press releases

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Chair of the Appropriations Subcommittee that oversees funding for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), emphasized the importance of VA Secretary Denis McDonough providing reassessed data that will drive proposed changes to the delivery of VA health care services. In March, Senator...

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senators Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) applauded the U.S. Senate’s unanimous agreement on an extension of the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA) program for two years, allowing individuals more time to apply for the compensation they deserve. Senators...

WASHINTON – U.S. Senators Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and U.S. Representatives Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) and Tom Cole (R-Okla.) introduced the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Tribal Public Health Security and Preparedness Act, legislation that would ensure Tribal nations have equal access to funding...

WASHINGTON - Today, U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) cosponsored the Support Kids Not Red Tape Act with Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), Chairwoman of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, and a bipartisan group of their colleagues. The bill extends U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) school meal flexibilities from...

WASHINGTON — U.S. Senators Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) are welcoming an announcement from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED), and the city of Socorro, N.M., that funding from the Infrastructure Law will allow the remedy for the Eagle Picher Superfund site...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) are objecting to recommendations that the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) provided for the Asset and Infrastructure Review (AIR) Commission, which could impact the delivery of health care services at the community-based outpatient clinics (CBOCs) in...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Chair of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies, released the following statement after the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) released its recommendations for the Asset and Infrastructure Review (AIR) Commission,...

WASHINGTON ­– U.S. Senators Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), and U.S. Representatives Deb Haaland (D-N.M.) and Teresa Leger Fernández (D-N.M.), and New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham applauded the final passage of the American Rescue Plan to provide critical relief for New Mexico families, workers...

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.) are welcoming announcements from U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development that several projects in New Mexico will receive a combined $927,966 through the Distance Learning and...

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.) are announcing $2.24 million in CARES Act Recovery Assistance grants that will be dispersed to northwest New Mexico. These investments from the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) are calling for Congress to correct discrepancies that have caused small and rural states to receive significantly less funding for vaccine and testing than originally estimated. Unfortunately, funding allocated in December for vaccines and testing was...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Martin Heinrich and Ben Ray Luján have introduced the Family and Medical Insurance Leave (FAMILY) Act to create a permanent, national paid family and medical leave program, offering a key solution to the country’s public health and economic challenges. The FAMILY Act, introduced by U.S. Senator Kirsten...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Martin Heinrich and Ben Ray Luján joined 24 of their Senate colleagues in a letter to President-elect Joe Biden, supporting his incoming administration’s plan to quickly utilize all available authorities under the Defense Production Act (DPA) to rapidly increase the production and stockpiling of...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) and 43 Senate Democrats are demanding that Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar and the Trump administration take immediate action to fix the significant failures of the COVID-19 vaccine distribution as coronavirus cases continue to climb. In the...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich, and U.S. Representatives Ben Ray Luján, Deb Haaland, and Xochitl Torres Small are urging Congressional Leadership to recognize the severe need to extend coverage of Coronavirus Relief Fund (CRF) payments allocated under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES)...

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - The hopes of Congress passing another COVID-relief package this week remain dashed for now. Congressional leadership remains at odds over what should be included in the bill while members of New Mexico's delegation remains hopeful for a deal. Rep. Deb Haaland is calling on Congressional leadership to include restaurants in any...

WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) joined a bicameral group of lawmakers in a push to demand that the Trump administration halt any and all plans to deport the dozens of women who have come forward to report unnecessary and non-consensual medical procedures while detained at Irwin County Detention Center...

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—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—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...