansion of the FBI’s ability to spy on...

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) issued the following statement in response to the tragic shootings this week in Dallas, Baton Rouge, Minneapolis: "I am stunned and heartbroken by the killing of law enforcement officers in Dallas, and by the shooting deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile. The loss felt by...

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today at a press conference on Capitol Hill, U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M) announced the introduction of the Safeguard Tribal Objects of Patrimony (STOP) Act, a bill to prohibit the exporting of sacred Native American items and increase penalties for stealing and illegally trafficking tribal cultural patrimony.  The...

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Citing concerns of tribal leaders, U.S Sen. Martin Heinrich said Tuesday he would push to broaden the scope of a federal law designed to crack down on the looting, trafficking and exporting of federally protected Native American items. Heinrich plans to introduce legislation that would double the prison time to 10...

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Citing concerns of tribal leaders, U.S Sen. Martin Heinrich said Tuesday he would push to broaden the scope of a federal law designed to crack down on the looting, trafficking and exporting of federally protected Native American items. Heinrich plans to introduce legislation that would double the prison time to 10...

American Indian tribes long have known that their sacred objects and items of cultural patrimony have been showing up in art galleries, on internet sites and in auction house catalogs — often in Europe — eventually ending up in the hands of wealthy international collectors. In the last year, at least 24 items of Acoma Pueblo cultural...

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senators Tom Udall (D-N.M.) and Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), along with 29 other senators sent a letter to the Departments of Education and Justice urging the agencies to ensure colleges and universities receiving federal funds adhere to new requirements intended to help prevent sexual violence on campus and increase...

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and 127 Members of Congress filed an amicus brief in the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in the case of Christiansen v. Omnicom Group, Inc., arguing that workplace discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity is already prohibited under the Civil Rights Act of 1964...

WASHINGTON, D.C. (June 29, 2016) - U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) is calling on House and Senate members negotiating the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Reauthorization bill extension to include a provision he spearheaded to enhance airport and mass transit security. The provision, which passed the Senate in April, would strengthen...

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), a member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, placed a hold on the 2017 Intelligence Authorization Act over a provision in the bill that seeks a massive expansion of government surveillance into Americans' email, web browser history, and communication through social media...

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), ranking member on the Subcommittee on National Parks, welcomed the designation of the new Stonewall National Monument in Lower Manhattan to commemorate the history of the LGBT movement. The White House announced the designation, which is the first official National Park Service unit...

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, a bipartisan compromise U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) helped forge with U.S. Senator Susan Collins (R-Maine) to keep guns from terrorists survived an attempt by Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to reject the legislation in the Senate.  After a majority of the Senate supported the amendment on a procedural vote,...

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) helped forge a bipartisan solution with U.S. Senator Susan Collins (R-Maine) to help keep guns from terrorists and make our country safer. At a press conference in the U.S. Capitol today, a group of senators from both sides of the aisle unveiled the Terrorist Firearms Prevention Act of 2016,...

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) today voted in favor of two measures to reduce gun violence. The provisions, which would have been included in the fiscal year 2017 Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies (CJS) Appropriations bill, aimed to give the Attorney General the authority to block suspected terrorists from...

WASHINGTON, D.C. - In the wake of Orlando terrorist attack, U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) joined U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) and their Senate Democratic colleagues on the Senate Floor today to demand action to reduce gun violence. Senator Heinrich highlighted commonsense measures he supports to  prevent individuals on the terror...