Press Releases
In Address to National Congress of American Indians, Udall Recommits to Fighting for Issues Vital to Indian Country
WASHINGTON - Today, U.S. Senator Tom Udall (D-N.M.), vice chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, addressed the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) at its 2019 Executive Council Winter Session. In his remarks, Udall outlined his upcoming legislative priorities for the 116th Congress, and recommitted to fighting for issues vital to Indian Country, including ensuring equal access to the ballot box for Native Americans, supporting Native-owned businesses, revitalizing Native la… Continue Reading
February 12, 2019
Udall & McCain’s 21st Century Conservation Service Corps Act Clears Senate
WASHINGTON- Today U.S. Senator Tom Udall announced that the Senate has passed the 21st Century Conservation Service Corps Act of 2019 (21CSC), legislation he championed with the late Senator John McCain (R-Ariz.) to reinvigorate the nation's conservation service corps, bolstering public-private partnerships to engage youth and veterans in conservation-related civilian national service positions. Originally introduced by McCain and Udall in 2017, the 21CSC would facilitate conservation service p… Continue Reading
February 12, 2019
Udall, Heinrich Secure Permanent Reauthorization of Rio Puerco Watershed Management Program in Public Lands Package
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich announced that they have secured a provision in the public lands package that passed the Senate today to permanently reauthorize the Rio Puerco Watershed Management Program, a collaborative program that brings together federal and state agencies, Tribes, non-profits, and local communities to work to reduce sediment, control erosion, and restore healthy vegetation on the Rio Puerco watershed. The Rio Puerco Basin is a critical watershed f… Continue Reading
February 12, 2019
Udall, Heinrich Secure Historic New Mexico Conservation Wins in Public Lands Package
WASHINGTON - Today, U.S. Senators Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich voted to pass the Natural Resources Management Act, a historic bipartisan public lands package that includes several New Mexico conservation priorities championed by Udall and Heinrich, including landmark legislation to permanently authorize the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF), along with three major bills to establish wilderness within the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks (OMDP) National Monument and Rio Grande del Norte Nation… Continue Reading
February 08, 2019
Udall Statement on BLM Deferring Chaco Lease Sales
WASHINGTON -- U.S. Senator Tom Udall issued the following statement in response to BLM's announcement that it will defer leases within the 10-mile buffer zone surrounding Chaco Culture National Historical Park for the upcoming March lease sale: "The BLM did the right thing by deferring these parcels from being leased on culturally-significant and fragile land in the greater Chaco area, a UNESCO world heritage site. However, this is the third time under this administration that BLM has chosen to… Continue Reading
February 07, 2019
Udall, Heinrich Introduce Smart Measures To Enhance Safety In Remote Border Areas, Boost Trade At Ports of Entry
WASHINGTON -- Today, U.S. Senators Tom Udall (D-N.M.) and Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) introduced three key proposals to address the needs in remote areas of the nation's southern border region and invest in our southern ports of entry to increase international trade and bolster economic development in border communities. As congressional negotiators continue to work on a path forward for funding border security measures and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) through the end of the fiscal … Continue Reading
February 07, 2019
Udall, Haaland Introduce ANTIQUITIES Act to Protect America’s National Monuments from Unlawful Attacks
WASHINGTON - Today, U.S. Senator Tom Udall (D-N.M.) and U.S. Representative Deb Haaland (D-N.M.), along with U.S. Representatives Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) and Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), led a group of more than 100 Democratic Members of Congress in re-introducing legislation to protect America's treasured national monuments against the Trump administration's relentless attacks on public lands. The America's Natural Treasures of Immeasurable Quality Unite, Inspire, and Together Improve the Eco… Continue Reading
February 07, 2019
VIDEO: Udall Calls for Passage of Bipartisan Land and Water Conservation Bill with Major Wins for NM
VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHmUKE1Prlo&feature=youtu.be WASHINGTON - Today, U.S. Senator Tom Udall, ranking member on the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies, spoke on the Senate floor to outline his strong support for S. 47, the Natural Resources Management Act, a bipartisan public lands package that includes major conservation victories Udall championed for New Mexico's treasured public lands and for local economies. In his sp… Continue Reading
February 07, 2019
Senate Indian Affairs Committee Passes 3 Udall Bills for Indian Country
WASHINGTON - Today, U.S. Senator Tom Udall (D-N.M.), vice chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, applauded the committee's unanimous passage of three bills he introduced last week: • S. 256 - the Esther Martinez Native American Languages Programs Reauthorization Act; • S. 257 - the Tribal HUD-VASH Act of 2019; and • S. 294 - the Native American Business Incubators Program Act. "I am proud to join Chairman Hoeven and the leadership of the Senate Veterans Affairs Co… Continue Reading
February 06, 2019
Udall Introduces Legislation to Protect 2020 Census and Ensure All New Mexicans Are Counted
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Tom Udall introduced the Census Improving Data and Enhanced Accuracy (Census IDEA) Act, S. 358, legislation that would protect the accuracy of the 2020 census and ensure any proposed changes to the count are properly studied, researched, and tested. Last year, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross proposed the addition of an untested citizenship question to the 2020 census that would likely influence the accuracy of the survey. Without proper studies and testing, last-minute … Continue Reading
