Martin Heinrich

10/09/2025 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 10/10/2025 11:01

Heinrich Secures Wins for N.M. Military Installations, National Labs in Senate-Passed FY2026 National Defense Bill

WASHINGTON - Today, U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) welcomed Senate passage of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2026 (FY26). The legislation includes major wins that Heinrich secured, including investments in New Mexico's service members, military installations, national labs, and job-creating initiatives throughout the state. Now that the Senate has passed the bill, it will be conferenced with the U.S. House of Representatives.

"This bipartisan defense bill includes important provisions to support our service members, invest in New Mexico's military installations, strengthen our national labs, and accelerate critical environmental clean-up work in New Mexico," said Heinrich. "I'm proud that this legislation also further cements New Mexico's leadership on emerging defense and space capabilities, and includes my International Nuclear Energy Act and important cybersecurity provisions that grew out of our work in the Bipartisan Senate AI Working Group. This bill will help make our country and the world safer."

The NDAA sets the Department of Defense (DOD) 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 (WIPP).

Senator Heinrich has long championed provisions that benefit New Mexico's service members, national laboratories, and defense missions. Senator Heinrich served as a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee from 2013 to 2020 and as Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Subcommittee from 2021 to 2022. He is also a member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and a member of the Senate Appropriations Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Subcommittee.

During his time in Congress, Heinrich has doubled the total budgets for Sandia and Los Alamos, significantly increasing the total employees and local economic impact of both labs.

Heinrich has also delivered a total of more than $1.5 billion for military construction projects at defense installations in New Mexico over the course of his career in Congress.

Below is a list of many of the programs and provisions that Senator Heinrich advocated for during the bill writing process that were included in the FY26 Senate NDAA, followed by several amendments that were considered as part of the FY26 Senate NDAA's consideration on the Senate Floor.

Senate Defense Authorization Bill Highlights

Military Construction

Senator Heinrich championed a historic number of investments in our military installations in New Mexico, including:

  • $90 million for a new 192-bed dormitory at Cannon Air Force Base.
  • $79 million for a Deployment Processing Center at Cannon Air Force Base.
  • $83 million for a Space Rapid Capabilities Office Headquarters at Kirtland Air Force Base.
  • $91 million for a dormitory for the 58th Special Operations Wing on Kirtland Air Force Base.
  • $26 million for an Explosive Operations Building on Kirtland Air Force Base.
  • $6.2 million in design funds for a Joint Navigation Warfare Center Headquarters on Kirtland Air Force Base.
  • $33 million for a Combat Rescue Helicopter Simulator on Kirtland Air Force Base.
  • $38.5 million for a Power Generation and Microgrid project on White Sands Missile Range.
  • $4.25 million in design funds for a Soldier Performance Readiness Center for the New Mexico Army National Guard at the Sante Fe Training Center.

Artificial Intelligence and Emerging Technologies

Senator Heinrich helped secure provisions that ensure the Department of Defense only uses commercial AI services from companies with a reliable cybersecurity posture. AI companies that do not take appropriate steps to defend themselves in cyberspace may become the victims of supply chain attacks that compromise the trustworthiness of their products.

Heinrich also helped secure a provision directing the Department of Defense to develop a plan for ensuring that official videos come with technical information that proves they are genuinely created by the government. This will help combat disinformation by foreign actors who attempt to create deepfakes of senior military leaders, as they will not be able to prove that their videos are authentic Department of Defense content.

Nuclear Energy

Senator Heinrich's legislation, the International Nuclear Energy Act, which he led along with Senators Risch, Coons, and Lee, was included in the FY26 NDAA. This bill will provide new tools to the federal government to coordinate on nuclear energy policy with allied nations so that American energy companies can thrive on the world market.

Pay Raise for Junior Enlisted Service Members

The FY26 NDAA authorizes a 3.8 percent pay raise for service members. This builds off of a 14.5 percent pay raise for the most junior-ranking enlisted service members, and a 4.5 percent pay raise for the rest of the force in the FY25 NDAA.

Sandia and Los Alamos National Laboratories

The FY26 NDAA authorizes $1.7 billion for LANL's ongoing research and development programs. The funding supports personnel, equipment, and other activities at LANL.

