As Member of Armed Services Committee, Senator Peters Helps Advance Strong National Defense Bill to Bolster Michigan’s Defense Capabilities

WASHINGTON, DC – As a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, U.S. Senator Gary Peters (MI) helped advance the bipartisan Fiscal Year 2025 National Defense Authorization Act out of committee. Peters successfully authored and secured provisions in the bill to strengthen U.S. national security, invest in Michigan’s military facilities and robust defense sector, support our nation’s long-term strategic efforts to combat aggression by adversaries like China and Russia, and give our servicemembers a pay raise. The bill now advances to the full U.S. Senate.  

“Michigan is home to first-rate military installations and training exercises, and a robust defense manufacturing sector. It’s critical to both our state’s economy and U.S. national security that it stays that way,” said Senator Peters. “The provisions I fought to secure in this bill will help keep Michigan at the forefront of U.S. national defense efforts by investing in our state’s military facilities, fostering cutting-edge defense innovation, supporting servicemembers, and bolstering our partnerships around the world.”   

“The bill will also help ensure we’re equipped to deter and combat the rising threats we face from our foreign adversaries like Russia, China, and Iran,” Peters continued. 

The National Defense Authorization Act sets annual policy for the Department of Defense (DOD) and has been signed into law for more than 60 consecutive years.?

The following provisions Peters led or supported, including authorizing $37 million in funding for Michigan’s military facilities:  

Investing in Michigan’s Military Facilities

Supporting New Fighter Mission for Selfridge: Peters secured language in the bill that encourages the Air Force to plan for replacement of the 25 Air National Guard fighter aircraft squadrons across the country with advanced fighter aircraft – including the A-10 squadron based at Selfridge Air National Guard Base. 

Report on Multi Domain Task Force and Force Structure in the National Guard: Peters secured language directing the Army to provide a report on its Multi Domain Task Force stationing plan and Force Structure in the National Guard. With China, Russia, and North Korea continuing to impact global stability, the U.S. military is adapting its capabilities to meet these rising threats. The Army’s new Multi-Domain Task Forces are the centerpiece of the Army’s efforts to respond to these global challenges in Europe and the Indo-Pacific. When forward positioned, the Multi-Domain Task Forces will enable the U.S. military to freely operate within contested environments. Peters has consistently advocated for Michigan to be selected as a location for a Multi Domain Task Force. A Michigan-based Multi-Domain Task Force will capitalize on the state’s exceptional location, force structure, training opportunities, and strategic investments, strengthening Michigan’s National Guard assets and bringing additional personnel to the state.  

Supporting Our Servicemembers and Their Families

Pay Raise for Servicemembers: This bill includes pay raises of 4.5 percent for military servicemembers and 2 percent for the DOD civilian workforce. This also includes an increase in monthly basic pay for junior enlisted servicemembers in the grades of E-1 through E-3, in addition to the force-wide pay raise. 

Focus on Quality of Life for Servicemembers: The bill also establishes the Commission on Quality of Life for the All-Volunteer Armed Force to assess quality of life considerations for the military and civilian workforces. 

Addressing PFAS Contamination

PFAS Remediation at Camp Grayling: The bill includes $70 million in funding for the Army’s PFAS remedial investigation efforts at Camp Grayling in Northern Michigan. Peters has also utilized his role as a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee to advance PFAS remediation efforts in communities across Michigan. During a Senate Armed Services Committee, Peters pressed Secretary of the Army Christine Wormuth to address PFAS contamination at Camp Grayling. Earlier this year, Peters applauded DOD’s announced 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. 

Supporting Michigan’s Defense Sector

$37 Million for Manned/Unmanned Tactical Vehicle Lab in Southeast Michigan: The bill includes $37 million for the construction of a manned/unmanned tactical vehicle lab in Macomb County. This builds on funding Senator Peters previously secured for the planning and design of this lab. The work of this new center will be critical to the Army’s efforts to develop the next generation of unmanned ground vehicle technologies. Specifically, this funding would provide the necessary facility space to allow engineers and scientists to develop and integrate hardware and software technologies onto advanced unmanned and autonomous ground combat and tactical vehicle systems. This space will also allow the ability to test these systems more efficiently and effectively in a System Integration Lab, located on Macomb County’s Defense Industrial Corridor. This will improve the product and enhance rapid improvement and collaboration with private sector partners.  

Accelerate Infantry Squad Vehicle Production at GM Defense: Peters led and secured a provision that would provide increased funding to accelerate fielding of the Infantry Squad Vehicle (ISV) produced by General Motors Defense. Peters has championed this program including highlighting the importance of the ISV during an Senate Armed Services Airland Subcommittee hearing in May.  

Infantry Squad Vehicle Variant for Experimentation: The bill also authorizes $8 million in funding to support research of additional variants of General Motors Defense’s Infantry Squad Vehicle (ISV). This funding will support research and develop of the ISV two seat, four seat, and five seat variants which can accommodate a broad range of missions including fire support, command and control, electronic warfare, counter-unmanned aircraft systems (C-UAS), reconnaissance, logistics, and casualty evacuation.  

