Luján stood staunchly against the bill in his proposal.“You have heard my colleagues on the other side of the aisle that their bill offers protection for the sacred, traditional, and cultural sites in the proposed area to be exchanged, but I don’t believe that to be true,” he said. “If it were true, then why is every major tribal organization in the country opposing this bill?”

Luján cited the National Congress of American Indians, the All-Indian Pueblo Council of New Mexico, the San Carlos Apache Tribe (whose 2,400 acres of land on the Tonto National Forest is most affected by the Act), and the Jicarilla and Mescalero Apache tribes of New Mexico, among many other U.S. tribes as having spoken out against the land swap. “We have a Trust responsibility to our tribal brothers and sisters, and those who oppose this responsibility will dismantle it piece by piece with a scalpel and not all at once with an axe,” he said.

Among those who voted against Luján’s proposed amendment were fellow New Mexico Representative Steve Pearce, who, according to MapLight, a website that tracks the voting records and campaign contributions of U.S. Congressmen, received $9,600 from mining interests. Similarly, Representatives Jeff Flake and Ben Quayle of Arizona also voted down the amendment, and received, respectively, $5,000 and $2,500 each from the mining industry.

Rep. Luján sent the New Mexico Independent this statement:

“It was unfortunate that my amendment to protect Native American sacred and cultural sites was not adopted.  Adoption of this simple amendment would have shown respect for the religious and cultural sites that are important to the many tribes in the region, in addition to recognizing that we have a responsibility to work with our tribal brothers and sisters on issues that impact their communities.  Opponents of my amendment will say that tribal consultation is part of the exchange, but frankly what is outlined in the bill is not sufficient to ensure protection of sacred sites.”

The Uranium Resources Stewardship Act introduced by U.S. Reps. Martin Heinrich and Ben Ray Luján would shift the regulation of uranium mining from the 1872 Mining Law to the Mineral Leasing Act and require royalty payments to federal and state governments similar to those paid by the coal, oil and gas industries.

Last year, Udall introduced SB 796, which would have studied “whether uranium should fall under the Mineral Leasing Act system and be subject to a federal royalty that is shared with the state.” But Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., has consistently blocked any significant reform of the 1872 Mining Law, which was passed by the Grant administration to encourage settlement of the West by miners in the late 19th century.

“It’s time to seriously consider whether uranium should still be classified as a ‘locatable mineral’ governed by the hard-rock mining laws,” Udall told the Colorado Independent last year. Critics of the U.S. uranium mining industry say it is dominated by foreign companies taking advantage of a lack of royalties on federal lands, and that too often toxic waste has been left for American taxpayers to clean up.

Udall is a proponent of reviving the U.S. nuclear power industry to combat climate change by reducing the amount of fossil fuels being consumed to produce electricity. But members of the Colorado conservation community say the state has for too long been on the hook for the “dirty front end” of the uranium mining industry.

“Taxpayers have been fleeced out of millions of dollars in royalties from uranium companies mining on public lands,” Earthworks Policy Director Lauren Pagel said in a release. “The Uranium Resources Stewardship Act charges a moderate 12.5-percent royalty on uranium, which will allow the industry to contribute to cleaning up old uranium mine sites that continue to pollute water and harm nearby communities.”

Uranium prices have dropped in recent weeks due to the ongoing nuclear crisis in Japan, but they’re still up dramatically over the last decade, and Udall says the United States must continue to pursue new nuclear power facilities. He’s introduced a bill this session that would facilitate the construction of smaller, “modular” nuclear reactors.

Luján, who represents New Mexico’s 3rd Congressional District, also said the proposed Republican budget “ends Medicare and Medicaid as we know it by privatizing Medicare. Millions of seniors who rely on this program will be left out in the cold.”

Check out the video of Luján’s remarks on the House floor below:

The Post’s Chris Cillizza cites an unnamed “source close to the decision,” adding that Bingaman has been pondering for months whether to run for a sixth term. After the November election, the New Mexico Independent reported that he said he was then “weighing retirment.” Bingaman has served in the Senate since 1983.

Cillizza writes that the likely decision is part of a Democratic strategy to get incumbents to declare their intentions about running early.

Reps. Martin Heinrich and Ben Ray Luján as well as former Lt. Gov. Diane Denish are sure to be mentioned as Democrats who could vie to replace Bingaman.

Update: Bingaman’s office confirms his retirement plans.

The 2008 election has transformed a big part of the mountain West into a Democratic redoubt. Not only did President-elect Barack Obama carry both Colorado and New Mexico, Democrats picked up two Senate seats and four congressional seats in the two states.

In New Mexico, the party hit a “grand slam” — winning all three of the state’s congressional districts and an open Senate seat, according to New Mexico Independent.

Rep. Tom Udall easily moved into [Republican Pete] Domenici’s Senate seat, defeating Rep. Steve Pearce of Hobbs. Similarly, Ben Ray Lujan had little problem sweeping a three-way race to replace Udall in the 3rd Congressional District.

The surprises of the night were Martin Heinrich blasting past popular Bernalillo County Sheriff Darren White in CD1 and Harry Teague topping Ed Tinsley in southern New Mexico’s CD2. Both Democrats had slim leads in the polls leading up to Election Day, but substantial numbers of undecided voters apparently swung their way.

In a stunning upset in Colorado, a longshot liberal businesswoman, Betsy Markey, ousted Marilyn Musgrave, an outspoken incumbent conservative best known for her opposition to gay marriage. Markey is the first Democrat in 36 years to win the vast 4th congressional district that stretches from the Great Plains to the Rocky Mountains. Opponents of legal abortion in the state suffered a setback when a proposed constitutional amendment to confer the legal status of personhood on the embryonic egg cells in pregnant woman was overwhelmingly rejected by voters.

Where conservative Republicans once prevailed, moderate liberals now hold sway.