U.S. Rep. Gabe Vasquez
STATE News:
SANTE FE — Monday, Feb. 13, U.S. Rep. Gabe Vasquez (NM-02) outlined his top priorities for improving the state of New Mexico in a joint address with Sen. Martin Heinrich and Rep. Teresa Leger-Fernandez at the State Legislature at the New Mexico State Capitol in Santa Fe. In his speech, Vasquez focused on creating good-paying jobs, supporting local energy choices, prioritizing community safety, and promoting conservation.
WATCH: Vasquez Addresses New Mexico State Legislature
“My goal in serving you in Congress is to bring good-paying jobs to our communities,” Vasquez said. “To ensure that every family has the opportunity to achieve its full potential and to achieve their dreams.”
Vasquez highlighted how he plans to work through congressional gridlock as a member of the House Agriculture Committee, which will work on the reauthorization of the Farm Bill this year. Recognizing that 1 in 5 New Mexicans survive on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, he promised to defend against cuts to food assistance programs while supporting small farmers. As the only New Mexico member on the House Armed Services Committee, Vasquez vowed to protect military investments across the state.
Vasquez also outlined his goals to lower energy prices and promote conservation of New Mexico’s natural resources, while encouraging local energy choice. “Allowing local governments to purchase, generate, and price electricity is a step in the right direction to help lower our energy costs and encourage more aggressive renewable energy development,” Vasquez said.
Celebrating the recent agreement between Texas and New Mexico to manage water delivery from the Rio Grande, Vasquez expressed the need to continue protecting and expanding access to clean water. Vasquez added, “There is nothing more precious and more necessary for us to deliver a better future to our children than to leave them with the most important resource that we have: water.”
Rep. Gabe Vasquez’s full remarks as prepared for delivery are below:
Buenas Tardes, good afternoon everyone.
Me llamo Gabe Vasquez, y es un orgullo ser su Congresista del segundo distrito de Nuevo Mexico.
It’s an honor to be here today, where important ideas and legislation are being discussed, debated, and written into law, for the betterment of this beautiful state that we all love.
The responsibilities we carry as legislators are more important than ever.
New Mexico has always faced many obstacles, and the challenges today are bigger than ever.
But our strength and our resilience have always proved stronger – where there’s a challenge to overcome, there are many communities willing to work together to fix it.
That’s why I commend the Legislature for supporting a modernized legislative body – one that operates more efficiently, governs with greater clarity and purpose, and allows anyone in our state to raise their hand and serve, regardless of their income or background.
We have heard from many of our communities that they, too, would like to operate more efficiently and with greater independence. That’s why giving communities local energy choice is something I support.
Allowing local governments to purchase, generate, and price electricity is a step in the right direction to help lower our energy costs and encourage more aggressive renewable energy development.
Without question, the fossil fuel industry has been key to our economy and America’s energy independence, but we must also be good stewards of our environment and our public lands. Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham has led the country in tightening the state’s methane emission standards to protect our air, land, water, and the health of our frontline communities.
But we can do more.
We can support our oil and gas workers across the state, the communities that depend on them, and small producers, while also holding big polluters accountable. That will be a cornerstone of my work in Congress. I believe in taking a two-track approach to energy independence, supporting the workers in our current energy economy, but also, speeding up our capacity to generate renewable energy and the jobs that come with it.
A pathway to healthier and safer communities must also include common-sense gun safety laws that help protect our youth and the lives of too many New Mexicans who have been unfairly impacted by gun violence in our streets, our homes, and our schools.
As a hunter and a responsible firearm owner, I support common-sense reforms that make our communities safer and that keep high-powered weapons out of the hands of those who seek to do us harm. Thank you for your work on that this year.
Our schools should be a safe haven for children, a place where they can learn, thrive, and build the foundation for happy, healthy and long lives. That’s why I also support the Governor’s plan to make sure that our teachers are among the best-paid in the nation and don’t have to contend with the rising cost of healthcare to make a decent living.
When we treat our teachers well, our students and our families benefit.
Just recently, New Mexico and Texas reached an agreement to manage water delivery from the Rio Grande, coming to terms on a decade-long battle for water in the south. There is nothing more precious and more necessary for us to deliver a better future to our children than to leave them with the most important resource that we have: water.
We know that agua es vida, and that’s why I intend to help ensure that our future generations do not suffer from the consequences of the choices we make today: we must bring Texas v. New Mexico to a close. We must protect our water resources and budget at all costs. I commend the legislators and our administration for working toward that resolution.
Water justice for all of us can only happen if we honor the traditions, culture, and livelihood of all our communities – and that must include our sovereign nations. We must continue to support our Pueblos and our Tribes to ensure they have autonomy over their water resources and their natural resources.
Partnering with our Tribes will be another cornerstone of my time serving in Congress, and I thank all of the advocates, legislators, and this Administration for honoring the government-to-government relationship and working honestly and fairly to support the success of Indian Country in New Mexico.
While being good stewards of our water is incredibly important, so too is being good stewards to our wildlife, public lands and national forests, and I commend this administration and our legislature for acting decisively to manage the impacts of the forest fires that have ravaged our rural communities in the north and south. Thank you for bringing relief to those who have lost so much. I will join you in that work in Washington.
My goal in serving you in Congress is to bring good-paying jobs to our communities. To ensure that every family has the opportunity to achieve its full potential and to achieve their dreams.
I am happy to say that I am serving with tremendous colleagues who put New Mexico first – Representative Teresa Leger Fernandez; Representative Melanie Stansbury; and our two amazing Senators Ben Ray Lujan and Martin Heinrich.
You may have heard that Congress is a bit dysfunctional. I can tell you, I’m seeing it firsthand. But we can still make progress.
That’s why I chose to serve my district and our state on the Agriculture and Armed Services committees. This year and next, I plan to make a significant impact on the Farm Bill and the Defense Bill for New Mexico, even while serving in the minority.
In my first month of serving New Mexico, I’ve focused on building relationships and crafting policies that will help our farmers and farmworkers and our dairy and livestock producers to ensure that those who put food on our table have a secure future in New Mexico.
In the Farm Bill, we must defend against cuts to food assistance programs that feed our hungry families, and promote good policy that rewards sustainable agricultural practices, conserves our water resources, and develops opportunities for small farmers from the South Valley to the Hatch Valley.
New Mexico is also home to some of our nation’s premiere military installations and research facilities, federal workplaces that provide jobs for our students, engineers, scientists, small businesses, and our servicemen and women. That’s why, as the only member of Congress on an armed service committee, I will work to protect the government’s investments that create good-paying jobs from Albuquerque to Alamogordo.
More importantly, I’m serving you in Washington to bring New Mexico’s values to our nation’s capital.
I am continuously inspired by your work to move our communities forward, secure a better future for all New Mexicans, and for your querencia of this special place we call home.
I am honored and humbled to serve as your Representative for District 2, and I thank you for your support and your partnership.
Juntos, vamos a progresar. Muchas gracias. Thank you.
