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...

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—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—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.) applauded over $20 million in rural broadband grants to four New Mexico telecommunications utilities that will connect over 1400 rural households in...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) has introduced the Internet Development for Tribes Act, legislation that removes regulatory barriers for tribes to access the internet and invests in infrastructure necessary to access high-speed broadband in rural communities. Senator Heinrich’s Internet Development for Tribes...

WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) introduced the Keeping Schools Safe Act, legislation that authorizes the Secretary of Education to award grants that allow elementary and secondary schools to improve indoor air quality using proven technologies and in an effort to reduce the transmission of COVID-19. One path to aid...

FARMINGTON — A new Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad bridge across the Animas River in Colorado is among 50 projects in 29 states receiving grants from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Railroad Administration (FRA). New Mexico rail projects scored a total of $6.9 million for improvements to Amtrak’s...

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.) hailed over $6.9 million in Department of Transportation (DoT) grants to streamline new construction and improve safety at the Santa Teresa industrial...

Washington, DC – 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 Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials...

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 Aviation Administration (FAA) awarded over $8.3 million in grants to 18 New Mexico...

WASHINGTON — New bipartisan federal legislation to narrow the “digital divide” in Indian Country would expand access to an existing broadband internet service used by schools and libraries. The Tribal Connect Act, introduced in late August by Senators Martin Heinrich, D-N.M. and Martha McSally, R-Ariz., and U.S. Reps. Ben Ray...

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 $13,650,443 in Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) grants to 10 New Mexico airports for infrastructure improvements and redevelopment. The funds are...

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.) applauded the combined $100,000 in Community Facilities Grants awarded to the Doña Ana Mutual Domestic Water Consumer Association by USDA-Rural Development to maintain reliable water...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and U.S. Representative Deb Haaland (D-N.M.) led a bicameral group of lawmakers calling out the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for shortchanging Tribes on the Tribal broadband application deadline. In a letter to the FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, the...

Las Cruces, NM – U.S. Representative Xochitl Torres Small (D-N.M.) and U.S. Senators Tom Udall (D-N.M.) and Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) announced that the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has awarded more than $10 million to organizations across rural New Mexico to modernize water and wastewater infrastructure through its Rural...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and Martha McSally (R-Ariz.) are introducing legislation to authorize a one-time $89 million infusion of funds into the Navajo Electrification Demonstration Program (NEDP) to empower the Navajo Tribal Utility Authority (NTUA) to implement projects that bring electric power to Navajo...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Tom Udall (D-N.M.) and Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) announced that 32 counties across New Mexico will receive $41,357,054 through the Department of Interior’s (DOI) Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) program. The PILT funding will be used by local governments across New Mexico to provide crucial...

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich joined a bipartisan letter to the President of Amtrak opposing plans to terminate one out of every five employees, putting thousands out of work, and reducing the hours of operation of the National Network that includes the long-distance passenger rail route of the Southwest Chief. In New...

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 Bureau of Reclamation within the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI), has awarded $499,377 to the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology and New Mexico State University for desalination and...