Jeff Bingaman United States Senator from New Mexico

SILVER CITY - U.S. Senator Jeff Bingaman today attended a ribbon cutting ceremony for the Grant County Community Child Care Center in Silver City.

Bingaman secured $162,117 in a fiscal year 2008 spending bill to furnish and equip the facility and playground.  The center was built and is owned by Grant County and will be leased to a licensed private, child care provider to deliver services to low and moderate income families. It will provide year-round, extended day services for up to 75 children, ages 6 weeks to 5 years.

"I'm pleased to be here today to celebrate the opening of this new center.  Many New Mexico families depend on child care services, which can be costly.  This new center will meet the needs of the local community," Bingaman said.

Bingaman also visit Silver High School and tour its recently completed energy efficiency retrofits. The school district received $357,500 from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) to install roof insulation, solar hot water, and an energy management system.

"I'm excited to see firsthand the energy efficiency improvements and upgrades at Silver High School.  This new technology is an investment in the school and will provide them reduce energy cost," Bingaman said.

While in Silver City, Bingaman also honored Susan Berry for her decades of service at the Silver City Museum.  The following is Bingaman's statement from the Congressional Record:

"My hometown of Silver City, NM, is in the southwestern corner of our State. It is the county seat, and the largest town for about a hundred miles around. Right on the edge of the Gila Wilderness, it has been called by others, not by just me, ``One of the 100 Best Small Towns in America.''

"One of the reasons it is so outstanding is because of the tireless, thoughtful work of Susan Berry. For 36 years, she has been involved in historic preservation work in and around our town, and throughout the State of New Mexico. An early force of the MainStreet Project in Silver City and a longtime member of the Design Review Committee, she has done so much so well, that the New Mexico Historic Preservation Division recently gave her its Lifetime Achievement Award which she earned during a career of preserving the past for the future.

"On Saturday of this week, she will retire after decades of service as director of the Silver City Museum. Her accomplishments in that capacity are too numerous to list, but as a result of her vision and skill, that museum has been accredited by the American Association of Museums, one of only thirteen in New Mexico to be so designated.

"She has helped make Silver City a significant destination for travelers to the Southwest, and added to the list of reasons that 10,000 people like to call it "home". We are so fortunate that she chose to make the town the focus of her considerable ability and vision for so many years.