U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich
STATE News:
WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M. will travel to Santa Fe, Eddy, and Lea Counties Monday, Aug. 11 and Tuesday, Aug. 12.
He will deliver opening remarks Monday at a public meeting in Santa Fe with Department of Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz and Department of the Interior Secretary Sally Jewell to receive stakeholder input to the Quadrennial Energy Review, an administration-wide effort to make recommendations regarding key infrastructure needed for transmission, storage and distribution of energy.
The meeting, hosted by the Energy Department’s Office of Energy Policy and Systems Analysis, will examine state, local and tribal energy issues. Senator Heinrich will deliver opening remarks and discuss energy infrastructure.
Later in the day, Heinrich will travel to Artesia and Carlsbad. While in Artesia, he will tour the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC) and receive a briefing on its training activity and get an update on the current conditions at the temporary facility for undocumented parents and their children from Central America.
Monday evening, the senator will join Moniz for a town hall meeting in Carlsbad to discuss recovery efforts and address questions and concerns from the community stemming from the truck fire and subsequent radiation release at WIPP.
Tuesday Heinrich will take a surface tour of the WIPP site with Moniz and meet with Department of Energy Carlsbad Field Office representatives and WIPP contractors. Topics covered during their meeting will include future funding for recovery and DOE’s plans for returning WIPP to full operation.
Following the WIPP visit, Senator Heinrich will travel to the VA Community Outpatient Clinic in Hobbs where he will receive a briefing on the services the clinic offers New Mexico veterans. Heinrich is a lead proponent in the effort to improve quality of care and reduce the disability claims backlog for veterans, and he recently met with VA Secretary Robert McDonald to discuss the unique challenges veterans in a rural state like New Mexico face, and the need for Community Based Outpatient Clinics.
