Nation

Udall, Rubio Introduce Bill to Promote Historic Preservation Education

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U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio

U.S. SENATE News:

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Tom Udall, D-N.M., and Marco Rubio, R-FL., introduced a bill that would give Hispanic-serving colleges and universities increased access to a grant program designed to encourage more students to pursue historic and cultural preservation. The program is similar to one already available to historically black colleges and universities, tribal colleges, and nontribal colleges with a high enrollment of Native Americans or Native Hawaiians. 

U.S. Sen. Tom Udall

The Preservation Research at Institutions Read More

Udall Statement on NSA Phone Surveillance Program

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U.S. SENATE News:

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Monday, Sen. Tom Udall, D-N.M, responded to the D.C. District Court ruling regarding the National Security Agency’s phone surveillance program.

Udall has long pushed for reforms that would balance national security with Americans’ constitutional rights, including the USA FREEDOM Act to end the bulk collection of phone records, and two bills to reform the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) courts.

He has also led a bipartisan push to ask for an independent investigation of these programs by the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board Read More

Los Alamos American Legion Riders Honor Fallen Veterans

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American Legion Rider Davis Bullock salutes a fallen soldier during a ‘Wreaths Across America’ ceremony Saturday at Guaje Pines Cemetery at the end of Range Road in Los Alamos. Wreaths Across America is a national program designed to honor fallen veterans of all wars at national, state and local cemeteries. The mission, ‘Remember, Honor, Teach’ is carried out in part by coordinating wreath laying ceremonies in December at national cemeteries, veterans’ cemeteries and other locations in all 50 states, ceremonies at sea and 24 national cemeteries on foreign soil.
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Volunteers Place Wreaths at Santa Fe National Cemetery

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 Military personnel gather at Saturday’s Wreaths Across America ceremony at Snata Fe National Cemetery to honor fallen soldiers. Photo by Diane Swan

 U.S. Sen. Tom Udall honors fallen military personnel during Saturday’s ceremony at Santa Fe National Cemetery. Photo by Diane Swan

 Photo by Diane Swan

Staff Report

Remembering fallen military, one wreath at a time, volunteers from across the area including Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos National Security, SOC Los Alamos and local community partners, sponsored holiday wreaths for a military Read More

Agriculture Secretary Announces Electric System Funding

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U.S. Dept. of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced Friday more than $1.8 billion in funding for electric utility infrastructure projects in 25 states and one territory to improve service for more than 37,000 rural customers. 

The projects include more than $45 million for smart grid technology, $73 million for renewable energy projects and over $213 million targeted to benefit Native Americans. This funding will build or improve more than 6,500 miles of line to deliver electricity to rural America.

“Rural electric cooperatives Read More

Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks Conservation Bill

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Organ Mountains scenery. Courtesy/Henrich’s Office

U.S. SENATE News:

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Thursday U.S. Senators Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich introduced legislation to preserve some of Doña Ana County’s most iconic landscapes, while boosting the region’s tourism and outdoor economy, creating jobs and improving hunting and hiking opportunities. The Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks Conservation Act would designate the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument to conserve, protect and enhance scenic, recreational and culturally significant land. 

The new monument Read More

White Sands Expansion Provision Included in Defense Authorization Act

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U.S. SENATE News:

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senators Martin Heinrich, D-N.M. and Tom Udall, D-N.M. made the following statements in response to a provision included in the compromise language of the fiscal year 2014 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), released yesterday. The provision is part of a bill the New Mexico senators introduced earlier this year, which passed the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, to strengthen the missions at White Sands Missile Range and Fort Bliss.

“I am pleased that both the House and Senate came together to support this important Read More

Luján Addresses Budget Vote

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U.S. Rep. Ben Ray Luján

U.S. CONGRESSIONAL News:

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Rep. Ben Ray Luján of New Mexico’s Third District released the following statement today after voting for a compromise budget plan that reduces sequester cuts over the next two years.

“While this budget plan is not perfect, and neither side got everything they would have liked, it represents a compromise that takes important steps to chip away at the devastating cuts of the sequester. It rejects the calls of the extreme Tea Party elements that have demanded even deeper cuts that would harm New Mexico. Read More

Udall: Filibuster Rule Change Reducing Senate Gridlock

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Sen Tom Udall

U.S. SENATE News:

WASHINGTON —Tuesday, Sen. Tom Udall, D-N.M. praised the confirmation of Patricia Millett to serve on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. She is the first nominee to be confirmed by the Senate since changing its rules to prohibit filibusters of executive branch and judicial nominees, other than those to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Since 2009, Udall has led the fight in the Senate to cut through gridlock, and he said Millett’s confirmation by a vote of 56-38 is evidence that the Senate is finally working again when it comes to these important Read More

Affordable Care Act to Increase Access to Mental Health Benefits

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Rep. Ben Ray Luján

WASHINGTON D.C. – Rep. Ben Ray Luján of New Mexico’s Third District highlighted recent data that shows the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is expanding mental health and substance use disorder benefits for approximately 60 million Americans – including approximately 403,000 New Mexicans. This expansion of coverage for mental health and substance use disorders is one of the largest in a generation.

Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, insurance companies in the individual and small group market are required for the first time to cover mental health and substance use Read More