Senate Passes National Defense Bill with Senator Peters’ Provisions and Michigan Priorities

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Senate has passed the government’s annual defense authorization bill, which includes key provisions and Michigan priorities secured by U.S. Senator Gary Peters (MI). Peters, who is a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, successfully led and supported multiple provisions in the bill – including to invest in Michigan’s military facilities, combat aggression by adversaries like the Chinese and Russian governments, advance PFAS removal efforts, and give servicemembers a pay raise.

“Strong defense capabilities are key for our national security and the security of our allies, and this bipartisan legislation will help ensure the U.S. military remains the strongest in the world,” said Senator Peters, a former Lieutenant Commander in the U.S. Navy Reserve. “It authorizes key investments in Michigan’s military facilities that will contribute to our state’s continued role as a critical component of our national defense. Looking ahead, I will continue to do everything possible to secure the future of Selfridge Air National Guard Base and Michigan’s many other defense installations, and to continue to increase our state’s defense footprint.” 

The annual National Defense Authorization Act sets the Department of Defense’s budget and policy priorities for the coming year. The Senate and the House of Representatives previously passed their own versions of the legislation. Leaders in both chambers then negotiated and came to an agreement on the legislation that passed the Senate today. Once the House passes the bill, it will head to the President’s desk to be signed into law.

Investing in Michigan’s Military Facilities:

• $72 Million for a Ground Transport Equipment Building at the Detroit Arsenal: Peters secured an authorization of $72 million toward the construction of a new research and development laboratory to support the arsenal’s advanced tactical and combat system mission functions. He also secured an authorization for $2.4 million for the planning and design of a new tactical vehicle lab. Earlier this year, as a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Peters helped advance this funding for the Detroit Arsenal. This builds on Peters’ work to secure $2.5 million last year to help advance and complete the Detroit Arsenal Connector Project on Mound Road, a corridor that is home not only to the Detroit Arsenal but General Motors Tech Center, BAE Systems, General Dynamics Land Systems, and Stellantis and Ford plants.

• $24.5 Million for Supply Facilities at Battle Creek Naval and Marine Corps Reserve Center (MCRC): Peters secured an authorization of approximately $24.5 million to construct two new buildings and a vehicle wash platform to support the active duty personnel and drilling reserve personnel assigned to the Battle Creek MCRC. As a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Peters helped advance this funding for Battle Creek MCRC earlier this year.

Addressing PFAS Contamination in Michigan Communities:

• Requiring Cost and Timing Estimates for PFAS Remediation: Peters secured a provision to require the Department of Defense to report to Congress on the proposed schedule and cost estimates of the completion of PFAS remediation activities and publish the current status of those activities. Michigan is home to a number of military installations where PFAS contamination has been detected, including Camp Grayling and the former Wurtsmith Air Force Base in Oscoda. This provision will ensure oversight of the Department of Defense’s efforts to address PFAS contamination at its installations, reducing exposure to servicemembers, their families, and the surrounding communities.

• Studying PFAS in Drinking Water: Peters supported a provision in the bill that provides $5 million in funding for a Department of Health and Human Services study on the health implications of PFAS in drinking water at military installations.

• Requiring the Department of Defense to Develop a Separate Annual Budget Proposal for PFAS Activities: Peters supported a provision in the bill that requires a separate budget justification document by the Department of Defense that consolidates all information pertaining to activities of the Department relating to PFAS. These include funding for and descriptions of research and development, testing, remediation, contaminant disposal, and community outreach.

• Assessing the State of Ongoing Testing and Remediation: Peters supported a provision in the bill that requires the Government Accountability Office to report on the Department of Defense’s efforts to test and remediate current or former military installations contaminated by PFAS. This includes assessing the thoroughness, pace, and cost-effectiveness of the Department’s efforts to conduct testing for and remediation of PFAS and recommendations to improve such efforts.

• Studying the Human Health Impacts of PFAS Contamination: Peters supported a provision in the bill that provides funding for the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry to study and assess the health implications of PFAS contamination in drinking water on servicemembers’ health.

Supporting Michigan’s Defense Sector and Advanced Technology:

• Developing a Comprehensive Air Force Strategy to Protect Fighter Mission at Selfridge: Peters supported a provision in the bill requiring the Air Force to create a plan for the future of the Air Force’s fighter fleet that includes the Air National Guard, as well as specific plans for the Air National Guard fighter units including the mission housed at Selfridge Air National Guard Base in Macomb County. Through his role on the Senate Armed Services and Senate Appropriations Committees, Peters is pushing for a long-term fighter jet mission at Selfridge.

