Bill Would Invest in Michigan’s Northern Strike Exercise, Boost Selfridge Air National Guard Base, and Support Our Allies
WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Gary Peters (MI) helped the Senate Appropriations Committee pass the Fiscal Year 2026 Defense Appropriations Act. This bipartisan legislation supports our servicemembers, bolsters Michigan’s military installations, and funds high-impact local projects across Michigan that are vital to our national security. The bill now advances to the full Senate.
“Michigan plays an absolutely essential role in protecting our national security, with key military installations as well as a robust defense sector that support and protect our servicemembers,” said Senator Peters. “I was proud to secure provisions in this bill that make investments in Michigan’s defense capabilities to help our country meet the evolving threats posed by our adversaries like Russia and China. It’s critical that we work in a bipartisan way to get this commonsense bill passed into law.”
The bill includes measures led and supported by Peters, including:
Supporting Michigan’s Defense Installations
Funding for Exercise Northern Strike: Peters secured a record $27.3 million for Exercise Northern Strike – the National Guard Bureau’s largest joint service and multicomponent exercise which takes place annually in Michigan. Northern Strike takes place at the National All-Domain Warfighting Center (NADWC), which utilizes both the Camp Grayling Joint Maneuver Training Center and the Alpena Combat Readiness Center, based in Northern Michigan.
Supporting PFAS Remediation in Grayling: Peters secured $53.5 million to support PFAS remediation efforts at Camp Grayling. This funding will extend municipal water to new residential areas and begin remediation at the Army Airfield to protect the municipal wells in the City of Grayling and AuSable River. Peters has long supported DOD’s plans to expand use of PFAS mitigation strategies pioneered in Northern Michigan at more than 30 DOD installations and National Guard facilities nationwide, including Camp Grayling.
Investing in PFAS Remediation Stemming from Defense Activities: In addition to the funding secured for Camp Grayling, the bill makes substantial investments in defense communities to help limit environmental impacts from military activities, such as PFAS contamination. This bill includes an additional $135 million for PFAS cleanup, testing, and remediation. Peters also secured language in the bill highlighting concerns with the health and safety impacts of PFAS contamination and requiring the Department of Defense to provide Congress the Department’s plans for PFAS remediation and disposal activities.
Protecting Defense Medical Research: Peters helped secure $897 million for the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program (CDMRP), which aims to translate research discovery into health care solutions for servicemembers, veterans, and the American public.
Supporting Michigan’s Servicemembers and their Families
Pay Raise for Servicemembers: The bill provides a 3.8 percent across-the-board pay raise for servicemembers, as well as an additional pay raise for enlisted personnel. The bill also increases the basic allowance for housing from 95 percent to 100 percent to ensure servicemembers and their families can obtain quality housing. This means the allowance will cover the full cost of housing in a given area, eliminating the need for out-of-pocket expenses for housing.
Delivering Child Care & Early Education: The bill fully funds the Child Care Fee Assistance Program and provides funding for the operation, renovation, and repair of child development centers. It also supports full-day, universal pre-K for our military families.
Supporting Suicide Prevention and Response: The bill fully funds programs that support servicemember and veteran suicide prevention and response. The bill also supports continued implementation of the recommendations of the Suicide Prevention and Response Independent Review Committee. It also designates suicide prevention as a research area within the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs’ Peer-Reviewed Medical Research Program.
Working to Prevent Sexual Assault: The bill provides $47 million for the Special Victims’ Counsel (SVC) program to help survivors of sexual assault.
Bolstering Michigan’s Defense Economy, Workforce Initiatives
Accelerating Vehicle Cybersecurity Education: The bill includes $7.7 million secured by Peters for the Virtual Institutes for Cyber and Electromagnetic Spectrum Research and Employ (VICEROY) program, which has enabled the University of Detroit Mercy (UDM) to establish the Metro-Detroit Regional Vehicle Cybersecurity Virtual Institute. This funding will help UDM leverage the expertise in the Metro-Detroit region to accelerate workforce development. VICEROY already has nearly 250 enrollees in the Detroit metro area, including high school, Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC), community college, bachelor’s and master’s degree students.
