Jeff Bingaman United States Senator from New Mexico

WASHINGTON – President Obama has signed into law a measure that honors the late Stewart Udall for his outstanding public service. The proposal was sponsored in the Senate by U.S. Senator Jeff Bingaman and in the House of Representatives by Representatives Martin Heinrich, Harry Teague and Ben Ray Luján.

The bill names the U.S. Department of Interior building in Washington, D.C. the “Stewart Lee Udall Department of the Interior Building.”

Stewart Udall, the father of U.S. Senator Tom Udall, was the Interior Secretary from 1961 to 1969, serving in the cabinets of Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson. Stewart Udall died earlier this year.

“Secretary Udall was an exceptional public servant who had a tremendous impact on our nation’s public lands and environmental laws. I am glad that his name will appear on the Department of Interior building, and that he will be long remembered for his many contributions to our country,” said Bingaman, who chairs the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

“I’m pleased to announce that this bill to honor Secretary Udall’s legacy is now law,” said Heinrich. “Thanks to Secretary Udall’s work, our national parks and public lands belong to every American and will remain a treasured part of our nation’s spirit for generations to come. Naming the Department of Interior building in Secretary Udall’s honor is a small, but significant way to acknowledge his immeasurable contribution to the betterment of our nation.”

“I’m pleased that the President signed this legislation into law; now Secretary Udall’s legacy of public service will live on at the Department of Interior. Udall was a great champion of the environment, and he will always be remembered for the work he did to defend our national parks and protected lands,” Teague said.

“Secretary Stewart Udall’s legacy--advocating for our treasured lands, for our much-needed resources, and for those who often lacked a voice--lives on through his accomplishments and through all who are better for his efforts. The signing of legislation to name the U.S. Department of Interior Building after Secretary Udall honors a great person and a lifetime of great work,” Luján said.

“On behalf of the entire family, I’d like to extend our deepest gratitude to my fellow members of the New Mexico Delegation for honoring my father’s life and work with this incredible designation,” said Senator Tom Udall. “I’d also like to thank his many admirers in Congress, Interior Secretary Salazar and President Obama for their support. It would certainly make my dad proud to know that the building within which many of his greatest memories and accomplishments in life took shape, now bears his name.”