From fighting to strengthen our communities through community policing, to continuing to hold Betsy DeVos accountable through his role as the top Democrat on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee – U.S. Senator Gary Peters is putting Michiganders first.
Read below on Gary’s work for Michigan this week:
GARY IS FIGHTING TO STRENGTHEN MI COMMUNITIES THROUGH COMMUNITY POLICING BILL
Gary introduced a community policing bill to help bridge the lack of trust between law enforcement and the communities they serve and start on the path of reforming our broken criminal justice system. The bipartisan legislation has been endorsed by a broad coalition of groups including the NAACP, the Police Officers Association of Michigan, the Fraternal Order of Police and the National Urban League.
Detroit News: Peters introduces bipartisan Senate community policing bill
- Michigan Democratic U.S. Sen. Gary Peters has introduced legislation in the Republican-controlled Senate aiming to boost trust between police and the neighborhoods they serve by encouraging law enforcement officers to work in the community where they live.
- “We know community policing is a forward-leaning approach to providing protection and services to the community. It’s about police officers and sheriffs knowing the community, understanding the community, often knowing individuals by name,” said Peters, a Democrat from Bloomfield Township.
- The legislation has been endorsed by the NAACP, the Police Officers Association of Michigan and the National Urban League.
- “We all need to come together in a bipartisan way to put forward meaningful change and meaningful ideas on how we make the criminal justice system work fairly for everybody, no matter who they are, no matter where they live.”
Read more:
- WMMT: U.S. Sen. Gary Peters introduces community policing bill
- 9&10 News: Sen. Peters Announces New Legislation Aimed at Building Trust Between Police, Communities
- Fox Detroit: Sen. Gary Peters champions Strong Communities Act for policing reform
GARY SECURES FUNDING FOR EXPANDED CUSTOMS PLAZA AT BLUE WATER BRIDGE
Gary worked to secure a $25 million grant to expand the customs plaza at the Blue Water Bridge in Port Huron, which will reduce backups and crossing times for travelers moving forward.
The Detroit News: Blue Water Bridge customs plaza expansion to get $25M in federal funding
- Cranson said MDOT wanted to thank U.S. Sens. Gary Peters and Debbie Stabenow and other members of the state’s congressional delegation “for their steadfast support for this project.”
- Peters, the top Democrat on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, said he would “continue pressing on the federal level to ensure we have the resources to complete the customs plaza expansion.”
GARY HELPS PASS THE GREAT AMERICAN OUTDOORS ACT
Gary worked to pass the Great American Outdoors Act, which secured permanent funding for the missions of the Land and Water Conservation Fund and will improve Michigan’s national parks and public lands.
9 And 10 News: Hook & Hunting: The Great American Outdoors Act
- The U.S. Senate passed legislation aimed at protecting and expanding outdoor recreation areas across the country.
- The money in the act would provide funding for national parks and forests across the country including the Sleeping Bear Dunes and Manistee National Forest. Michigan Senator Gary Peters helped pass the legislation.
- “In Michigan we are blessed with incredible natural resources, we have incredible parks and we have great forests we take great pride in that and when you think about recreational opportunities and the tourism that results from that it is incredibly important for our economy as well,” said Peters.
AIR FORCE ANNOUNCES PFAS CLEANUP CONTRACT AFTER SUCCESSFUL PUSH FROM GARY
Following advocacy and continued calls from Gary to expedite cleanup efforts, the United States Air Force announced that they had agreed to award a contract to remediate the spread of PFAS in Oscoda.
Detroit News: Air Force to clean up contamination of Oscoda base after pushback
- The Air Force Civil Engineer Center announced it is awarding a contract in July that will expand capture zones to better control migration of PFAS contaminants from a former air force base in Oscoda following pushes from politicians.
- The announcement comes after Sen. Gary Peters wrote to the Air Force last month urging the branch to expedite PFAS cleanup efforts at the former base in Oscoda. He said the Air Force’s treatment efforts to date would not adequately capture and stop the continued spread of the PFAS.
- Peters said residents have been suffering for more than a decade. The contamination and exposure is having a devastating effect on the local environment, economy and is affecting the health of residents, he said Saturday.
- Peters helped secure bipartisan provisions that were signed into law in December to address the contamination, which includes a provision to phase out the Department of Defense’s use of firefighting foam containing PFAS.
Read more:
- Oscoda Press: Air Force announces expanded PFOS, PFOA treatment for Oscoda
- MLive: Air Force plans new cleanup at Wurtsmith base, but questions remain
GARY CELEBRATES HISTORIC DECISION PROTECTING LGBTQ+ AMERICANS
After a historic ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court, Gary celebrated and welcomed the decision that now protects LGBTQ+Americans from job discrimiantion.
WKZO: State officials weigh in on Supreme Court LGBTQ decision
- “This is a historic day for LGBTQ+ rights and equality in this country. Nobody should face discrimination in the workplace or fear losing their job for who they are or who they love,” Peters said in a written statement. “Michigander Aimee Stephens did not live to see this day, but today we honor her and carry on this fight in her memory. While this is a major step forward we have a lot of work to do, including passing the Equality Act.”
GARY CALLS FOR INVESTIGATION OF DEVOS’ LOAN FORGIVENESS PLAN
As the top Democrat on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, Gary continues to hold Betsy DeVos accountable and is now calling for an investigation of DeVos for using private data to undermine legal protections of student borrowers.
Forbes: Democrats Call For Investigation Into Secretary Betsy DeVos Over Loan Forgiveness Formula
- Critics said that partial forgiveness went against the intent of the law meant to protect students from predatory colleges. Experts also believe the formula itself is flawed, saying the methodology is “wholly inappropriate and confuses many statistical concepts that aren’t meant to be used together.”
- In the letter to the Inspector General, Peters and Maloney said they were “concerned that under the Trump Administration, the Department has applied a “partial relief” formula that drastically limits the assistance available to students who have been defrauded, typically by for-profit colleges.”
- Peters and Maloney expressed their concern that the formula was “arbitrarily short-changing struggling borrowers when they can least afford it.” And on top of that, this policy came just before the coronavirus pandemic hit the nation, leaving millions of Americans out of work.
GARY INTRODUCES LEGISLATION TO IMPROVE U.S. CYBERSECURITY
Gary introduced two bills to protect the U.S. in case of a nationwide cyberattack, and are intended to help us prepare and defend against attacks that could harm our country’s most critical infrastructure.
The Hill: Senate Democrat introduces legislation to protect US against crippling cyberattack
- The Continuity of Economy Act would require the president to develop a plan to enable the economy and critical services to continue functioning in the wake of a debilitating cyberattack. The second bill, the National Guard Cyber Interoperability Act, would funnel more resources to the National Guard to enable them to provide support to states to defend against and respond to cyber incidents.
- Peters, who serves as the top Democrat on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, said in a statement that the bills would “help prepare our country to defend against and recover from attacks on our critical infrastructure,” such as health care or financial organizations, that could “cause severe disruption to our daily lives.”
- “Cyberattacks are one of the greatest threats to our national security and the United States is not sufficiently prepared to defend itself in cyberspace or recover from a significant cyber disruption,” Peters said. “Our adversaries like China, Russia and Iran are constantly probing our critical infrastructure and government systems to identify weaknesses that could be exploited in the event of a conflict.”
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