U.S. Sen. Ben Ray Luján, center, met with Albuquerque Public Schools staff and students Tuesday to highlight Congressionally Directed Spending (CDS) secured for New Mexico students. Courtesy/Luján

U.S. Sen. Ben Ray Luján held a roundtable discussion with the Albuquerque Police Department and representatives from Mayor Tim Keller’s office, Bernalillo County Sheriff Department, and Bernalillo County Health Services to highlight $480,000 in funding secured for Smart Camera technologies that support law enforcement in Albuquerque. Courtesy/Luján

U.S. SENATE News:

ALBUQUERQUE — U.S. Sen. Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) traveled to Albuquerque Public Schools Tuesday to meet with staff and students to highlight Congressionally Directed Spending (CDS) secured for New Mexico students.

The funding that Luján secured will deliver $275,000 for STEM education and a K-12 STEM agricultural science magnet school pathway.

“STEM education will help drive innovation and opportunities for the future, and this federal funding will ensure that our students are set up for success,” Sen. Luján said. “I’m proud to secure this education investment that will provide valuable opportunities for New Mexican students to learn and gain experience in our state’s critical agriculture industry.”

Sen. Luján also held a roundtable discussion with the Albuquerque Police Department and representatives from Mayor Tim Keller’s office, Bernalillo County Sheriff Department, and Bernalillo County Health Services to highlight $480,000 in funding secured for Smart Camera technologies that support law enforcement in Albuquerque. Their conversations also focused on the investments that Luján and New Mexico’s Congressional Delegation secured including $435,000 for Public Safety ECHO Project, over $2 million in funding for the Violence Intervention Program and Albuquerque Community Safety Department, and $416,000 for Bernalillo County’s Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion.

“I was honored to meet with Albuquerque law enforcement officials to highlight the technology investment we secured to support our first responders. As the crises they face are wide reaching and extremely varied, so must be the technology that they are equipped with,” Luján continued. 

Last December, Sen. Luján and the delegation delivered over $273 million in investments for 146 local projects across New Mexico through the Omnibus Spending Bill that President Biden signed into law.