U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) delivers remarks to the New Mexico Legislature, Feb. 17, 2025. Courtesy photo
U.S. SENATE News:
SANTA FE — Feb. 17, U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) addressed a Joint Session of the New Mexico Legislature at the Roundhouse, New Mexico’s State Capitol in Santa Fe.
“Serving you and representing this great state in the halls of our nation’s Capitol is a privilege that I will never take for granted,” Heinrich said. “The same goes for the mandate New Mexicans entrusted me with this last election: To deliver for the people and places of our great state. To fight for the freedoms, safety, opportunities, and dreams of our families, our communities, and our country. I will never shrink from that work.”
Heinrich started his remarks by calling for elected leaders to unify around delivering for New Mexicans: “I have always been struck by New Mexicans’ acute understanding of what it means to put individual differences aside in service to the greater good. In our most challenging times, New Mexicans show up for each other. From the darkest days of the Hermit’s Peak/Calf Canyon fire to last year’s flooding in Roswell, from North to South, and East to West, New Mexicans understand our shared commitment to one another.”
Heinrich promised: “Let me be clear: My commitment, my only commitment, is to you, New Mexico. I will work — day and night — to defend the programs, funding, resources, and public lands our communities, local economies, and families rely on. Because, as elected leaders, we serve all of our constituents, from our neighbors and closest family friends to those in our community we’ve never met, or who disagree with us on nearly every issue. All of these New Mexicans are counting on us – all of us here in this room – to lead, to care, to keep our communities safe. Simply put, they are counting on us to deliver.”
Heinrich commended the Legislature for its successful efforts to stand up permanent funds that generate revenues now and into the future — from the Early Childhood Trust Fund to the Land of Enchantment Legacy Fund — and praised legislators’ efforts in the current session to pass bills to reduce crime, expand behavioral health services, scale investments in work-based learning opportunities, career and technical education, and the Outdoor Equity Fund, establish a statewide water quality permitting program, and reform New Mexico’s Game and Fish Department and Game Commission.
Heinrich concluded: “Working together, we can deliver the future our kids deserve. We can fight for their freedoms: the freedom to grow up to make their own health care decisions, the freedom to marry who they love, the freedom to be who they are, the freedom to be safe in their classrooms, and the freedom to pursue a fair shot at success. Let’s also keep working to protect our kids’ clean air, clean water, and public lands that will sustain their communities, economies, and sense of identity as New Mexicans. We can uphold this Democracy, commit to the Republic set out in our Constitution, and comply with our oaths of service to put ‘We the People’ first.”