press releases

The novel coronavirus raging in the Navajo Nation and New Mexico pueblos in part prompted U.S. Interior Secretary David Bernhardt to announce Thursday the extension of the public comment period on a plan that will shape the future of oil and gas drilling near Chaco Culture National Historical Park. Tribal officials have met with or spoken remotely...

WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) led 17 Senate Democrats in a letter calling on Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Ajit Pai to request that the FCC extend the 2.5 GHz Rural Tribal Priority Window by 180 days. Extending this deadline would allow Tribal governments additional time to secure access to...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich, along with 44 of their Democratic Senate colleagues, have introduced the Emergency Educational Connections Act, legislation aimed at ensuring all K-12 students have adequate home internet connectivity and devices during the coronavirus pandemic. The bill is the Senate companion to...

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 that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has granted public housing authorities...

WASHINGTON — Today, Friday, May 15 at 12:15 p.m. MT/2:15 p.m. ET, U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-NM) will join outdoor recreation industry leaders, small business owners, and professional outdoor athletes for a press teleconference about how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the outdoor recreation industry and how Congress can provide...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) along with 12 of his Senate colleagues sent a letter to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) seeking transparency and information regarding the distribution process for remdesivir, a antiviral drug that could modestly speed recovery in patients infected with the coronavirus. The...

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 state of New Mexico will receive over $77 million for COVID-19 testing and contact tracing from the U.S. Department of Health...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Tom Udall (D-N.M.) and Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) joined the entire Senate Democratic caucus in filing an amicus brief in the case of California v. Texas (formerly Texas v. Azar). The case brought by several Republican Attorneys General and the Trump administration is...

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) –KRQE Media Group hosted a Special Virtual Town Hall on COVID-19 featuring both of New Mexico’s U.S. Senators Wednesday, May 13. U.S. Senator Tom Udall (D) and U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D) addressed the federal response to the coronavirus pandemic. The senators also answered questions from...

WASHINGTON—U.S. Senators Tom Udall (D-N.M.) and Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) announced that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Wireline Competition Bureau approved $954,990 to the Navajo Nation Department of Health for the COVID-19 Telehealth Program, authorized by the Coronavirus...

WASHINGTON—U.S. Senators Tom Udall (D-N.M.) and Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and U.S. Representatives Ben Ray Lujan (D-N.M.), Deb Haaland (D-N.M.) and Xochitl Torres Small (D-N.M.) announced the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has awarded $6,626,899 to 16 New Mexico community health...

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — New Mexico will soon receive its first shipment of the antiviral medication Remdesivir to help speed up the recovery process in COVID-19 patients. Sen. Martin Heinrich, in partnership with the University of New Mexico Hospital and state health department, have been working for several weeks to secure...

NEW MEXICO (KRQE) – New Mexico Senator Martin Heinrich announced Saturday that the state will soon receive its first shipment of remdesivir, an antiviral drug that could modestly speed recovery in patients infected with the coronavirus. Heinrich has reportedly been working with UNMH and the New Mexico Department of Health to secure...

WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and U.S. Representatives Deb Haaland (NM-01) and Tom Cole (Okla.-04) announced the introduction of a bill to unleash emergency access to broadband internet in Indian Country. The COVID-19 DISASTER in Indian Country Act will direct the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to grant...

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 $23 million in rural broadband grants to communities across New Mexico from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The grants are part of...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich led the New Mexico delegation, including U.S. Senator Tom Udall and U.S. Representatives Ben Ray Luján, Deb Haaland and Xochitl Torres Small, in introducing the bipartisan Tribal COVID-19 Disaster Assistance Cost Share Relief Act, legislation to eliminate the non-federal cost share for...

WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) introduced the Coronavirus Community Relief Act. This legislation would provide $250 billion in stabilization funds geared towards localities with populations under 500,000 that are struggling in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Communities across the United States, such as smaller...

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 that 160 rural health care providers in New Mexico received over $114 million in federal funding to...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) is criticizing the Trump administration for its delay in distributing critical relief funds to Tribal governments. Nearly six weeks after the CARES Act was signed into law, the U.S. Department of Treasury today announced that it would begin to distribute only $4.8 of the $8 billion Congress...

WASHINGTON (May 5, 2020) – U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), the first AmeriCorps alum to serve in the Senate, introduced the Pandemic Response and Opportunity Through National Service Act, legislation to significantly expand national service programs to respond to COVID-19. Senator Heinrich participated in a press teleconference to...