Press Releases
Udall Again Expresses Concern about Lack of Authority for Changing Conflict in Middle East
WASHINGTON - Today, at a hearing of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, U.S. Senator Tom Udall once again pressed Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Defense Secretary James Mattis about the need for congressional authority - an Authorization for the Use of Military Force (AUMF) - if the United States continues to engage in the military conflict in the Middle East. Udall reiterated his longstanding position that Americans are very skeptical of unending war in the Middle East, the longe… Continue Reading
October 30, 2017
Udall, Heinrich Press White House to Extend Critical Lifeline Funding in Future Disaster Aid Request
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Tom Udall (D-N.M.) and Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) joined a bipartisan group of Western senators today urging the White House and the White House budget office to fulfill the federal government's promise to rural communities by extending a critical lifeline that funds road repairs, schools and law enforcement in rural communities in any future emergency disaster supplemental funding bill it sends to Congress. Led by U.S. Sens. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Mike Crapo (R-Idaho),… Continue Reading
October 30, 2017
Udall Urges Congress to Protect Special Counsel Investigation
WASHINGTON - Today, U.S. Senator Tom Udall delivered a statement urging members of Congress in both parties to be prepared to defend Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russia's interference in the 2016 election and President Trump's campaign. Udall, a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, authored an amendment in July to prevent the unlawful firing of Mueller. The amendment was included on a unanimous voice vote in the fiscal year 2018 Commerce, Justice, Science and Re… Continue Reading
October 30, 2017
Udall Speaks at NM NAACP State Conference
LAS CRUCES, N.M. - Today, U.S. Senator Tom Udall addressed the N.M. NAACP's 66th Annual State Conference. The following are his remarks as prepared for delivery: Thank you mayor Ken Miyagishima for that kind introduction. You have been a positive leader who has helped shape Las Cruces into one of New Mexico's best-managed cities with a great quality of life. Thanks for your steady hand. Thank you Dona Ana County NAACP for organizing this year's conference. And for your contributions to social … Continue Reading
October 26, 2017
Udall, Senators Demand Explanation for $2 Billion Missing from Commerce Secretary's Financial Disclosures
WASHINGTON -- Following a Forbes report revealing that U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross may have failed to disclose nearly $2 billion during his confirmation proceedings, six members of the Senate Commerce Committee wrote the Office of Government Ethics today seeking an explanation for how the financial assets could have been hidden from review. During his confirmation proceedings, Ross disclosed approximately $700 million in assets. Forbes has since valued Ross' total net worth at $2.9 b… Continue Reading
October 26, 2017
Senators Introduce Background Check Expansion Act To Reduce Gun Violence
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich are original cosponsors of the Background Check Expansion Act to expand federal background checks to the sale or transfer of all firearms by private sellers, with certain reasonable exceptions. Under current law, unlicensed or private sellers are not required to conduct a background check prior to transferring a firearm. The bill was introduced yesterday by U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.). Research indicates that as many as a quarter … Continue Reading
October 26, 2017
Udall Statement on President’s Opioid Announcement
WASHINGTON - Today, U.S. Senator Tom Udall responded to President Trump's declaration that the opioid crisis is a public health emergency - rather than the much stronger "national emergency" called for by the president's own opioid commission. Trump's announcement does not include any significant new funding to fight the opioid epidemic. Udall is a cosponsor of the Combating the Opioid Epidemic Act, which would invest $45 billion for prevention, detection, surveillance, and treatment of opioid … Continue Reading
October 25, 2017
Udall Urges Public Safety Improvements, Additional Resources for Crime and Victim Services in Indian Country
WASHINGTON - Today, U.S. Senator Tom Udall, vice chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, urged improvements to public safety in Indian Country, calling for additional resources to fight crime and provide victim services to Native Americans. In a legislative hearing, Udall led the Indian Affairs Committee in reviewing three bills to promote public safety in Tribal communities: S. 1870, Securing Urgent Resources Vital to Indian Victim Empowerment Act 2017, the "SURVIVE Act"S. 1953, Re… Continue Reading
October 25, 2017
VIDEO: Udall Urges Bipartisan Action to Fund CHIP and Health Programs Critical to New Mexico
Funding for the Special Diabetes Program for Indians expires in 6 weeks VIDEO: https://www.facebook.com/senatortomudall/videos/10155611099502870/ WASHINGTON - Today, in a speech on the Senate floor, U.S. Senator Tom Udall urged Republicans to work with Democrats to fund critical health programs that benefit thousands of N.M. children, low-income families, and Native Americans. Udall also voiced his support for bipartisan efforts in the Senate to stabilize the individual health insurance market… Continue Reading
October 25, 2017
Udall, Leahy, Feinstein, Blumenthal: Trump Administration Must Answer Why Nominees Are Serving Without Senate Confirmation
Dourson and other Trump nominees may be violating the law and circumventing the Constitution WASHINGTON - Today, U.S. Senators Tom Udall (D-N.M.), Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) sent a letter to Office of Presidential Personnel (OPP) Director John DeStefano in response to reports that the Trump administration is allowing individuals nominated by the president to perform the duties of their appointed positions prior to receiving Senate confir… Continue Reading
October 25, 2017
Udall Statement on EPW Committee Vote for Michael Dourson to Lead EPA’s Toxics Bureau, Urges Full Senate to Reject Him
