Rep. Stansbury Joins President Biden at CNM to Highlight Efforts to Lower Costs for New Mexico Families

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Today, U.S. Representative Melanie Stansbury (N.M.-01) joined Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham (N.M.) to welcome President Joe Biden to New Mexico. During an event at the Central New Mexico Community College (CNM), Rep. Stansbury highlighted President Biden’s efforts to relieve up to $20,000 in student debt relief to New Mexicans and addressed the importance of Governor Lujan Grisham's work to create a more affordable higher education system for every New Mexican. 

A graduate of CNM, Rep. Stansbury received technical certifications in wastewater management, fire science, and solar installation. During the event, Rep. Stansbury addressed an audience of educators, school administrators, and state legislators as she highlighted efforts to bring student debt relief to over 200,000 New Mexicans alongside Governor Lujan Grisham, Senator Ben Ray Luján (N.M.), Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández (N.M.-03), and CNM President Tracy Hartzler.   

“The pursuit of the American Dream through higher education shouldn’t come with a lifetime of debt. Today, I am proud to stand alongside President Biden and Governor Lujan Grisham to highlight our efforts to lower costs and bring up to $20,000 of student debt relief to New Mexicans,” said Rep. Stansbury.  “Nearly 216,000 borrowers in New Mexico will benefit from President Biden’s decisive action to bring relief to our working families. I’m proud that New Mexico is leading the way for the nation by creating a future where every student can succeed.”  

In Congress, Rep. Stansbury led the introduction of the College Completion Fund Act with Rep. Joe Neguse (Colo.-02) and Rep. André Carson (Ind.-07). The legislation is designed to promote college completion and address longstanding inequities in college access and success by funding comprehensive programs to support students in their educational needs.  

Rep. Stansbury is also a cosponsor of the College for All Act, which would eliminate public university tuition and required fees for eligible students, revise the Pell Grant Program, and reauthorize certain programs to assist students from disadvantaged backgrounds.  

Rep. Stansbury’s remarks as delivered can be found below. 

It's wonderful to be here with you this morning. I am Congresswoman Melanie Stansbury, and I am so proud to represent New Mexico's First Congressional District. And you all are right here in the heart of our Congressional District. And we are so proud, honored and excited to welcome our incredible President today to New Mexico.  

I also just wanted to share on a personal note, as an alum of our Central New Mexico Community College, I'm so excited to be here with so many of our faculty, the leadership, the President, and also I see a lot of our friends in the audience from labor. I am a proud graduate of a number of our trades programs, and went to CNM back when it was called the Albuquerque Technical Vocational Institute and took trades classes.  

And in fact, in this very building, I got my wastewater, OSHA, and hazardous waste certifications here at TVI. I took welding and fire science, and I even took a solar engineering and electronics class. And I don't want to brag, but I do wire a mean circuit! 

So I am well prepared for the economy of the future, and that's exactly what CNM does, is prepare our students and our tradespeople for our economic opportunities. Not only for their families, but also to help spur innovation and economic development for our state. And I couldn't be prouder than to be here today to celebrate the incredible accomplishments not only of our President, but also of our Governor, and our Legislature, and our Congress in helping to support trades education and college.  

In fact, our state, the state of New Mexico is the very first state in the United States to guarantee a free college and trades education for every single New Mexican! That would not have happened without our Governor, Michelle Lujan Grisham, and her incredible vision for our state, and the work that our President is doing tirelessly since he took office to address student debt. 

In fact, thousands of New Mexicans, over 200,000 New Mexicans are going to receive debt relief and the vast majority of those individuals are working New Mexicans who work every single day. That is putting money back into the pockets of our families and all of our folks who have gone out there and gotten an education and who are working hard to contribute to our community.  

I want to say: this is a big deal. Millions of Americans, hundreds of thousands of New Mexicans, are going to see debt relief. Every single New Mexican who wants to pursue a trades education or a higher education degree now has the opportunity to do this. 

We are about to make a historic investment in early childhood education this year, and I am proud to be a sponsor of the bill in Congress to help provide congressional authority. New Mexico is leading. We are at the forefront. We are caring for our families.  

Our Governor, our President, our legislature, our congressional delegation, are fighting for New Mexico families to ensure that every single New Mexican gets an education, has the opportunity to pursue their dreams, has the opportunity to thrive, and has the opportunity to pay it forward and invest in our economy.  

In addition to that, we have passed game-changing legislation to invest in our communities, passing one of the largest bipartisan infrastructure bills ever in American history. It's going to rebuild our roads and our water infrastructure and provide opportunities to build broadband all across the state so our communities can connect.  

We passed the CHIPS Act, which is investing in our innovation and our STEM economy. And, it included my very first bill that I filed when I got to Congress, that is a bill that Senator Luján has been championing for years to create partnerships between our national labs, our community colleges, our Tribal colleges, and HBCUs to harness the brilliance, creativity, and innovation inside our communities to tackle our biggest challenges, climate change, and clean energy. That is what leadership looks like. That is how we are delivering for our people, for our families and for our communities.  

So I could not be prouder than to have our President, our Governor, our Delegation, and local leaders here with us today to celebrate all of the things that we are doing to serve our communities, because it will transform our communities and the opportunity of every child and every student in New Mexico.  

So it is my great honor now to introduce my amazing colleague, and the person who helped to bring much of this important legislation to the United States Senate. Senator Ben Ray Luján.