press releases

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senators Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) joined Senators Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) and John Cornyn (R-Texas) to continue the annual celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month by leading a bipartisan group of 47 colleagues in introducing a Senate resolution that recognizes September...

WASHINGTON (Oct. 13, 2021) – U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) is preparing to reintroduce legislation to designate portions of the Gila River, its watershed and other rivers in the Gila National Forest as Wild and Scenic Rivers. Senator Heinrich acknowledged the growing support for the Wild & Scenic designation as part of the Gila...

Washington, D.C. – 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.) introduced the Land Grant-Mercedes Traditional Use Recognition and Consultation Act to recognize community land grants as an important part of the...

To combat climate change brought on by air pollution, U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-NM) continued to rally support for electrifying homes and businesses to reduce greenhouse gas emissions across the U.S. Heinrich introduced the Zero Emissions Homes Act earlier this year to provide tax rebates for electric appliances in single- and multi-family...

WASHINGTON (Oct. 12, 2021) – U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) is welcoming President Joe Biden’s announcement that he will appoint Patricia Dominguez to serve as the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development State Director for New Mexico. “Patricia Dominguez has extensive experience working with rural...

It’s hard to find states more different than New Mexico and Rhode Island. One is big, the other small; one is landlocked mountain ranges and high desert, the other seaside coast.  But both count on a healthy, clean environment, and each presents wondrous natural beauty. So we both fight tirelessly to defend that environment as climate...

WASHINGTON (Oct. 8, 2021) – U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) released the following statement on the confirmation of Xochitl Torres Small to serve as the Undersecretary for Rural Development in the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Torres Small, who is from Las Cruces, New Mexico, previously served as the U.S. Representative for New...

WASHINGTON (Oct. 8, 2021) – U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), a member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, is commending President Joe Biden for restoring the protections of Bears Ears, Grand Staircase-Escalante, and Northeast Canyons and Seamounts National Monuments. The White House announced that the...

WASHINGTON (Oct. 7, 2021) – U.S. Senators Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) are part of a group of 49 Senate Democrats that introduced legislation to restore the landmark Voting Rights Act (VRA) and stop the spreading scourge of voter suppression. The legislation – the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act...

WASHINGTON (Oct. 7, 2021) - The Recovering America’s Wildlife Act (RAWA) of 2021 introduced by U.S. Senators Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) is gaining bipartisan momentum. The bill now has 29 cosponsors who are calling for a hearing in the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works. The landmark bipartisan bill...

While companies across the United States are extracting metals like gold, silver and copper, they do not pay royalties like other extractive industries. This is in part because the laws governing hardrock mining date back to 1872. U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich, a New Mexico Democrat, wants to reform hardrock mining among other measures to help...

A global pandemic, worsening climate change and a Democratic majority in Washington, D.C. have created a once-in-a-generation opportunity for a national response to the climate crisis. To meet the moment, U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-NM, has proposed the Civilian Climate Corps Act, an initiative designed to put people to work helping their...

WASHINGTON (Oct. 5, 2021) – Today, U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), a member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, participated in a hearing to examine and consider updates to the Mining Law of 1872.  VIDEO: Heinrich Calls For Hardrock Mining Policy Reforms [HD DOWNLOAD LINK HERE]  Senator Heinrich has...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) are applauding Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel’s decision to update a definition of library and clarify that Tribal libraries are eligible for support through the E-Rate Program. This FCC rule change will...

WASHINGTON (Sept. 30, 2021) – Today, U.S. Senators Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) and U.S. Representative Norma Torres (D-Calif.) introduced legislation to replace the official holiday recognized on the second Monday of October as Indigenous Peoples’ Day. The bill would also replace any mention of Columbus...

WASHINGTON (Sept. 30, 2021) – Today, U.S. Senators Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) are welcoming a $2.8 million CARES Act Recovery Assistance grant to the city of Roswell, New Mexico, to construct an airport hangar addition at the Roswell Air Center and support business expansion. This EDA grant is expected to...

WASHINGTON (Sept. 28, 2021) – In response to recent data showing an exponential increase in COVID-19 cases in children, U.S. Senators Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Bob Casey (D-Penn.), and Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) are urging Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Acting Commissioner Janet Woodcock to work as quickly as science...

WASHINGTON — Bipartisan federal legislation could dramatically reshape the funding available to tribal nations for wildlife conservation efforts.  The proposed Recovering America’s Wildlife Act would for the first time give tribes a direct line of federal funding for their natural resources departments to perform fish and...

WASHINGTON — Bipartisan federal legislation could dramatically reshape the funding available to tribal nations for wildlife conservation efforts.  The proposed Recovering America’s Wildlife Act would for the first time give tribes a direct line of federal funding for their natural resources departments to perform fish and...

About $7 million worth of environmentally friendly upgrades will be made to the Albuquerque International Sunport — part of a nationwide project by the Federal Aviation Administration to make airports more sustainable. In Albuquerque, the money will fund zero-emissions passenger shuttle buses and charging stations, as well as more...