press releases

A bipartisan agreement has been announced in Congress that will deliver health care benefits to veterans exposed to dangerous toxins while in service of their country. The agreement was announced Tuesday in Washington. The bill is named the Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring our PACT Act of 2022. It’s named in honor of a veteran who...

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) issued the following statement applauding news that the Biden administration will address the threat of additional solar tariffs posed by the Commerce Department’s industry-crushing investigation. The Biden administration announced today that they will declare a two-year solar tariff...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), a member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee and the Founder and Co-Chair of the Electrification Caucus in Congress, welcomed President Joe Biden’s announcement today that he will invoke the Defense Production Act to accelerate the domestic production of...

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), and Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) issued the following joint statement after President Joe Biden declared a two-year solar tariff suspension window while also invoking the Defense Production Act to boost U.S. solar manufacturing. The Senators have been urging the Biden...

WASHINGTON – Tomorrow, June 7, at 7 a.m. MT/ 9 a.m. ET, 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), will participate in a bipartisan press conference to call for the immediate Senate passage of the Sergeant First Class Heath...

The White House announced Monday morning that no new tariffs will be imposed on solar imports for at least two years, bringing immediate relief to solar developers in New Mexico and elsewhere. Domestic industry was thrown into crisis in April, after the U.S. Commerce Department began investigating solar manufacturing operations in some Asian...

LAS CRUCES - New Mexico’s ZiaMet MesoNet Weather Monitoring Network will be expanding significantly over the next year as $1.8 million in federal funds have recently been appropriated toward the effort. U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-NM) was in Las Cruces Thursday at the Fabian Garcia Research Center following his support of the Fiscal Year...

WASHINGTON – In the wake of wildfire devastation that has impacted communities and homes across the state, 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.) issued the following statement welcoming news that President Joe...

WASHINGTON — U.S. Senators Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) and U.S. Representatives Melanie Stansbury (D-N.M.) and Teresa Leger Fernández (D-N.M.) are welcoming more than $3.7 million in federal funding from AmeriCorps. These grants will support New Mexico organizations working to improve youth engagement and...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) welcomed anannouncement by the Trust for Public Land on a new addition to the Marquez Wildlife Area in New Mexico, which he has worked to support. With this land acquisition, the Marquez Wildlife Area will be the largest state-owned recreation property in New Mexico. The area will be...

A planned $15 million upgrade will allow a Forest Service facility at Kirtland Air Force Base in Albuquerque to serve the largest tanker aircraft used to fight U.S. wildfires. The larger tankers can hold about 5000 gallons of retardant, about three times as much as the aircraft that currently use the Cibola National Forest Air Tanker Base at...

LAS CRUCES - Tucked into a closet-sized room deep inside the Doña Ana County Sheriff's Office is one expensive piece of technology. With a new appropriation from the federal government, the sheriff said Thursday that the technology is now ready for action. The machine, just bigger than a shoebox, is a rapid DNA testing device. The product is...

LAS CRUCES, N.M. - In an ongoing effort to provide top-notch constituent service, U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich's (D-N.M.) staff will hold in-person Mobile Office Hours for Catron County residents on Thursday, June 9 from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. MT at the Reserve Community Center. Staff will be on hand to assist residents who have...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) joined a bipartisan group of 30 senators in a letter urging U.S. Senators Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriations, and Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), Vice Chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriations, to fully fund the...

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 $7.5 million in grant funding from the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT). This federal funding will be used by the City of Farmington to upgrade taxiways at Four Corners...

LAS CRUCES, N.M. – On Thursday, June 2, U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) will be in southern New Mexico to highlight over $2 million in federal funding he secured in southern New Mexico in the recent Fiscal Year 2022 Omnibus Appropriations Agreement. At 8:45 a.m. MT, Senator Heinrich will meet with New Mexico state...

Bigger air tankers could become a more regular tool in the fight against New Mexico wildfires. The Cibola National Forest Air Tanker Base, located on Kirtland Air Force Base, is to receive $15.5 million for upgrades so the base can serve Very Large Air Tankers, or VLATS. That type of aircraft can hold about 9,000 gallons of fire retardant, about...

WASHINGTON (May 27, 2022) – U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), a member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, issued the following statement in response to the U.S. Forest Service’s finding that the Calf Canyon Fire on the Pecos/Las Vegas Ranger District of the Santa Fe National Forest was caused by a pile burn...

ALBUQUERQUE – On Tuesday, May 31, at 10 a.m. MT, U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) will tour the Whitfield Conservation Area to receive an update on damage sustained from the recent Big Hole Fire.  Senator Heinrich will meet with members of the Valencia Soil & Water Conservation District and Friends of the Whitfield...

WASHINGTON (May 26, 2022) – Today, U.S. Senators Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) joined U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) to introduce two bills to support efforts in New Mexico and across the country to put fires out faster and better protect communities from post-fire flooding. The Fire Suppression...