Heinrich secures win for NM service members, military installations, national labs

U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich welcomed the Senate passage of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2024 Wednesday.

The legislation includes investments in New Mexico’s service members, military installations, national labs and job-creating initiatives throughout the state. The legislation now heads to the U.S. House of Representatives for final passage, then to President Joe Biden’s desk to be signed into law.

“This bipartisan bill invests in our country’s service members and their families and the success of New Mexico’s national labs and military installations. I am especially pleased that the bill we passed makes major investments to provide our Armed Forces with the state-of-the-art equipment they need to stay ahead of our adversaries and advance our leadership in emerging technologies like artificial intelligence. These provisions will help grow New Mexico’s economy and cement our state’s leadership in national security for years to come,” Heinrich said. “I’m disappointed that the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act Amendment and the FEND Off Fentanyl Act were excluded from the final NDAA. These provisions are top priorities for our state, and I will continue to fight until they become law.”

The NDAA sets the Department of Defense spending levels and policies for the upcoming fiscal year and authorizes funding for the U.S. Department of Energy’s programs at Sandia and Los Alamos National Laboratories, as well as the Department of Energy’s environmental cleanup programs including the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant.

The Intelligence Authorization Act for FY 2024 was also included as part of the National Defense Authorization Act. As a member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, Heinrich worked to include this bill that equips U.S. intelligence agencies with the tools, resources and personnel they need to protect the American people, while also ensuring congressional oversight over those same agencies. In particular, Heinrich pushed for provisions in the bill that reform the security classification system and the security clearance process, as well as provisions to improve the intelligence community’s procurement, adoption, and integration of emerging technologies and use of artificial intelligence.