In the News
WZZM ABC 13 Grand Rapids: Sen. Gary Peters examines security, humanitarian challenges at U.S.-Mexico border
Sen. Gary Peters, a democrat from Michigan, visited the U.S.-Mexico border over the Memorial Day weekend. The bipartisan visit gave the senator the opportunity to assess the security needs and humanitarian challenges at the southern border. "I was grateful to have the opportunity to hear directly from the men and women on the ground about the new set of challenges they face in securing our Southern border," said Peters. Senators Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) and Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) also went on the… Continue Reading
05.23.19
WOOD TV NBC 8 Grand Rapids: Peters bill would support age-friendly communities
by Rick Albin
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) - U.S. Sen. Gary Peters, D-Bloomfield Township, and a Republican senator have introduced legislation that would update the Older Americans Act. The idea of Senate Bill 1536 is to make aging in America more convenient and comfortable by making services easier to access. "What this legislation does is make sure that we have age-friendly communities," Peters told 24 Hour News 8 Thursday. "These are communities that are designed so that folks can age in place (and) have … Continue Reading
05.22.19
WLUC Marquette: Peters, Young Introduce Bipartisan Stop for School Buses Act
WASHINGTON, D.C. (WLUC) - U.S. Senators Gary Peters (D-MI) and Todd Young (R-IN) introduced bipartisan legislation to prevent motorists from passing school buses stopped at loading zones. The Stop for School Buses Act of 2019 commissions a comprehensive review of best practices to prevent vehicles from illegally passing school buses that are loading or unloading students. The legislation comes as a number of incidents have threatened students in Michigan and across the country. Last year in Mon… Continue Reading
05.15.19
Port Huron Times-Herald: Senator Peters releases Line 5 damage footage
by Jeremy Ervin
U.S. Senator Gary Peters has said residents of Michigan should know the "full extent of damage" Enbrdige's Line 5 pipeline sustained last year. So he released footage of the pipeline taken after an anchor strike on the pipeline in April 2018. "An oil spill in the Great Lakes would have catastrophic consequences to Michigan's environment and economy," Peters said in a written statement. "Michiganders deserve to know the full extent of the damage to Line 5 from last year's anchor strike - beca… Continue Reading
05.13.19
Detroit Free Press: Federal government pays millions to the dead every year. Sen. Peters is trying to end that.
by Todd Spangler
WASHINGTON - U.S. Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., is backing legislation that could help stop millions of dollars in federal payments to the dead. Every year, said Peters, millions of dollars in federal benefits continue to get sent out in the names of the deceased because the most accurate records regarding deaths - the list kept by the Social Security Administration - isn't shared among federal agencies. The legislation Peters is cosponsoring would: Allow all appropriate federal agencies to h… Continue Reading
05.10.19
WLNS 6 Lansing: Michigan Senator leading inquiry into federal response to rise of white supremacist violence
by Ronnie Das
WASHINGTON (WLNS) - Senator Gary Peters is looking into the federal government's response to evolving domestic terrorism threats and the rise of white supremacist violence. "Just days ago, a white supremacist terrorist murdered one woman and injured three others at a synagogue in San Diego, exactly six months to the day after the deadliest attack on the Jewish community in American history at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh," said Senator Peters. Peters is a ranking member of the Sena… Continue Reading
05.09.19
WJMN Marquette: Peters and Stabenow announce bipartisan PFAS Accountability Act
WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senators Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Marco Rubio (R-FL), and Gary Peters (D-MI) today led eight other Senators in announcing the introduction of the PFAS Accountability Act. This legislation would hold federal agencies accountable for addressing contamination for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) at military bases across the country. It comes just days after the release of a new report showing that Michigan has the most PFAS-contaminated sites in the nation. "The la… Continue Reading
05.08.19
WWMT CBS 3 West Michigan: Sen. Peters part of bipartisan push in D.C. to streamline veteran benefit documentation
by Mikenzie Frost
LANSING, Mich. - Some military members get different proof of service depending on the branch and a new bipartisan proposal in Washington aims to streamline the process. U.S. Sen. Gary Peters, D-MI, and Sen. James Lankford, R-OK, introduced a proposal to give military reserve and National Guard members the same proof of service form that active duty members receive. The form Peters wants to give the other military members is known as a DD-214, which is used to show the history of service for ve… Continue Reading
05.08.19
9&10 News Traverse City: Sen. Gary Peters Introduces Legislation to Help National Guard And Reserve Military Members
by David Lyden and Jeff Blakeman
U.S Senator Gary Peters has just helped introduced legislation aimed at helping members of the National Guard and reserved Armed Forces. The goal of the bill is to help get those members of the military important documents once they've retired or completed their service. Reserve members of the Armed Forces currently don't get a separation document that details their service. Guardsmen also do not receive the same form as active duty service members after their time in the service ends. It's … Continue Reading
05.06.19
Detroit News: Report: Michigan has most PFAS sites in nation
by Leonard N. Fleming
Michigan has the most PFAS sites in the nation, but state officials are improving testing and accountability for the harmful substances, according to report released Monday by a national environmental advocacy group. The report finds that Michigan has 192 PFAS sites, much higher than the state's 49 official contamination sites. The report's number is much higher because the Washington, D.C.-based Environmental Working Group includes sites like schools or apartment buildings where testing found … Continue Reading
05.05.19
