This Memorial Day, I was honored to speak at the City of Albuquerque’s annual Memorial Day event. On Memorial Day and every day, we remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice defending our freedom. I am grateful to have been given the opportunity to honor the proud New Mexicans who so bravely served. They will never be forgotten.

Investing in Our Youth

I am so proud to have secured more than $8 million in Community Project Funding for our early childhood and youth service organizations! We know how important it is for our young people to get that extra support they need, and organizations like YDI, the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center, Region 9 Education Cooperative, New Mexico Black Leadership Council, Tribes like Mescalero Apache and Sandia Pueblo, and the City of Albuquerque are leading that charge to help our young people. These programs are about investing in them and their future!

Protecting Our Communities

Last week, we celebrated not one, but two new fire stations in New Mexico’s First! I’m proud to have secured $1 million for a brand-new, well-equipped fire station in Peralta, and $1.45 million for new fire and EMS vehicles in Sandia Pueblo. We know response times for emergencies are just too long—some of these situations are literally life and death. With these investments, communities not just in Sandia Pueblo and Peralta will benefit, but communities in Sandoval, Bernalillo, and Valencia Counties will benefit as well. Our communities will be safer and better-taken care of.

Listening to Your Ideas and Concerns

One of my favorite events is “Coffee with Your Congresswoman,” because I get to hear directly from you! You’ve all told me your hopes, dreams, and concerns for New Mexico’s 1st Congressional District. I’m following your lead with every action I take. I can’t wait to hold more of these events in the future!

Celebrating Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month

May is Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, and my team and I were so excited to stop by Viet Taste for lunch and to talk to the Asian Business Collaborative on how we can help the Asian communities in New Mexico on a federal level. We came up with some great ideas on how to support them.

Supporting Our Communities Through the Farm Bill

I’m honored to have been the keynote speaker for Roadrunner Food Bank’s SNAP Summit to talk about the work I'm doing in Congress to fix food insecurity for New Mexicans. Every single day we are working to address food and hunger issues: supporting our farmers and ranchers and ensuring no child goes hungry. It was great to join everyone and Roadrunner to talk about the work ahead. To listen to some of my keynote speech: click here.

Giving Our Students a Chance to Thrive

Right now, New Mexico is ranked 4th in the country for high school graduates enrolling directly in college after they finish. But we’re seeing something different and concerning after students enter college. The success rate significantly drops—New Mexico is 42nd for associate’s degree graduation rates, and 47th for bachelor’s degree graduation rates. That’s why I introduced the Postsecondary Student Success Act: to give those students the support they deserve—whether they’re working on top of going to school, raising and supporting a family, dealing with health issues, or trying to re-enroll after leaving college once before.

Making Sure Our Communities Have Well Paying Jobs

As we know, the CHIPS Act is and will continue to be transformational for Americans. As we also know, New Mexico is a majority-minority state, with over 50% of our population being Hispanic or Latino. We are home to Intel, Sandia Labs, Los Alamos Labs, White Sands Missile Range, and Kirtland, Cannon, and Holloman Air Force Bases. How does all of this tie together? Well, I attended a roundtable hosted by the Department of Commerce to discuss how Hispanic-serving colleges can partner with the semiconductor industry to build a pipeline of the next generation of high-tech workers not just in New Mexico, but across the nation. These institutions will train workers to keep these jobs here at home.

Helping Our Homeless Youth

I was so honored to join leaders from the City of Albuquerque and Mayor Tim Keller to cut the ribbon on Albuquerque’s first-ever Youth Assistance and Housing Navigation Campus—one of our Community Project recipients! I secured $1.5 million for this project, which will serve up to 120 young adults in a year who need a place to stay to get back on their feet. Those young people can stay for up to 90 days and can utilize a vast array of resources to help them find good jobs and long-term housing. This truly was a team effort, and this campus will be life-changing for so many young people.

Ensuring Our Veterans are Cared For

It is one of my greatest duties to ensure our Veterans are taken care of after they come home from defending our freedom. This issue is deeply personal to me because I have a Veteran at home. My partner is a Marine, so I see firsthand the struggles our Veterans face every day. Since taking office, I’ve introduced, co-sponsored, and supported legislation focusing on mental health, expanding access to educational opportunities, and ensuring every veteran receives recognition for their commitment, no matter their race or gender. We secured $300,000 for New Mexico’s first transitional housing campus for veterans as one step toward eliminating housing insecurity for our men and women who served. I was proud to support the Honoring Our PACT Act — expanding healthcare services for veterans who were exposed to the deadly toxins from burn pits and toxic chemicals. Along with other members of the New Mexico delegation, I worked to ensure the rural VA clinics would remain open—ending long drives for medical care. This is the absolute least I could do for the heroes defending our freedom.

It is the honor of a lifetime to represent you in Congress. If I can assist you or your family, please do not hesitate to reach out to our District Office at (505) 346–6781! If you’d like to keep up to date on what I am working on in Washington, D.C., you can subscribe to our newsletter here and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

All my best,