REMARKS: Heinrich Introduces the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act with Capito, Lee, and Whitehouse Heinrich Introduces the Bipartisan American Affordability and[...]

WASHINGTON - Today, U.S. Senators Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, Mike Lee (R-Utah), Chairman of the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Chairman of the U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, introduced the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act of 2026 to reform the federal environmental review and permitting process. This groundbreaking agreement will deliver cheaper energy, more jobs, and responsible growth across the United States.

U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Ranking Member of the U.S. Energy and Natural Resources Committee, speaks at a press conference announcing the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act, September 30, 2026.

"Today I wore a pin that was my dad's 60-year IBEW pin, and it represents 60 years of him working for a local utility company to keep the lights on. Today in my home state of New Mexico there is a switchyard named after my dad, Pete Heinrich, and that switchyard is connected to the SunZia transmission line," said Heinrich. "That transmission line, which is 550 miles long and carries the electrons from three and a half gigawatts of clean wind generation, took 17 years to permit and build. That's why I'm here today, because we need to be able to build big things in this country again."

The Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act provides certainty that permitted energy and infrastructure projects will retain their permits absent extraordinary circumstances, violations of law, or court order, as well as targeted reforms for various energy projects. This legislation reflects input from members of Congress on both sides of the aisle and from a diverse group of stakeholders. The Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act also forces data centers to pay their fair share by requiring them to pay for all of their associated transmission costs.

The bill text is available here.

Watch the full video of Heinrich's remarks here.

A transcript of Heinrich's remarks as delivered is below:

Thank you.

I want to start, too, just by thanking my colleagues.

This was a pretty remarkable effort, and everyone really did work in good faith to achieve this result.

I wore a pin today.

It's not my Senate pin.

It's a pin that I like to wear, that was my dad's 60-year IBEW pin, and it represents 60 years of him working for a local utility company to keep the lights on.

Today in my home state of New Mexico there is a switchyard named after my dad, Pete Heinrich, and that switchyard is connected to the SunZia transmission line.

That transmission line, which is 550 miles long and carries the electrons from three and a half gigawatts of clean wind generation, took 17 years to permit and build.

That's why I'm here today, because I was part of that process that should have taken probably five years to figure out how to get to yes or how to get to no a whole lot faster than that.

We need to be able to build big things in this country again, and if we don't, experts like the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas have estimated that we will see 20 to 30 percent increases in the cost of electricity in the near term.

Not a decade from now, but a couple of years from now.

And so, with the incredible demand that is on our grid right now, we came together to find ways to do the things that we've done historically, but do the processes in parallel. Don't do them one after the other after the other, and keep the process open for years and years at a time.

This process will mean that we develop responsibly.

It'll mean more jobs.

It'll mean cheaper energy.

It'll mean that we actually require big load centers, whether that's a factory or a data center, to not pass those costs on to the American consumer: By statute, not a suggestion, but an actual law.

This is an opportunity for us to unleash American innovation and our incredible skilled labor force to build big things again.

And I have to say, I wasn't sure at the beginning if we could all get there, and it's because this group of people and the amazing staffs of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee and the Environment and Public Works Committee kept at it in good faith - through thick and thin - that we have arrived at this product.

I want to thank everyone who contributed to that.

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