This week, I find myself frustrated.
I wanted to write about hope — about how the tide may finally be turning in Ukraine, about how the United States and its allies are once again asserting the power of freedom over tyranny. But as I write this, thousands of families here in Cibola County are staring down the first of the month, and many will not receive their paychecks, or even the food assistance they rely on to feed their children.
The past week has been one of the most consequential moments of the entire war in Ukraine.
Russia conducted largescale nuclear readiness drills — firing intercontinental missiles, staging bomber flights over the Baltic, and flexing its might as Sweden and other nations accelerate their support for Kyiv. Sweden, long known for neutrality, is now preparing to send its Gripen fighter jets to Ukraine. Ukrainian pilots have already trained to fly them, and President Zelensky says he hopes to field one hundred of them next year. The Gripen may not be an F-35, but it’s tough, agile, and made for Europe’s skies — a symbol of how the continent has united around Ukraine’s defense.
Meanwhile, President Trump delayed his second peace summit with Vladimir Putin, saying he “does not want a wasted meeting.” A careful choice of words. Putin still demands Ukraine cede its southeastern territory. Trump has said both sides should stop at the current front lines, but Russia has rejected that. I believe any end to the conflict which forces Ukraine to cede even an inch is not victory.
The irony is that as Trump pushes to end the war, his administration has also imposed the largest sanctions package yet against Moscow.
The U.S. Treasury has officially designated Rosneft and Lukoil — Russia’s two largest oil companies — along with dozens of their subsidiaries. The goal: to choke off the Kremlin’s war chest. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent called on America’s allies to follow suit, saying plainly, “Now is the time to stop the killing and for an immediate ceasefire.”
These sanctions will squeeze Russia’s economy and limit Russian oil access to other nations, the world must turn elsewhere — and that “elsewhere” includes New Mexico.
Our state is rich in energy. From the Permian Basin to Cibola’s uranium belt, New Mexico has the potential to help power not only our nation but the Free World. Our Land Commissioner, Stephanie Garcia Richard, has done an admirable job ensuring that our oil and gas sales benefit our people and schools.
With responsible leadership, New Mexico can thrive in this new global order.
But leadership is what’s missing in Washington right now.
The federal government shutdown has entered its 28th day, and the consequences are beginning.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has warned that SNAP benefits — the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program — will not be issued on November 1 unless Congress acts. In Cibola County, that’s 7,933 people who depend on this program to buy food. Fortyone percent of our children live below the poverty line. These are not numbers; they are neighbors, students, single parents, and seniors who will be forced to make impossible choices when the fridge is empty and the lights are about to go off.
The State of New Mexico is scrambling to help.
Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham has promised to expedite $8 million in emergency funds for food banks.
This is the part that breaks my heart. Because I believe deeply in the power of America — in the promise that our government can work for the people. I believe in energy independence, in victory for Ukraine, in the light of liberty. But I also believe in fairness. And right now, it feels like Cibola is being forgotten.
Parents are rationing food while Congress argues about politics. It’s disgraceful.
We cannot be a country that funds wars but fails its children. We cannot be a county that celebrates opportunity while our neighbors go hungry.
The federal government must reopen — not next week, not next month, but now.
Because this is not a partisan issue. It’s about principle. It’s about survival. It’s about whether America still takes care of its own.
As winter approaches, the first freeze warning is coming for Cibola County. Thanksgiving is around the corner.
I know the Grants– Milan Rotary Club will keep filling backpacks with food for children — God bless them — but their work should be a complement to government, not a replacement for it. I know the Grants Community Pantry is striving to create more food accessibility in Cibola, but they need help, too.
We are living through a moment of historic contradiction: global strength, local fragility. The same nation that commands bombers across continents cannot seem to feed the same people whose taxes paid for those bombers and pays for the fuel.
The world is at war, and here at home so are our people — at war with poverty and fighting every day just to get by. Congress must act before this fight becomes one we cannot win.
Because freedom is not just defended on foreign soil. It is defended at home — in the dignity of every American family who deserves to live, work, and eat in peace, justice, and Liberty.