February 06, 2019
Udall, Heinrich Introduce Legislation to Prevent Separation of Immigrant Families at the Border
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich, along with 40 other Democratic senators, introduced legislation to keep immigrant families together and prevent the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) from taking children from their parents at the border. The Keep Families Together Act would prohibit the separation of children from their parents or legal guardians at or near ports of entry or within 100 miles of the border, unless they are being trafficked or abused by their parents. … Continue Reading
February 05, 2019
Udall Statement on President Trump’s State of the Union Address
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Tom Udall issued the following statement on President Trump's State of the Union Address: "After he dragged our country through the longest government shutdown in American history, President Trump had an opportunity tonight to show people in New Mexico that he would change course. Unfortunately, the president seems committed to the same destructive tactics that caused 35 days of hardship, pain, and fear for families across our state and the country. "The president's a… Continue Reading
February 05, 2019
Udall, Heinrich Call on EPA to Set Federal Drinking Water Standards for PFOA and PFOS
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Tom Udall (D-N.M.) and Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) are urging Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler to develop federal drinking water standards for perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) as part of the agency's national management plan for this class of chemicals. In a bipartisan letter to Wheeler, the Senators also request that the EPA provide briefings on the agency's efforts on this issue, as well as re… Continue Reading
February 05, 2019
Udall, Heinrich, Luján Announce Nearly $2.5 Million for Rail Runner Safety Upgrades
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich and U.S. Representative Ben Ray Luján announced that the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) has awarded $2,496,842 in federal funding to the Rio Metro Regional Transit District (RTD) to make critical improvements to the New Mexico Rail Runner Express system's Wi-Fi network that will support full implementation of Positive Train Control (PTC) technology, a federally mandated safety system designed to prevent train accidents and … Continue Reading
February 05, 2019
Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez To Join Udall As Honored Guest For State Of The Union
WASHINGTON - Today, U.S. Senator Tom Udall announced that Jonathan Nez, President of the Navajo Nation, will be Udall's guest at the 2019 State of the Union Address tonight, Tuesday, February 5, 2019. "As the vice chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, and as a senator from New Mexico - home to 23 Tribes and Pueblos - one of my top priorities in Congress is making sure our government lives up to its trust and treaty obligations. That's why I am enormously proud to invite the Presid… Continue Reading
February 04, 2019
Udall Statement on Nomination of David Bernhardt for Interior Secretary
WASHINGTON - Today, U.S. Senator Tom Udall (D-N.M.), ranking member on the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on the Interior, Environment and Related Agencies, released the following statement after President Donald Trump announced he would nominate David Bernhardt to serve as Secretary of the Interior: "The Department of the Interior is one of the most important agencies to New Mexico, and the Interior Secretary has a duty to protect our public lands and natural resources while carrying out t… Continue Reading
February 04, 2019
Udall, Heinrich, Senate Democrats Introduce Bill to Prevent President From Using Emergency Declaration to Raid Funds for Border Wall
WASHINGTON - Today, U.S. Senators Tom Udall (D-N.M.) and Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), along with U.S. Senators Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Jack Reed (D-R.I.) introduced the Restrictions Against Illegitimate Declarations… Continue Reading
February 01, 2019
Udall, Heinrich, Luján Announce Over $2 Million in Federal Funding to Connect Underserved Youth in NM to Education and Job Opportunities
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich and U.S. Representative Ben Ray Luján announced that the U.S. Department of Labor has awarded $2,090,258 in funding to two YouthBuild programs in northern New Mexico - $990,258 to HELP New Mexico, Inc. in Albuquerque and $1,100,000 to YouthWorks in Santa Fe - that work to connect underserved or at-risk young people to educational opportunities, employment, and job training. YouthBuild is an education and training program with a stro… Continue Reading
January 31, 2019
Udall, Smith, Murkowski Introduce Major Bipartisan Legislation to Address Violence Against Native Women, Children and Tribal Law Enforcement
WASHINGTON - Today, U.S. Senators Tom Udall (D-N.M.), vice chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, Tina Smith (D-Minn.), and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) introduced two major, bipartisan bills to address violence against Native women, children, and Tribal law enforcement: the Native Youth and Tribal Officer Protection Act (NYTOPA) and the Justice for Native Survivors of Sexual Violence Act (Justice for Native Survivors). Both bills build on the Tribal jurisdiction provisions in the Vio… Continue Reading
January 31, 2019
Udall, Heinrich, Warren, Cortez Masto, Smith Work to Expand Entrepreneurship in Indian Country
WASHINGTON - Today, U.S. Senator Tom Udall (D-N.M.), vice chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, along with U.S. Senators Martin Heinrich (D-N.M), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), and Tina Smith (D-Minn.) introduced the Native American Business Incubators Program Act to expand entrepreneurship in Indian Country by promoting small businesses development in tribal communities. Entrepreneurs in Indian Country often face unique start-up challenges like di… Continue Reading
