press releases

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 New Mexico communities across the state will receive over $16.7 million in emergency housing assistance from the U.S. Department...

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. —Tribal communities are being hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic, and the U.S. federal government is bound by treaties to help them. "We're the first citizens of the United States of America, but yet we haven't seen one penny come to the Navajo Nation," President Jonathan Nez, of the Navajo Nation, said. "Army Corps of...

As the New Mexico death toll from COVID-19 reached seven Thursday, the state reported a limited supply of medical equipment meant to keep frontline health workers safe during an anticipated surge in cases. According to the New Mexico Human Services Department, the state has a stockpile of 43,873 N95 face masks used to protect medical workers from...

WASHINGTON — Today, U.S. Senator Tom Udall (D-N.M.), U.S. Senator 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.) led a bipartisan, bicameral group of 18 senators and 12 U.S. representatives in writing to President Donald J. Trump...

WASHINGTON (April 1, 2020) – While the CARES Act that the president signed into law last week ensured that the Treasury Department had the authority to send automatic direct cash assistance to Social Security beneficiaries regardless of whether they file taxes or not, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) released contradictory guidance earlier...

Nuclear waste repository the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant gradually reduced the amount of nuclear waste received and emplaced for disposal in its underground salt deposit during the last three months as the COVID-19 pandemic continued to spread throughout the country and world leading to the disruption of operations at government facilities. As 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.) joined 41 senators and 81 representatives in sending a bipartisan letter to U.S. Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Alex Azar urging him to direct funding included in the recently passed...

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.) sent a letter to Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt asking for the Department of Interior to extend the public comment period for the joint...

WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senator Tom Udall (D-N.M.) and Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) released a guide to help small business owners and non-profit leaders access new funding included in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act that passed the Senate, House and was signed into law by...

WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senators Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich and U.S. Representatives Ben Ray Luján, Deb Haaland, and Xochitl Torres Small wrote to the U.S. Secretary of Defense and the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to support New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham’s request for the...

Detainees in a federal facility near Grants say more than 20 people are being held in one room with no social distancing, little access to hygiene products and scant information about the new coronavirus, even as the global health crisis continues to spread. In an interview with The New Mexican, Yulian Llerena, a Cuban man being held in U.S....

More than $1.25 billion to help cover state and local government expenses tied to the COVID-19 outbreak will be coming to New Mexico from the $2 trillion congressional coronavirus response package, U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich said last week. Details have yet to be released on how some of the funding will be distributed, the senator said in a...

WASHINGTON—U.S. Senators Tom Udall (D-N.M.) and Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) helped secure extensive workers relief provisions in the emergency coronavirus response bill, including direct payments to New Mexico families and an emergency four-month expansion of unemployment insurance (UI) worth an additional $600 per week....

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Tom Udall (D-NM) and Martin Heinrich (D-NM) announced that the coronavirus emergency response bill passed by the Senate on Wednesday will provide more than $150 billion of critical relief to hospitals and health care workers across the nation in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.  The...

New Mexico is one step closer to seeing its share of a massive $2.2 trillion economic stimulus package unanimously approved by the U.S. Senate Wednesday night. U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., told reporters on a call Thursday morning he’s fighting for the aid money to arrive in the state as soon as possible to help residents stay afloat as...

WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senators Tom Udall (D-N.M.) and Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) are highlighting that the recently passed Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act includes major provisions to provide relief to small businesses and non-profits hurt by...

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.- The two U.S. senators from New Mexico say help is on the way.  Senators Martin Heinrich and Tom Udall voted to pass the COVID-19 relief package Wednesday night. Udall says part of the $2 trillion will go to helping New Mexicans including small business owners. The bill also gives Americans, who make less than $75,000 a...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) today held a teleconference with New Mexico-based reporters to discuss the latest on efforts to address the COVID-19 pandemic. On the call, Senator Heinrich discussed the Senate passage of a major, bipartisan emergency COVID-19 response bill that will provide immediate and badly-needed relief...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) issued the following statement calling for an immediate investigation of the conditions of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention facilities and procedures put in place to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) to staff and detainees. “The health of all New...

WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senators Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich voted to pass a major, bipartisan emergency COVID-19 response bill to provide immediate and badly-needed relief to New Mexicans grappling with the coronavirus pandemic. The $2 trillion package includes key provisions to support New Mexico,...