Within the FY26 NDAA's overall $26.9 billion for the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), Sandia National Laboratories will receive funding to support and sustain system integration, engineering, and science programs. Sandia is also receiving $40 million for their Microsystems, Engineering, Science and Applications (MESA) Photolithography Capability and $52.2 million for Combined Radiation Environments for Survivability Testing.

Additional Heinrich-led provisions:

  • Directing the Secretary of Energy to brief Congress on recommended actions to be taken to accelerate cleanup milestones with the State of New Mexico at Los Alamos National Laboratory, including chromium plume control interim measures to control migration of a hexavalent chromium plume and progress on the groundwater remedies for the Royal Demolition Explosive (RDX) plume in Cañon de Valle.
  • Directing the Administrator for Nuclear Security and Directors of Los Alamos and Sandia National Laboratories, along with leaders from other national labs, to evaluate site strategies that can aid the NNSA in making greater use of satellite facilities in areas neighboring existing laboratory and site installations.
  • Directing the Comptroller General of the United States to assess: (1) What Unexploded Ordnance remediation efforts the NNSA has completed in the vicinity of Sandia National Laboratories; and (2) The extent to which additional efforts are needed to ensure that all affected nearby communities have been cleared of legacy unexploded ordnance.

In addition, a Heinrich-supported provision authorizes over $300 million for environmental cleanup efforts at Sandia and Los Alamos National Laboratories.

Rendija Canyon Land Study

Heinrich successfully led a provision to direct Administrator for Nuclear Security to conduct a study of portions of Tract A-14 (Rendija Canyon) of Los Alamos National Laboratory that may be suitable for conveyance.

Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP)

The FY26 NDAA authorizes over $415 million to operate WIPP including $2 million to construct a hoisting capability project to improve facility capacity and effectiveness.

Space Force Modeling, Simulation & Analysis Hub

The FY26 NDAA authorizes $8 million for the ongoing establishment and deployment of a U.S. Space Force modeling and simulation hub at the Air Force Research Lab on Kirtland Air Force Base.

Readiness and Environmental Protection Integration Program

The FY26 NDAA authorizes over $178 million for the Department of Defense's Readiness and Environmental Protection Integration (REPI) Program. Cannon Air Force Base, Melrose Air Force Range, and White Sands Missile Range utilize the REPI to prevent encroachment and preserve their testing and training missions. The program as a whole is critical to assisting military installations and ranges as they are increasingly impacted by extreme weather, flooding, wildfires, drought, and other threats to resilience.

Advanced Simulation and Computing for Nuclear Stockpile Stewardship

The FY25 NDAA authorizes $866 million in funding for the NNSA's advanced simulation and computing efforts in the Stockpile Stewardship Program. This program ensures continued reliability of the stockpile and allows realistic simulations on supercomputers to understand how they would behave, without requiring explosive testing.

Intelligence Authorization Act

The FY26 NDAA includes the Intelligence Authorization Act for FY26, legislation 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.

Senate Defense Authorization Bill Amendments

As a part of Senate consideration of the FY26 Senate NDAA, the Senate voted on a number of amendments. These included the following:

  • An amendment to limit the provision of support by the U.S. military to civilian law enforcement activities, which Senator Heinrich voted in support of, but was ultimately rejected by a roll call vote of 46-52.
  • An amendment to limit the use of Federal law enforcement officers for crowd control, and for other purposes, which Senator Heinrich supported, but was ultimately rejected by a roll call vote of 47-50.
  • An amendment to clarify limitations on full-time National Guard duty performed in a State, Territory, or the District of Columbia, which Senator Heinrich supported, but was ultimately rejected by a roll call vote of 47-50.
  • An amendment to repeal the authorizations for use of military force against Iraq, which Senator Heinrich supported and was agreed to by voice vote.
  • An amendment to require Presidential appointment and Senate confirmation of the Inspector General of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection, which Senator Heinrich opposed and was rejected by a roll call vote of 53-43.
  • An amendment to prohibit the use of funds to procure or modify foreign aircraft for presidential airlift, which Senator Heinrich supported, but was rejected by a roll call vote of 46-50.
  • An amendment to improve the availability of care for veterans from facilities and providers of the Department of Defense, which Senator Heinrich supported and was agreed to by voice vote.

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Martin Heinrich published this content on October 09, 2025, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed via Public Technologies (PUBT), unedited and unaltered, on October 10, 2025 at 17:01 UTC. If you believe the information included in the content is inaccurate or outdated and requires editing or removal, please contact us at [email protected]