Nation

FEMA Awards $56,858 Grant For Firefighting Equipment For Questa Volunteer Fire Department

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FEMA News:

A fire training academy and 10 fire departments in New Mexico, Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas have been awarded more than $1.54 million in preparedness grants from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

The grant in New Mexico totals $56,858 and covers the cost of firefighting equipment for the Questa Volunteer Fire Department. The grants in Arkansas total $342,100 and pay for an all-terrain firefighting truck for the Etowah Fire Department and firefighting equipment for the Arkansas Fire Training Academy in Camden.

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Heinrich Addresses Central American Refugee Crisis

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Sen. Martin Heinrich

U.S. SENATE News:

U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., delivered a speech on the Senate floor July 16 on the current Central American refugee crisis. 

Last week, he joined U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson on a tour of the temporary facility for undocumented parents and their children at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center campus in Artesia.

 Heinrich has long been a strong advocate for comprehensive immigration reform, and is a proponent of the president’s emergency supplemental request to address the Read More

Udall Addresses Troubled N.M. VA Hospital

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U.S. Sen. Tom Udall meets with Veterans Affairs Secretary nominee Robert McDonald. Courtesy photo
 
U.S. SENATE News:
 
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Sen. Tom Udall, D-N.M., met with the nominee to replace former Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki, who resigned in May in the wake of the veterans’ scheduling scandal that has impacted the Albuquerque VA. Nominee Robert McDonald, a West Point graduate, is the former Procter & Gamble CEO.
 
Udall issued the following statement after their meeting:
 
“New Mexico’s VA is experiencing
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Heinrich Video Addresses Wildfire Funding Reform

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Sen. Martin Heinrich

U.S. SENATE News:

WASHINGTON, D.C. – During a U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing July 15, U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., continued to push to reform federal wildfire policy by funding major wildfires the same way as other natural disasters, while freeing up funding to prevent future fires.

The committee considered the Administration’s wildfire preparedness and forest service 2015 fiscal year budget proposal, which includes a plan based on a bill Heinrich is co-sponsoring, which would treat the largest fires — roughly Read More

Luján Joins Effort to Limit Money in Politics

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Rep. Ben Ray Luján

U.S. CONGRESSIONAL News:

U.S. Rep. Ben Ray Luján of New Mexico’s Third District announced July 15 that he has joined in an effort to limit money in politics by introducing an amendment to the United States Constitution.

The constitutional amendment would overturn Supreme Court decisions like Citizens United vs. FEC and McCutcheon vs. FEC in an effort to reduce the growing influence of money in the political system. The constitutional amendment is the companion to the amendment introduced in the Senate by Sen. Tom Udall, D-N.M., and passed out of the Senate Judiciary Read More

Heinrich on Confirmation of Norman Bay to FERC

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U.S. SENATE News:

U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., a member of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, released the following statement after voting to confirm Norman C. Bay to be a member of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).

Bay was confirmed by a vote of 52 to 45. The president is expected to designate him to be chairman of FERC next year.

Heinrich spoke on the Senate floor in support of Bay’s nomination:

“Norman Bay is an outstanding public servant with extensive experience to address our energy challenges in New Mexico and around the nation. I am Read More

Udall Expresses Disappointment in GOP Filibuster Over Hobby Lobby Decision

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Sen. Tom Udall

U.S. SENATE News:

U.S. Sen. Tom Udall, D-N.M., expressed disappointment Wednesday, after Republicans blocked debate on a bill to restore women’s access to contraceptive health care in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 5-4 split decision in Burwell vs. Hobby Lobby.

The court ruled that closely held corporations may deny coverage for certain forms of birth control if members of the board object on religious grounds.

The filibuster of the Not My Boss’s Business Act, which Udall cosponsored, prevented the Senate from considering a measure Read More

DOE: Largest Such Project in World Will Capture 1.4 Million Tons of CO2 Annually

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DOE News:

The Department of Energy (DOE) in partnership with NRG Energy Inc. and JX Nippon announced Tuesday that construction has begun on the first commercial-scale, post-combustion carbon-capture retrofit project in the U.S., the largest such project in the world.

The Petra Nova Project will use cutting edge technology to help decrease the power plant’s greenhouse gas emissions. Once completed, the energy technology project will capture about 1.4 million metric tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) annually from an existing coal-fired power plant in Texas. The captured Read More

VCAT Report Details Recommendations For NIST Cryptographic Standards

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NIST News:

The National Institute of Standards and Technology’s (NIST) Visiting Committee for Advanced Technology (VCAT) finalized a report detailing recommendations for NIST’s cryptographic standards program. 

The VCAT’s recommendations are based on a review conducted by a group of invited experts known at the Committee of Visitors, which began last April.

The report is available on the VCAT website. In addition, NIST has posted the briefing documents that were provided to the VCAT and the Committee of Visitors. These include Read More

State DOTs Honored for Innovation and Cost Savings

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DOT News:

Department of Transportation (DOT) projects that are improving safety on all travel modes, expanding mobility for communities, reducing congestion on roadways and providing additional transportation options while saving taxpayer dollars, were named recipients of top honors in the Western Regional America’s Transportation Awards competition at the Western Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials’ 2014 conference.

“The America’s Transportation Awards competition showcases the exceptional, innovative and diverse range of transportation Read More