Identifying DOD’s Reliance on Foreign Critical Drug Supply Chains: Peters secured language in the bill that would require DOD to continue analyzing its reliance on foreign countries for high-risk supplies used for critical drug supply chains. The provision would direct DOD to identify the amount of drugs and active pharmaceutical ingredients it utilizes that are manufactured by foreign suppliers and produce a plan to address overreliance on foreign suppliers that presents a national security risk. Last year, as Chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, Peters released a report detailing the results of his investigation into continued shortages of critical medications. The report found that shortages of drugs are on the rise, partially due to our nation’s continued overreliance on foreign suppliers for many of the raw materials used to manufacture critical drugs. 

Saving Taxpayer Dollars in Defense Contracting: DOD awards around $200 billion in contracts every year without competition, meaning they do not receive multiple bids from different contractors. To determine the cost of the projects, DOD often must rely on information provided by the contractors themselves. Many contractors fail to provide cost data requested by DOD, yet still receive contracts. Peters secured a provision that will ensure taxpayer dollars are being spent effectively by requiring DOD to report when contractors fail to provide the necessary cost data, noting this failure in the Federal Awardee Performance and Integrity Information System (FAPIIS), a governmentwide database on contractor performance. Given that DOD cannot effectively negotiate prices without the necessary cost data, the provision aims to incentivize contractors to be more transparent and provide DOD the data it needs to ensure contract prices are fair.   

Strengthening Cybersecurity and Advanced Technology Capabilities

Protecting Against Manipulation of DOD-Generated Media: The bill contains a Peters amendment to continue oversight of DOD generated media and help to prevent manipulation of that media by bad actors like our foreign adversaries. Digital content creation, editing, and distribution tools are increasingly more accessible, and can be easily weaponized against the U.S. by our foreign adversaries who seek to threaten our national security, spread anti-American propaganda, and weaken our institutions. The amendment would help prevent DOD media content from being manipulated and used maliciously against our country by creating a pilot program to implement authenticity information on DOD-generated media. In last year’s national defense bill, Peters secured the inclusion of his bipartisan Digital Defense Content Provenance Act, which requires DOD to create a course at the Defense Information School to teach personnel about the threats posed by synthetic media such as deepfakes, as well as emerging technologies and key concepts of digital content provenance. The bill also created a pilot program at DOD to assess the feasibility of establishing content standard technologies on DOD-produced and owned media content. 

Developing American Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) Capabilities: The bill would provide increased funding for the development of new and innovative design and production of low-cost, uncrewed systems. The bill would also require a strategy to develop a secure domestic supply chain of critical components for small UAS systems. 

Advancing Counter-UAS Technologies: The bill would authorize increased funding for various counter-UAS activities, and require a strategy for countering drone technologies and assessing resources or authorities needed for drone incursion response to ensure we are equipped for the future of warfare. It would direct the Army, Navy, and Air Force to provide briefings on their respective service plans for counter-UAS capabilities.  

Supporting U.S. Security Interests Around the World

Strengthen State Partnership Program: The bill includes a provision Peters led that would help strengthen DOD’s State Partnership Program (SPP), which is administered by the National Guard Bureau. 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. The provision would exempt Bilateral Affairs Officers from active-duty end strength manning numbers. Bilateral Affairs Officers are the lynchpin of the State Partnership Program serving as the in-country National Guard officers responsible for successful military to military exchanges between partner nations. Exempting these officers from the active-duty end strength manning numbers is an effective way to ensure these billets are filled and sends a strong signal to our allies and partners that we are prioritizing this critical program. Currently, roughly 10 percent of these positions remain unfilled, leading to difficulty coordinating SPP programs. Michigan is partnered with the nations of Latvia and Liberia through the SPP. 

Support Israel’s Defense Against Emerging Threats: Peters secured $47.5 million in the bill to help increase U.S. collaboration with Israel to develop emerging defense technologies to meet the warfare challenges of the future. Peters introduced bipartisan legislation last year to bolster collaboration between the United States and Israel on emerging technologies by creating the U.S.-Israel Future of Warfare Research and Development Fund, authorized at $50 million annually through Fiscal Year 2028, to enable the U.S. and Israel to scale up cooperation efforts in these fields. 

Strengthen Efforts to Combat Anti-Tunneling Activity: The bill authorizes additional 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. 

Support for Taiwan: This bill would help ensure that Taiwan is aligned with the U.S. national defense industrial strategy to increase global defense production, strengthen our supply chain resilience, and support Taiwanese defense needs. 

Counter Chinese Communist Party Aggression: The bill includes numerous provisions to counter aggression from the Chinese government, including a provision requiring a report on the military cooperation between the People’s Republic of China and the Russian Federation, and the implications of such cooperation on U.S. national security.  

Enhance Security Cooperation with the Republic of Armenia: The bill includes a provision Peters led encouraging DOD to strengthen engagement with Armenia, including through bilateral training opportunities and other security cooperation activities. Michigan is home to a large and active Armenia diaspora community. Peters visited the Armenia-Azerbaijan border in September 2023 and viewed firsthand the blockade of the Lachin corridor. In response to his visit, he introduced the Armenian Protection Act, which unanimously passed in the Senate in November 2023. 

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