Detroit News: Peters tours Wayne County communities hit by flooding
by Christine Ferretti
Detroit - For the second time in a few years, Megan and Mark Buchanan are picking up the pieces after flood waters destroyed basement cabinets, furniture and priceless keepsakes made by their two young children. The Allen Park couple paid $2,300 for restoration crews to help clear out and sanitize the area.The family has some insurance, but it won't help to rebuild after the damage. That, they expect, could be thousands of dollars more. The Buchanans shared their story Sunday with U.S. Sen. Ga… Continue Reading
04.30.19
WWMT CBS 3 West Michigan: Lawmakers call on congress to pass ALERT Act to protect college, university students
by Callie Rainey
KALAMAZOO, Mich. - Several United States senators and representatives are calling on Congress to pass the Accountability of Leaders in Education to Report Title IX Investigations (ALERT) Act, which is a bipartisan, bicameral piece of legislation that lawmakers said would protect college students from sexual assault. U.S. Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich.; U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas; U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich.; U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin, D-Lansing; U.S. Rep. Fred Upton, R-Kalamazoo; and U.S. … Continue Reading
04.11.19
Detroit Free Press: Trump wants to end $7,500 electric car tax credits, members of Congress move to stop him
by Todd Spangler
WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump has proposed ending tax credits to encourage the purchase of electric cars but a bipartisan group in Congress moved Wednesday to stop him. U.S. Sens. Debbie Stabenow and Gary Peters, both D-Mich., as well as Sens. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., Susan Collins, R-Maine, and U.S. Rep. Dan Kildee, D-Flint Township, instead proposed legislation that would expand the credits. "Today's legislation is something we can do now to reduce emissions and combat carbon polluti… Continue Reading
04.10.19
Port Huron Times-Herald: Peters bill targets border personnel shortage — even if it hasn't reached crossings like Port Huron
by Jackie Smith
U.S. Sen. Gary Peters is spearheading another piece of legislation affecting border crossings - only this time, he said, it may be more proactive for Port Huron than other ports of entry across the country. The bi-partisan bill, co-sponsored by three other senators, proposes increasing the number of U.S. Customs and Border Protection field officers and support staff to incrementally correct a reported shortage of personnel of nearly 4,000. According to its original release, Peters' camp is cit… Continue Reading
04.08.19
Detroit News: Peters: Bulk up Customs and Border Protection staffing at ports of entry
by Melissa Nann Burke
Washington - Two border-state senators, Gary Peters of Michigan and John Cornyn of Texas, want to plug a shortage of nearly 4,000 officers in the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency as the number of migrant families crossing the southwest border is breaking records. Their bipartisan bill requires CBP to hire no less than 600 additional officers a year until the agency's staffing needs are met. Peters, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committe… Continue Reading
03.20.19
Michigan Radio: Cherry farmers want federal help in trade dispute with Turkey
by Max Johnston
For the past decade, Americans have been buying tart cherries from Turkey for cheap. Tart cherry farmers in Michigan say that's hurting their bottom line. Now they're hoping a new bill in Washington will balance the scales. On a sunny but cold day at a cherry orchard north of Cedar, second-generation cherry farmer Ben LaCross, of Leelanau Fruit Company, prunes some young cherry trees with electric shears. "We're trying to open up the scaffolds of the limbs to let more light in and forc… Continue Reading
03.15.19
WBUP ABC 10 Marquette: Sen. Gary Peters introduces Telehealth bill
by Donny Ede
LANSING- Michigan Senator Gary Peters reintroduced a bill today to expand Telehealth services throughout the country. Peters has been a strong advocate for expanding Telehealth services for a while now, as it will help people with disabilities, or in rural areas, be able to get treatment without having to travel to a hospital or doctors office. Telehealth services would allow a person to visit with a physician from the comfort of their own homes, and could even wear monitors that will transmi… Continue Reading
03.11.19
Oakland Press: Sen. Peters reintroduces legislation to boost early college, dual enrollments for high school students
by Anne Runkle
U.S. Senators Gary Peters (D-MI), Bill Cassidy (R-LA) and John Boozman (R-AR) have reintroduced bipartisan legislation to expand opportunities for high school students to obtain college credit. The Making Education Affordable and Accessible Act (MEAA) would help improve high school and college graduation rates by expanding the use of existing grants to institutions of higher education to expand their dual and concurrent enrollment initiatives and early/middle college programs. "Rising costs of… Continue Reading
03.07.19
WOOD TV NBC 8 Grand Rapids: Peters: EPA should be more 'aggressive' about PFAS
by 24 Hour News 8 web staff
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) - Michigan's U.S. senators are pushing a bill to force the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to declare PFAS a hazardous substance. The desingation would make more money available for cleanup under the EPA's Superfund program, and also require polluters to start cleanup or to pay for it. Sen. Gary Peters and Sen. Debbie Stabenow, both Democrats, are part of a bipartisan group aiming to force the EPA to regulate the chemical more strictly. "It's been very frustrat… Continue Reading
03.05.19
Dearborn Press & Guide: Peters named among most effective senators in 115th Senate
U.S. Sen. Gary Peters was named among the most effective lawmakers in the 115th Senate (2017-2018). According to the non-partisan Center for Effective Lawmaking, Peters was named the 4th-most effective Senator in the minority party in enacting and advancing legislation. "My top priority is working to get things done for Michigan families - regardless of which political party is in the White House or has the majority in the Senate," said Senator Peters. "Michiganders expect us to work together i… Continue Reading
