NEWS RELEASE
GARY PETERS, U.S. SENATOR FOR MICHIGAN
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WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Gary Peters (MI) was honored with the Department of the Navy’s Distinguished Public Service Award. The award was presented by Thomas Mancinelli, undersecretary of the Navy, in recognition of Peters’ dedicated support of the U.S. Navy and all of our servicemembers and veterans, as well as his efforts to enhance innovation in military technologies. The Distinguished Public Service Award represents the highest honor the Secretary of the Navy can bestow on a civilian.
“I’m honored to receive the Navy’s Distinguished Public Service Award, and want to thank Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro for this recognition,” said Senator Peters. “Joining the U.S. Navy Reserve was one of the best decisions I have ever made, and that experience continues to guide my work in the Senate. I’ll keep working to ensure we deliver on the promises made to our servicemembers, their families, and all our veterans.”
Senator Peters volunteered for the U.S. Navy Reserve at age 34, drilling at Selfridge Air National Guard Base in Macomb County. During his service, Peters earned a Seabee Combat Warfare Specialist designation and rose to the rank of Lieutenant Commander. After the 9/11 terrorist attacks on our country, he volunteered again for drilling status and served overseas as part of his Reserve duty. He later earned a diploma from the College of Naval Command and Staff, U.S. Naval War College.
During his time in the Senate, Peters has been a strong advocate for the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Military. As a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Peters advanced legislation in Fiscal Years 2024 and 2025 to support new ship construction at Marinette Marine, which is located along the Menominee River and employs hundreds of Michiganders. To support increased production at Marinette Marine, Peters helped secure $281,000 in 2024 government funding legislation to allow the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to complete a feasibility study for potential infrastructure improvements in the Menominee-Marinette Harbor Waterway.
In 2023, Peters’ bipartisan Changing Age-Determined Eligibility to Student Incentive Payments (CADETS) Act was signed into law, expanding the Student Incentive Payment Program eligibility age for financial assistance to cadets who attended one of the six State Maritime Academies and commit to a post-graduation service obligation to include any qualified student who will meet the age requirements for enlistment in the U.S. Navy Reserve at their time of graduation. Last May, he received the Admiral Willard J. Smith Meritorious Service Award at the Great Lakes Maritime Academy in Traverse City to recognize his efforts to pass the CADETS Act. In 2021, he was recognized by the Navy Supply Corps Foundation Board of Directors as the 60th Navy Supply Corps Foundation Distinguished Alumnus. In 2018, Peters’ legislation to reauthorize the Maritime Administration – the federal agency responsible for promoting and maintaining a strong U.S. commercial maritime industry – was signed into law. The legislation required a competitiveness study to make recommendations for improving the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway system – one of the most heavily traveled waterways in the United States – and increased training opportunities for United States Merchant Marine Academy cadets.
Peters has also led important initiatives to honor our veterans and ensure they receive the benefits they have earned as part of their service. In January, two bipartisan bills introduced by Peters were signed into law to protect burial benefits for both veterans and military families. Peters also helped enact into law the Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics (PACT) Act – which delivered VA health care and benefits to all generations of toxic-exposed veterans – and their survivors – for the first time in our nation’s history. In 2016, his Fairness for Veterans Act was signed into law to help veterans who may have been erroneously given less than honorable discharge from the military due to negative behavior resulting from mental health traumas, such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). In 2017, Peters was recognized as Legislator of the Year by the Vietnam Veterans of America for his work authoring and enacting the Fairness for Veterans Act.
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