Our Remarkable State New Mexico, as seen by former U. S. Congressman and United Nations Ambassador Bill Richardson

From "New Mexico's Best"

By Richard Mahler

Bill Richardson was born to U.S.-Mexican parents and grew up in Mexico City. After moving to New Mexico in the late 1970s, he was elected to Congress, where he served seven terms. During that time he built an international reputation as a peacemaker-defusing volatile situations in North Korea, Burma, Haiti, Bosnia, Cuba and Iraq, as well as New Mexico-and was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. During the Clinton presidency he served as House minority whip, United Nations ambassador and Department of Energy secretary. Here's his perspective on his adopted state:

"New Mexico, while home to extraordinary museums, art galleries and restaurants, is more a state of mind, illuminated by contrasts so poignant they capture the interests of all who visit our remarkable state and encounter its warm and friendly people.

"New Mexico is world-renowned for advancements in science and technology, but intermingling threads of yesteryear weave an alluring pattern of past and present, old and new. Remnants of historic Route 66 border bustling freeways; ghost towns and frontier forts scatter about computer-chip companies and Air Force bases; ranches and dairies surround nuclear-research laboratories.

"Few states can claim such multifaceted landscapes as can New Mexico. Both metropolitan areas and rural communities alike lie amid rugged mesas and canyons, rocky deserts, snowcapped mountains and rolling plains.

"These magnificent contrasts represent the best of New Mexico to me."

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