Congresswoman Teresa Leger Fernández represents New Mexico’s 3rd Congressional District. In Washington, she holds a leadership role with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus as Freshman Representative. Congresswoman Leger Fernández serves as chair of the Subcommittee for Indigenous Peoples of the United States for the 117th Congress. She has also been appointed to the House Committee on Education and Labor, the House Committee on Natural Resources, and the Committee on House Administration and Subcommittee & Elections.
As a former acequia commissioner in New Mexico I took on a large developer to protect our water systems because I know that when water flows we all thrive. Agua es vida. Water is life.
As a member of the House Committee on Natural Resources I work tirelessly to ensure the spaces we share are taken care of so that generations after us can keep breathing clean air and drinking clean water. That’s why I introduced the Orphaned Wells Cleanup and Jobs Act of 2021 to clean up over 56,000 known “orphaned” oil and gas wells across the country currently leaking methane, contaminating groundwater, and creating a safety risk for communities. The infrastructure funding in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law incorporated aspects of my bill and made $560 million available in funding to clean up orphaned wells and create jobs for New Mexico and other states.
We also secured $190 million for the Navajo Gallup Water Supply Project to bring water to Navajo Nation, the Jicarilla Apache Nation, Gallup, and nearby communities. For Eastern New Mexico we secured $177.4 million for the Eastern New Mexico Water Supply Project to bring clean water across the region.