WASHINGTON - Today, U.S. Senator Tom Udall, co-author of the landmark Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act, released this statement following the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee's party-line vote to advance Dr. Michael Dourson's nomination to serve as assistant administrator for the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention. "Today's party-line vote in the EPW Committee is dangerous for public health an… Continue Reading
October 24, 2017
Udall, Heinrich Cosponsor USA RIGHTS Act To Reform Secretive Warrantless Spy Program
WASHINGTON, D.C. (Oct. 24, 2017) - U.S. Senators Tom Udall (D-N.M.) and Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) announced bipartisan legislation they are cosponsoring that reforms a sweeping, secretive government spying program to protect the constitutional rights of Americans, while giving intelligence agencies authority to target foreign terrorists, criminals, and other overseas intelligence targets. The USA RIGHTS Act reforms Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act to end warrantless backd… Continue Reading
October 20, 2017
Senate Passes Udall-Heinrich Amendment Directing Congress to Provide Mandatory Full Funding for PILT
WASHINGTON - Last night, the U.S. Senate approved an amendment by U.S. Senators Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich that directs Congress to fully and permanently fund the Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) program, which helps local governments in New Mexico and across the West pay for critical services like schools, police, and roads. The amendment to the Republicans' Fiscal Year 2018 budget resolution passed 58 to 41 and was the only amendment offered by a Democrat to pass on a roll-call vote. New Me… Continue Reading
October 20, 2017
Udall Presses Trump Administration for Answers on how its Commission on Election Integrity Will Use Sensitive Voter Data
WASHINGTON - This week, U.S. Senator Tom Udall joined 17 other Senate Democrats in again demanding answers about the Trump administration's Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity. The commission was established by the Trump administration in May supposedly to investigate the president's debunked claim of mass voter fraud in the 2016 presidential election. Many lawmakers, election officials, citizen watchdogs and security experts have said they fear that the commission's real purp… Continue Reading
October 20, 2017
Udall Fights to Protect Public Lands, Arctic National Wildlife Refuge from Dangerous GOP Budget
WASHINGTON - Today, U.S. Senator Tom Udall is defending public lands - in particular, the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge - from provisions in the Republicans' proposed Fiscal Year 2018 budget resolution that would open these special places to development. A provision snuck in the budget proposal, which is being debated on the Senate floor now, would allow 1.5 million acres of the Arctic refuge's pristine coastal plain to be auctioned off to the highest bidder to sell oil and pay for a tax cut f… Continue Reading
October 20, 2017
Udall Amendments to Budget Resolution Would Protect Indian Country from Harmful GOP Budget
WASHINGTON - Today, U.S. Senator Tom Udall, vice chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, announced that he has filed several amendments to the Senate Republicans' fiscal year 2018 budget resolution to protect Native communities and programs that are vital to Indian Country. The deceptive Republican budget bill would slash billions of dollars from federal programs, including Medicaid and Medicare, in order to pay for tax cuts for billionaires. The amendments include: Addressing criti… Continue Reading
October 18, 2017
New Mexico Democrats Recommend National Labs to help Rebuild Puerto Rico
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich, and U.S. Representatives Michelle Lujan Grisham and Ben Ray Luján sent a letter today urging the Administration to utilize programs run by national labs in New Mexico to help with the reconstruction of Puerto Rico's infrastructure. The members of the New Mexico delegation are asking the Departments of Energy and Homeland Security to leverage the unique expertise and resources at the labs, including Sandia and Los Alamos National … Continue Reading
October 18, 2017
Udall Blasts Dishonest Republican Budget that Would Cut Taxes for Billionaires, Slash Medicare and Medicaid, and Increase Deficit by $1.5 Trillion
WASHINGTON - Today, U.S. Senator Tom Udall announced his opposition to the Republicans Fiscal Year 2018 budget proposal, which would increase the deficit by $1.5 trillion and slash Medicare and Medicaid by $1.5 trillion, all to give corporations and the ultra-wealthy 1 percent of Americans a massive tax cut. Udall said cutting Medicare and Medicaid, the essential health care programs for seniors and low-income families, would affect access to health care for the almost 400,000 New Mexicans who … Continue Reading
October 18, 2017
VIDEO: Udall Speaks Out Against Republican Efforts to Open Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to Drilling
VIDEO: https://youtu.be/S72icm8uv94 WASHINGTON - Today, U.S. Senator Tom Udall spoke on the Senate floor in strong opposition to a provision slipped in the Republicans' Fiscal Year 2018 budget resolution that would pay for tax cuts for the ultra-wealthy in part through oil and gas development in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. A longtime champion of protection for the Arctic refuge, Udall called for the removal of any language in the budget that would open to drilling the refuge's coastal … Continue Reading
October 18, 2017
Udall and Commerce Committee Democrats Request FCC Oversight Hearing to Address President Trump's Threats to Freedom of Press
WASHINGTON - This week, U.S. Senators Tom Udall, a member of the Senate Commerce Committee, joined fellow Democrats on the committee in calling for a hearing on President Trump's attacks on the media and his latest threat to interfere with the Federal Communication Commission's (FCC) television station license renewal proceedings. In a letter to Senators John Thune (R-S.D.) and Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), respectively the chairman and ranking member of the committee, which has jurisdiction over the F… Continue Reading
