In the News
Lapeer County Press: Sen. Peters responds to ag inspection shortage at U.S. borders
WASHINGTON - U.S. Sens. Gary Peters and Debbie Stabenow are among a bipartisan group introducing legislation to address the shortage of inspectors who protect our food supply and agricultural industries at the border by preventing the intentional or unintentional entry of harmful plants, food, animals and goods. Joining the two Michigan Democrats are Republican Sens. Pat Roberts from Kansas and John Cornyn from Texas. "Every day, millions of pounds of produce, meat and other agricultural goods… Continue Reading
07.30.19
WBKB 11 Alpena: Senators Gary Peters and Marsha Blackburn propose legislation to improve veterans’ caregiver program
by Lauren Mixon
WASHINGTON, DC - Senator Gary Peters and Tennessee senator Marsha Blackburn, are fighting to ensure veterans have adequate access to caregivers. The senators introduced plans to improve the Department of Veterans Affairs Caregiver program. The new legislation comes as a result of vets suddenly receiving discharge notices or downgraded benefits. Senator Peters says, "My legislation will force the VA to continue to provide resources for caregivers for 90 days and allow people to basically challe… Continue Reading
07.25.19
Holland Sentinel: Peters introduces bill to bolster VA caregiver efforts
by Arpan Lobo
WASHINGTON - U.S. Sen. Gary Peters, D-Michigan, introduced legislation in the Senate on Tuesday, July 23, that bolsters the Department of Veterans Affairs' caregiver program. The Transparency and Effective Accountability Measures for Veteran Caregivers Act would add new measures designed to improve the caregivers program. The program provides a monthly stipend for individuals to assist veterans who are wounded during service. The caretakers, often family members of the veterans, rely on the st… Continue Reading
07.10.19
Michigan Radio: U.S. Senator Peters: Deepfake videos dangerous to democracy
by Tracy Samilton
Michigan Senator Gary Peters has joined with other members of the Senate Artificial Intelligence Caucus (AI Caucus) to sponsor a bill going after deepfakes. Deepfakes are online videos created using sophisticated machine learning software. They manipulate real content to depict events and statements that did not actually occur. "They are a very dangerous item that can be weaponized to put out false information," says Peters. "But if you watch it, you would think, my gosh that must be accurat… Continue Reading
07.09.19
WLUC TV 6 Marquette Senator Gary Peters takes on Trump administration efforts to repeal Affordable Care Act
by Jerry Tudor
NEGAUNEE TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WLUC) - U.S. Senator Gary Peters weighed in on the Trump administration's efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act. A lawsuit filed by 20 Republican State Attorney Generals claims that changes eliminating the individual mandate of the ACA have made it unconstitutional. Tuesday afternoon, in a video conference, Peters explained his opinion that ending the Affordable Care Act would be harmful to Michiganders, more than 4.1 million of which have a preexisting condition. … Continue Reading
07.04.19
WXMI FOX 17 West Michigan: U.S. Senator applauds federal funding for new veterans’ homes
by James Gemmell
WASHINGTON, D.C. - On this Fourth of July, a Michigan U.S. senator is applauding the federal funding that was recently made available to fuel construction of a 128-bed State Veterans Home in Grand Rapids, as well as one in Macomb County. Ground was broken in Grand Rapids in May. Michigan U.S. Senator Gary Peters said in a news release Wednesday the construction project for the state-of-the-art home in Grand Rapids will receive just under $41 million from the U.S. Department of Veterans' Affair… Continue Reading
06.27.19
Michigan Advance: Michigan lawmakers seize critical defense bill to tackle PFAS in drinking water
by Robin Bravender
WASHINGTON - Michigan lawmakers on Capitol Hill are eyeing must-pass defense legislation as a vehicle to crack down on dangerous chemicals that contaminate drinking water across the state. Lawmakers in both the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House want to force the government to do more to study, regulate and clean up the ubiquitous and harmful chemicals known as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS. They see the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) - a massive defense spending bill th… Continue Reading
06.21.19
The Jewish News: Federal Funding for Faith-Based Protection from Terrorism Reaches Senate
The largest Orthodox Jewish umbrella organization in the U.S., The Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America, welcomes the Senate Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs Committee's approval of the bipartisan Protecting Faith-Based and Nonprofit Organizations From Terrorism Act. By increasing funding for the federal Nonprofit Security Grant Program (NSGP) to $75 million for fiscal years 2020-2024, houses of worship, religious schools and nonprofits will have increased protecti… Continue Reading
06.20.19
WJMN Marquette: Lawmakers applaud relief for farmers, urge more access to disaster aid
After urging the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to take action, U.S. Senators Gary Peters (MI) and Debbie Stabenow (MI) today praised the announcement of new relief for Michigan farmers who have been unable to plant their crops. Last week, the Senators wrote a letter to ask the USDA to help Michigan farmers by increasing flexibility with Federal Crop Insurance rules and allowing farmers to plant cover crops and use them for livestock grazing, hay, or silage, which is typically not allowe… Continue Reading
06.20.19
The Alpena News: Peters backs opioid crackdown
by Steve Schulwitz
ALPENA - Opiate addiction and overdoses have become the normal in many communities in the U.S., and, if drastic measures aren't taken, many more people will die from them, U.S. Sen. Gary Peters said. To help control the flow of the highly addictive and dangerous drugs, Peters, a Michigan Democrat, and his colleagues have introduced the Fentanyl Sanctions Act. If it becomes law, the bill would allow the U.S. to apply pressure to the Chinese government to boost regulatory enforcement on ph… Continue Reading
06.19.19
