Protecting New Mexico

Keeping Our Families Safe at Home
As Attorney General, I worked to protect New Mexico’s families from drunk drivers, domestic abusers, stalkers and those who committed consumer fraud. I worked to put tougher legislation on the books so that criminals found guilty would be punished.

Toughen DWI Laws
As Attorney General, I went after drunk drivers. I worked to impose stronger penalties for repeat drunk driver offenders, a lower legal limit for intoxication, and shut down drive-through liquor windows. I want to do the same thing in the Senate by providing incentives to states to crack down on drunk drivers. We made progress in New Mexico on drunk driving, but we have a long way to go.

Strengthen Anti-Domestic Violence Programs
As Attorney General, I fought hard to strengthen New Mexico’s laws to protect women from domestic violence. I pushed for laws that would make a second domestic violence offense a felony – rather than a misdemeanor – so abusers would serve more jail time. I fought to impose tougher penalties for stalkers, making their second conviction a fourth-degree felony. We also set up a system of on-call domestic violence commissioners so that restraining orders against abusers could be issued after hours and on weekends. In the Senate, I will push for similar common sense approaches to domestic violence.

Gun Crimes Prosecution
Even though I disagree with him on just about everything else, I was pleased when George Bush essentially implemented my proposal to add a federal prosecutor in every U.S. Attorney’s office to concentrate on prosecuting crimes committed with guns. I brought that approach with me from my experience as New Mexico’s Attorney General. Aggressively prosecuting criminals using guns during a crime pays big dividends.

Restore COPS Funding
I have successfully fought the President each and every time he has proposed to dismantle the Justice Department’s Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS). The Bush administration slashed hundreds of millions of dollars in funding for the COPS program, despite the program’s success in assisting local communities’ ability to put additional police officers on the streets. As Attorney General, I learned that there is no substitute for good police work when it comes to fighting crime. That is why we need to restore COPS funding. Prior to the Bush Administration’s attempts to dismantle this highly successful program, COPS had managed to pay for more than 750 police officers, and training and communications equipment for New Mexico’s towns and cities. Rather than fighting attempts to dismantle COPS, we should be working to enhance the effectiveness of the program. In the Senate I will work to do just that.

Investing in Homeland Security
Many state and local governments are struggling with budget problems driven by George Bush’s recessionary economy. Now is the time for the federal government to step up to the plate on funding Homeland Security measures. This includes: improved communications devices for first responders, improved communication protocols between first responder agencies (state, federal and local should all be able to communicate), improved training for local government employees who will be required to provide vital services during a crisis, and increased security for our ports and borders.

Secure Our Border
Our Border Patrol has been asked to do much to protect our nation, but has been given too little in resources and support. If we are going to get serious about securing our borders, we must give the Border Patrol the equipment and training they need. I support efforts to increase the resources available to secure our borders. Our Customs and Border Patrol personnel need state-of-the-art electronic equipment and monitoring devices to help improve efforts to catch illegal immigrants and those who profit by smuggling immigrants into New Mexico.

Cracking Down on Sexual Predators
I want to do the same thing in the Senate to help protect families from sexual predators. We can do this by providing prosecutors with more tools to catch sexual predators who use the internet to prey on children. We should require convicted sex felons to serve their full sentences and make sure they cannot enter schools, parks and other places where they might pose a threat to young children.