WASHINGTON – U.S. Representatives Teresa Leger Fernández (D-N.M.), Gabe Vasquez (D-N.M.), and Melanie Stansbury (D-N.M.) and U.S. Senators Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) are reintroducing a slate of Tribal water rights settlement bills they are pushing to pass in this Congress.
The full slate of Tribal water rights settlements legislation includes:
The… Read more »
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SANTA FE, N.M. – Yesterday, Congresswoman Teresa Leger Fernández (D-NM) hosted a press conference with local farmers, ranchers, Tribal representatives, and conservation leaders to denounce the Trump Administration’s funding freeze on critical U.S. Department of Agriculture programs, including the… Read more »
SANTA FE, NM– Congresswoman Leger Fernández (D-NM) released a statement slamming President Trump following the news that the Trump administration has turned its back on rural Americans by freezing critical U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) funding, including grants within the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) and the Equity in Conservation Outreach Cooperative… Read more »
WASHINGTON – Representative Teresa Leger Fernández (D-N.M), U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), and Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, U.S. Senator Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), and announced $120 million for Fiscal Year 2025 for the Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project using funding from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation’s Reclamation Water Settlements Fund. Read more »
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congresswoman Leger Fernández released the following statement after voting for a Continuing Resolution that passed the House tonight by a widely bipartisan vote of 366-34-1 and will keep the government open until March 14, 2025.
“Today, in time for Christmas, Democrats saved our country from a dangerous government shutdown. We defeated Elon Musk and Donald… Read more »
U.S. Representatives Teresa Leger Fernández (D-N.M.), Melanie Stansbury (D-N.M.), and Gabe Vasquez (D-N.M.) and U.S. Senators Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Chair of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies, and Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) are welcoming over $35 million in federal funding from the U.S.… Read more »
Washington, D.C. – Yesterday, U.S. Representatives Teresa Leger Fernández (D-N.M.03), David G. Valadao (R-CA-22) and Chellie Pingree (D-ME-01) introduced the Support Water-Efficient Strategies and Technologies Act (WEST) Act (H.R. 5764) to support agriculture practices more commonly used in Western arid climates. This bipartisan bill would allow the USDA Secretary to increase cost shares to 85 percent for Environmental Quality Incentives Programs (EQIP) practices that support water-conserving and drought-resilient programs. It would also make perennial production systems eligible for supplemental payments within the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP). Further, it would strengthen the USDA soil health program by allowing the Secretary to conduct outreach on the program and offer payments for soil testing. Read more »
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Representative Teresa Leger Fernández (D-N.M.) and U.S. Senators Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) and Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) called on the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to publish final regulations for the Hermit’s Peak/Calf Canyon Fire Assistance Act. Read more »
WASHINGTON – Congresswoman Teresa Leger Fernández (D-NM-03) joined by Congresswomen Jen Kiggans (R-VA-02), Chellie Pingree (D-ME-01), and Jenniffer González-Colón (R-PR-At-Large) introduced the bipartisan Women in Agriculture Act. The Women in Agriculture Act would create a Women Farmers and Ranchers Liaison at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), establish a research priority for agriculture machinery and equipment designed to be used by women, and prioritize funding for childcare facilities in rural areas. The Women in Agriculture Act recognizes that women are essential to farmlands across the country and addresses the lack of equipment designed for women farmers and ranchers and the need for childcare in rural areas. Read more »
Congresswoman Teresa Leger Fernández issued the following statement after President Biden nominated Xochitl Torres Small to serve as Deputy Secretary of Agriculture at the U.S. Department of Agriculture:
“New Mexico knows rural – it’s our herencia y cultura – it’s also a major economic engine for many ranchers and farmers. Our hermana Xochitl… Read more »