Michigan Advance: U.S. Senate panel OKs deadline for setting toxic chemical drinking water limit
by Michael Gerstein
A U.S. Senate panel on Wednesday approved a measure that would compel the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to set an expedited drinking water limit for a suite of toxic chemicals. The U.S. Senate Committee on Environmental and Public Works unanimously approved an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that would force the EPA into setting an expedited threshold for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS. The EPA currently has a guideline that drinking water not e… Continue Reading
06.18.19
Detroit News: Peters calls for national institute of manufacturing
by Melissa Nann Burke
Washington - Michigan Sen. Gary Peters is calling for the creation of a new federal agency modeled after the National Institutes of Health to serve as a hub for federal manufacturing programs and to boost manufacturing to a national priority. Peters, a Democrat running for reelection to a second term, says the decline in U.S. manufacturing in recent decades is due in part to policy decisions driven by Washington, and he aims to change that. Peters noted that as recently as 1980, five of the t… Continue Reading
06.18.19
Crain's Detroit Business: Sen. Peters to propose National Institute of Manufacturing to bring programs under one agency
by Dustin Walsh
Michigan Sen. Gary Peters wants the U.S. to reimagine its manufacturing policy. The Democratic congressman plans to introduce a bipartisan bill to create the National Institute of Manufacturing to house the federal government's manufacturing programs under one agency. "It's really a way to focus the activities at the government level for manufacturing," Peters told Crain's in a phone call following the announcement at the MForesight Manufacturing Summit in Washington, D.C. "There are 58 program… Continue Reading
06.18.19
Cadillac News: Sens. Stabenow, Peters urge USDA to give farmers planting flexibility
by Chris Lamphere
CADILLAC - U.S. senators representing Michigan have joined farmers and agricultural groups throughout the state in asking the USDA for help following the extremely rainy spring. "Consistent rain and wet weather have created challenging planting conditions for farmers across Michigan this spring,' Sens. Debbie Stabenow, D-Lansing, and Gary Peters, D-Pontiac, wrote in a letter to Bill Northey, under secretary for Farm Production and Conservation for the United States Department of Agriculture… Continue Reading
06.18.19
Huron Daily Tribune: Michigan Senators want federal help for farmers
by Robert Creenan
WASHINGTON - Michigan's U.S. Sens. Gary Peters and Debbie Stabenow are seeking federal help for the state's farmers who have not yet planted crops. "Consistent rain and wet weather have created challenging planting conditions for farmers across Michigan this spring," Peters and Stabenow said in a statement on Friday. "We urge the USDA to provide flexibility and equitable treatment for Michigan farmers who have had to delay planting their crops." Michigan recently had one of its wettest Mays ev… Continue Reading
06.17.19
Interlochen Public Radio: Sen. Gary Peters pushes for more accurate broadband maps
by Taylor Wizner
U.S. Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.) has introduced a bill to improve a country-wide broadband coverage map. The Federal Communications Commission has an online map that shows coverage areas for cell and internet service. Peters says the current map is mostly filled out by private broadband providers and is not accurate. "Oftentimes you pick up a promotional borchure it'll be able to show there is coverage everywhere and yet when you're driving in your car, you'll see there are no bars," he says. … Continue Reading
06.17.19
Washington Post: The Daily 202: A senator from Michigan will propose a National Institute of Manufacturing modeled on the NIH
by James Hohmann
KEY EXCERPTS: THE BIG IDEA: Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.) says the decline in American manufacturing is as much a failure of public policy as anything else. "Jump-Starting America," a book published in April by Jonathan Gruber and Simon Johnson, compares the 10 metropolitan areas with the highest average earnings in 2016 to 1980. Back then, five of the top 10 were in Michigan: Flint, Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, Midland, Saginaw and Monroe. None of those places make the list anymore. "In the years s… Continue Reading
06.14.19
WNEM CBS 5 Lansing: Two Michigan lawmakers looking for help for farmers after historic rainfall
by Denyse Shannon
Many Michigan farmers have had to delay planting crops this spring after historic rainfall and two lawmakers are looking to get them some relief. U.S. Senators Gary Peters and Debbie Stabenow are urging the U.S. Department of Agriculture to step in. "Consistent rain and wet weather have created challenging planting conditions for farmers across Michigan this spring," wrote the Senators. "We urge the USDA to provide flexibility and equitable treatment for Michigan farmers who have had to delay … Continue Reading
06.13.19
WXMI Fox 17 West Michigan: Sen. Peters sponsors bill to place sanctions on Chinese fentanyl
by Ahtra Elnashar
WASHINGTON - Sen. Gary Peters, D-MI, is introducing bipartisan legislation to crack down on Chinese fentanyl producers. Peters and Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-WV, are cosponsoring the legislation called "Fentanyl Sanctions Act," which would be the first of its kind to target fentanyl sanctions. They would be placed on Chinese drug manufacturers, trafficking organizations and financial groups that work with them. Last year, Chinese regulators started classifying a wide range of fentanyl produc… Continue Reading
06.13.19
WWTV 9&10 News Traverse City: Sen. Peters Calls On FCC To Expand Rural Broadband Access
by Charlie Tinker
Whether you're trying to run a business, doing your shopping online or just trying to get by and stay connected in this digital age, the internet is increasingly something we cannot do without. Yet, many rural communities in Northern Michigan still lack critical access to broadband internet. US Senator Gary Peters introduced a bi-partisan effort to make it happen. This new bill, the Broadband Deployment Accuracy and Technological Availability Act, would require the FCC to collect data it woul… Continue Reading
