CAPITAL RUNDOWN: U.S. Senator Gary Peters talks his plans for 2022

LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) – The new year is less than a week away, and U.S. Senator Gary Peters has a few areas he plans to place an emphasis on in the coming year.

For the Congressman, cybersecurity is one of the main focuses for 2022, but so is dealing with issues in the supply chain.

“We’re seeing that increased prices across the board because of a supply chain than just trying to recover from a pandemic,” said Peters. “But what has really highlighted is that we can’t be overly dependent on foreign sources of critical supplies and goods.”

During his time as the chair of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, Peters put out a report that examined drug shortages in the United States in 2019.

According to Peters, the nation was overly dependent on foreign manufacturers, so much so if there were a pandemic, it would be a very difficult situation for the country.

“Little did I know that actually happened five months after I put that report out and we saw the, the supply problems with just a masks and even things as simple as syringes and other kinds of equipment that’s necessary for medical services,” said Peters.

Peters serves on Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, and he said that there needs to be an emphasis on how the U.S. is addressing port backups.

“We have to treat ports in Michigan the same way we treat other ports around the country. And when we do that, I think there’s an incredible opportunity for us to create great paying jobs and more economic activity in Michigan through that trade. While we also onshore more manufacturing as a manufacturing state, we would also be a winner in that area,” said Peters.

For Peters, addressing port back-ups is a win-win from an economic standpoint, and said it’s something he plans to be laser-focused on in the coming year.