{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.peters.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/icymi-senator-peters-reflects-on-proudest-accomplishments-for-michigan-takeaways-from-congress-during-detroit-economic-club-exit-interview", "ICYMI: Senator Peters Reflects on Proudest Accomplishments for Michigan, Takeaways from Congress During Detroit Economic Club Exit Interview", "2026-09-30", "2026", "2026-09", "Democrat", "Senate", "MI", "Gary C. Peters", "P000595", "www.peters.senate.gov", "garypeters", "https://www.peters.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases", "scraper", "DETROIT, MI \u2013 U.S. Senator Gary Peters (MI) reflected on his proudest accomplishments and takeaways from his 18 years in Congress during an \u201cExit Interview\u201d with the Detroit Economic Club. In a conversation moderated by Local 4 Detroit\u2019s Jason Colthrup, Peters highlighted his long-term efforts to support Michigan\u2019s auto industry, protect the Great Lakes, and secure long-term missions at Selfridge Air National Guard Base.\n\nBelow are highlights from Peters\u2019 remarks:\n\nAdvocating for the 2009 Auto Rescue, Making the Case to Congress:\n\n\u201cWe had a lot of members of Congress that were around the country that were saying, \u2018Yeah, let them go bankrupt. You know, that\u2019s okay. That\u2019s capitalism, if they go under, that\u2019s it.\u2019 And I\u2019m like, \u2018No, you can\u2019t have a manufacturing sector in America if you don\u2019t have an auto sector that\u2019s healthy and vibrant. This impacts everybody,\u2019 and we made the case aggressively.\u201d\n\nSecuring a Strong Future for Selfridge Air National Guard Base, including:\n\nDelivering a New Squadron of KC-46A Refueling Tankers: \u201cI blocked the Air Force Secretary from getting confirmed under the Biden Administration. He wasn\u2019t going to get confirmed until I got some sort of commitment. And we worked together, and our delegation worked together, and then they said, \u2018Well, we\u2019ll get you these tankers.\u2019\u201d\n\nEstablishing the Northern Border Mission Center: \u201cNow, we have this mission center which coordinates all of the border security from Maine to Washington state, all of the northern border, and it\u2019s going to happen at Selfridge, which gives it a major Department of Homeland Security (DHS) mission.\u201d\n\nTo watch Peters\u2019 full interview at the Detroit Economic Club, click here.\n\nSecuring Investments for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, Protecting Our Waterways:\n\n\u201cThe Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, which was passed in [20]10, has been a major game changer. Billions of dollars have been going in, if you just think of the Detroit River area and up into Port Huron, I think $250 million to make sure we\u2019re cleaning up the old toxic sites that were here from our industrial heritage. The watersheds are clean. And that happens all around the Great Lakes Basin. That has been major.\u201d\n\nCreating the U.S. Coast Guard Great Lakes Center of Expertise in Michigan:\n\n\u201cIt now has state of the art equipment there to train crews on how to clean up oil spills, so we don\u2019t have to wait two weeks for a submersible. It can be there like in an hour and a half, it\u2019s very close. We\u2019re gaining the expertise there to make sure we\u2019re cleaning up oil spills not just in the Great Lakes, but all of freshwater.\u201d\n\nThe Detroit Economic Club (DEC) was formed in 1934 as a non-partisan, non-profit organization that promotes discussion and debate of important business, government, and social issues.\n\nWhen the 2008 financial crisis rocked Michigan\u2019s automotive industry, Peters was instrumental in advocating for the rescue of the Big Three automakers, which saved more than 1 million automotive industry jobs in Michigan and across the country.\n\nPeters served in the U.S. Navy Reserve for 12 years, rising to the rank of Lt. Commander. During that time, he drilled at Selfridge Air National Guard Base in Macomb County. As a U.S. Senator, Peters has worked tirelessly to secure the future of Selfridge as Michigan\u2019s premier military installation to maintain its role in our nation\u2019s defense and as an economic driver for the state. He led the Michigan delegation to secure a full squadron of next generation KC-46A aircraft tankers, which will operate at Selfridge for the next 50 years. He also established and secured funding for the Northern Border Mission Center to be located at Selfridge.\n\nThroughout his career in public service, Peters has been a champion for protecting the Great Lakes and Michigan\u2019s drinking water from threats like oil spills and PFAS contamination. Peters\u2019 efforts have helped protect our most precious source of drinking water and an economic engine for our state from the devastating consequences of pollution. He authored a provision signed into law to create the U.S. Coast Guard National Center of Expertise (NCOE) for the Great Lakes, and secured $1.5 million to launch the center. Headquartered at Lake Superior State University in Sault Ste. Marie and the Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory in Ann Arbor, the Great Lakes National Center of Expertise will examine the impacts of oil spills in freshwater environments and help develop effective responses that currently don\u2019t exist.\n\n###", 1, "2026-10-01T11:23:28Z", "2026-10-01T11:25:15Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.peters.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/icymi-senator-peters-reflects-on-proudest-accomplishments-for-michigan-takeaways-from-congress-during-detroit-economic-club-exit-interview"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.7749150283634663, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}