{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://fernandez.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=663", "Leger Fern\u00e1ndez Calls for Pause on Data Center Development, Unveils \u201cNo Blank Checks for Data Centers\u201d Principles", "2026-09-24", "2026", "2026-09", "Democrat", "House", "NM", "Teresa Leger Fernandez", "L000273", "fernandez.house.gov", "fernandez", "https://fernandez.house.gov/media/press-releases", "scraper", "SANTA FE, NM \u2014 Today, Congresswoman Teresa Leger Fern\u00e1ndez (NM-03) unveiled her No Blank Checks for Data Centers Principles, a set of clear standards to protect New Mexico families, water, land, and local communities as companies seek to build massive data centers across the state. The Congresswoman called for a moratorium on new data center development in New Mexico until companies meet the principles she laid out.\n\n\u201cThe role of government is to protect us from greedy corporations,\u201d said Congresswoman Leger Fern\u00e1ndez. \"Data centers want our water, our land, and our power. Communities may want the jobs they could bring to New Mexico. But we will not give them a blank check. I will only support data centers that pay their own way, protect our precious water, create good-paying union jobs, use clean energy, and earn the support of the communities where they want to build. Data centers must work for New Mexico, not the other way around. Communities must know how much water and electricity these projects will use, who will pay for them, and what residents will receive in return. If a project cannot answer those questions, it should not move forward. Congress must act to regulate data centers with these principles in mind. We cannot let AI and data centers regulate themselves.\u201d\n\nThe Congresswoman\u2019s platform requires data centers to meet six principles:\n\nNo Blank Checks for Data Centers Principles\n\nDon\u2019t hike up electric bills. Data centers must pay for their own electricity and infrastructure without passing their costs on to New Mexico families.\n\nDon\u2019t negatively impact water resources in the area.\n\nUse energy sources that meet New Mexico\u2019s renewable energy and zero-carbon requirements.\n\nCreate good-paying union jobs.\n\nGet community approval and do consultation before permitting and building.\n\nNo taxpayer subsidies, projects must provide community benefits.\n\n\u201cOur water. Our land. Our power. Our say,\u201d said Leger Fern\u00e1ndez. \u201cThose are New Mexico\u2019s terms.\u201d\n\nLeger Fern\u00e1ndez also linked her data center standards to a broader call for federal oversight of artificial intelligence. In a post earlier this week, she said:\n\n\u201cTrump called AI concerns \u201ca HOAX.\u201d He said opponents of data centers \u201cwant to end up being backwards and poor.\u201d No, Mr. President, Americans want Congress and you to do your job protecting humanity, protecting our utility bills, and protecting us from out-of-control, corrupt greed.\n\nA principal role of government is to protect the American people. Safety must always be our first mandate. It is also the government\u2019s job to protect the American people from unmitigated greed. The billionaires that you are listening to now would prefer the government stay on the sidelines. But the U.S. government knows how to regulate corporate greed and how to address new technologies that could destroy our world.\n\nWhat we do now will matter. We cannot just let AI and data centers regulate themselves or depend on their goodwill to lower utility costs and limit the most destructive possibilities inherent in this rapidly evolving technology. We must let local communities have a say in what is built in their neighborhoods so they can protect their water, environment, and cost burdens.\n\nBut Congress must act. There must be a strong, enforceable national regulatory framework. We must have civil and criminal liability. We must protect the local and national financial interests of working families.\n\nIt is not a hoax, Mr. President. And we have a job to do.\u201d", 1, "2026-09-25T10:04:52Z", "2026-09-25T10:05:46Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://fernandez.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=663"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.6332278028130531, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}