New Mexico's U.S lawmakers spend time in the state

Sen. Tom Udall

  New Mexico’s U.S lawmakers have been spending time in their home state the last couple weeks. 

This week Senator Tom Udall is scheduled to visit Santa Rosa, Fort Sumner, Española, Silver City, Las Cruces and Santa Teresa to discuss economic development, education, helmet safety and border trade issues.

On Monday, Udall was in Santa Rosa to tour the Ilfeld Warehouse, the site of the future Route 66 Museum in New Mexico, and get an update from City Councilors and Guadalupe County Commissioners on ongoing economic development efforts. Today, Udall will meet with DBA Consulting, a Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) that provides independent testing and assessment for new technologies and equipment for federal agencies like the Department of Defense and the State Department.

Then, on Tuesday, Udall will meet with Fort Sumner and De Baca County elected officials and State Rep. George Dodge, Jr. to discuss agriculture, energy and economic development issues.

On Thursday, Udall will give the keynote address at the 4th Natural History of the Gila Symposium in Silver City. From there, he will travel to Oñate High School in Las Cruces to meet with student athletes, coaches and trainers on concussions and sports safety. In 2011, Udall introduced the Children’s Sports Athletic Equipment Safety Act aimed at protecting youth athletes from the dangers of sports-related traumatic brain injuries.

On Friday, Udall will be in Santa Teresa to attend a briefing on border trade issues with local economic development groups. Then, he will tour Southwest Steel Coil and the Union Pacific Rail Facility. 

Rep. Steve Pearce

Meanwhile Congressman Steve Pearce hosted his eighth job fair of this Congressional term, in Hobbs on Thursday. The job fair wrapped up a series of events which fulfilled the Congressman’s commitment to putting New Mexicans back to work.

“We continue to focus on what is most important to get our economy going again, and that is connecting workers with job opportunities,” Mr. Pearce said. “I don’t know a more important role for Congress that I could do than get New Mexicans working again.”

More than 300 employers participated in the job fairs, which were held in Las Cruces, Roswell, Silver City, Alamogordo, Los Lunas and Hobbs. Approximately 2, 750 people attended the job fair series.

At last week’s job fair in Hobbs, Richard Johnson, Operations Manager of R360 Environmental Solutions of Hobbs, had 15 truck driving positions he was attempting to fill. “Each one of those positions have a potential salary of over $80,000,” Johnson said. “The economy is very strong in southeastern New Mexico and we need workers. We appreciate the opportunity to come and speak to job seekers.”

The Alamogordo job fair featured jobs for veterans with over 3,000 jobs available that day. “Employers should be looking at hiring veterans that are coming home right now. They are trained and ready to go to work, and the government offers incentives for hiring veterans that would be beneficial to companies,” added Pearce. 

Vanessa Dabovich

New Mexico's U.S lawmakers spend time in the state