Strengthening Michigan’s Marine Workforce: Peters secured $100 million to support the frigate industrial base for the Constellation-class frigate built at the Marinette Marine shipyard, which is located along the Menominee River and employs hundreds of Michiganders. These funds will be used to hire hundreds of additional skilled trades workers.
Supporting Youth National Guard Programs: The bill includes robust funding that Peters secured for the National Guard Youth Challenge Program. This program helps provide a second chance to thousands of disadvantaged young adults who take the initiative to better their lives. Programs are led by National Guard cadre, who help foster discipline, leadership, and physical and educational skills, and provide cadets with mentorship and assistance in earning their high school diploma or GED. The program has graduated nearly 200,000 young people who dropped out of high school, with 62 percent of program participants going on to earn their high school diploma or GED. The funding Peters secured will help the program accept more applicants each year.
Advanced Manufacturing Centers: Peters helped secure $5 million for research and development of critical materials processing to bolster the commercialization of ceramic-related technology. This vital research is done by LIFT, a Department of Defense Manufacturing Innovation Institute based in Detroit that Peters helped establish.
Supporting Autonomous Vehicle Research: The bill includes $5 million to support Michigan State University’s (MSU) collaboration with the U.S. Army to build a prototype of a lightweight autonomous vehicle platform to fuse different technologies into a unified system. This ongoing research project will support Michigan’s leadership in the global automotive marketplace.
Connecting Small Businesses to Defense Contracts: The bill includes funding to support the Small Business Administration's APEX Accelerator program, which provides technical assistance to small businesses interested in competing for defense and general government procurement contracts. The program aims to increase the number of locally owned qualified vendors, which will help support local economies and support job growth.
Promoting STEM Education through STARBASE: This bill includes funding for STARBASE, a DoD Youth Program that promotes STEM education. Selfridge Air National Guard Base in Harrison Township is home to the first STARBASE program, which specifically provides K-12 students unique experiences in experiential learning, simulations and experiments in aviation and space-related fields.
Strengthening our National Security, Supporting Allies Around the World
Strengthen Efforts to Combat Anti-Tunneling Activity: The bill includes $80 million in funding to strengthen current collaborative efforts between the U.S. and Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) to combat Hamas and strengthen anti-tunneling activity in the Gaza Strip. As part of DOD’s collaboration with the IDF, Israel shares its counter-tunnel technology with DOD and the Department of Homeland Security to combat growing threats at our borders, as well as similar threats faced on the Korean Peninsula and in multiple locations in the Middle East. This provision is based on Peters’ United States-Israel Anti-Tunnel Cooperation Act.
Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI): The bill provides robust support for Ukraine as they defend against Russia’s illegal war by providing $800 million for the USAI.
Supporting Taiwan and Indo-Pacific Partners: The bill provides robust support for Taiwan, including $1.5 billion for the Indo-Pacific Security Assistance Initiative to support key U.S. allies like Taiwan and the Philippines. The bill also strengthens U.S. research and military collaboration through the AUKUS partnership with our Australian and U.K. allies.
Strengthening Partnerships in Europe: The bill rejects the proposed elimination of funding for the Baltic Security Initiative’s security cooperation with Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, and instead provides $225 million to support the initiative. Latvia has been a State Partner of the Michigan National Guard since 1992. The bill also adds $119.3 million for European Command unfunded priorities to enhance collective defense.
National Guard and Reserves: The bill includes $25 million above the budget request, for a total of $72.5 million, for the State Partnership Program (SPP), which funds training and exercises with U.S. allies. The program connects state National Guards with U.S. partner nations to bolster defense capabilities, increase readiness, and foster enduring institutional relationships with our partners around the world. Michigan is partnered with the nations of Latvia, Liberia, and Sierra Leone through the SPP.
Keeping Civilians and Troops Safe from Landmines: Peters helped secure additional funding for the Humanitarian Deming Research and Development program. This program allows for the research and development of technologies used to detect and clear landmines, unexploded ordnance, and improvised explosive devices. These technologies increase the effectiveness, efficiency, and safety of demining operations for military and humanitarian use – saving lives and taxpayer dollars.
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