• Strengthening Buy American Requirements for Defense Programs: The bill includes a provision to require that more U.S. military hardware be manufactured by American companies and workers. The language codifies an executive order issued by President Biden that would strengthen our national security supply chains and encourage more domestic manufacturing by requiring a certain percentage of defense related components to be made in America, bolstering Michigan’s strong defense manufacturing industry.

• Bolstering Support for Ground Combat Vehicles: Peters helped secure robust funding for ground combat vehicles – including Abrams tanks, Stryker vehicle upgrades, and Paladin Integrated Management (PIM) systems. These ground vehicle platforms support thousands of good-paying jobs across Michigan. Peters also authored a provision requiring the Army to inform Congress on how they plan to build the necessary lab facilities to test, evaluate, and integrate advanced, and oftentimes sensitive, technologies that are currently being developed onto future ground combat vehicle platforms.

• Improving Ground Autonomous Mobility: Peters authored a provision included in the bill requiring the Army to clarify how they are managing autonomous mobility solutions across ground vehicle platforms. Michigan is leading the way on civilian autonomous vehicle development and Peters is fighting to ensure that the Army makes Michigan their home for all autonomous vehicle development moving forward.

• Advancing US Strategy for Tactical Wheeled Vehicles: Michigan is home to a number of manufacturers of tactical defense vehicles. Peters secured a provision in the bill that would require the Army to deliver a strategy for its entire tactical wheeled vehicle fleet, which will support Michigan’s industrial defense sector while saving taxpayer dollars.

• Strengthening US Counter Defenses Against Drones: Peters authored and secured a provision to extend the Department of Defense’s authorities to defend against threats posed by Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS), commonly known as drones, that are being used by malicious actors. This authority was set to expire in 2023 and was extended until 2026.

• Encouraging the Adoption of Dual-Use Technologies: Peters authored a provision included in the bill that encourages the Army to continue using innovative dual-use commercial technologies when developing next generation ground combat systems. Utilizing these technologies is cost-effective and will help keep our military at the cutting edge.

• Increasing Usage of Modeling & Simulation Tools: Peters authored a provision included in the bill to encourage the Department of Defense to continue to adopt and develop modeling and simulation tools, which can increase cost-efficiency by allowing engineers to test and design vehicles before building them.

• Boosting US Proficiency in Digital Content Provenance: Peters secured the inclusion of his bipartisan bill, the Digital Defense Content Provenance Act. This bill will require the Department of Defense 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 would also create a pilot program at DOD to assess the feasibility of establishing content standard technologies on DOD-produced and owned media content.

• Improving Classified Vehicle Integration: Peters included a provision recognizing the importance of the Army planning and budgeting for infrastructure to test, evaluate, and integrate classified systems onto combat platforms. This would assist the Detroit Arsenal and their efforts to test and upgrade current and future combat platforms.   

• Investing in Mine Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicles (MRAP): Peters secured a provision directing the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment to provide a report on long-term strategies, programing and budgeting. Specifically, it expresses concerns that the DOD has not invested in their MRAP vehicle fleet given their importance for partners like Ukraine.

Supporting Our Troops, Their Families, and Our Communities:

• Pay Raise for Troops: Peters supported a 5.2 percent pay raise for both military servicemembers and the Department of Defense civilian workforce.

• Supporting Veterans with Invisible Wounds of War: Peters included a provision based on his bipartisan Discharge Review Board Accountability Act, that would direct the Government Accountability Office to study and report back to Congress on the compliance of Discharge Review Boards with the Fairness for Veterans Act that Peters authored into law in 2016.

• Elevating the Position of the Vice Chief of the National Guard Bureau: Peters included a measure based on his legislation, the Vice Chiefs Parity Act, to elevate the position of the Vice Chief of the National Guard Bureau from a three to a four-star position. Elevating this position will give the National Guard Bureau a stronger voice in the Pentagon to advocate for Guard missions and equipment, as well as efforts to address quality of life issues affecting Guardsmen and their families.

• Enduring Organizational Clothing and Individual Equipment Program: Peters included a provision to support the Army effort to plan for and fund an Enduring Organizational Clothing and Individual Equipment (OCIE) program as a way to avoid future shortfalls in critical soldier equipment and avoid industrial base disruptions.

Strengthening Cybersecurity:

• Increase Understanding of Domestic Cyber Vulnerabilities: Peters authored a provision included in the bill that would require the Department of Defense to provide a report on potential threats to domestic military installations that are presented by critical infrastructure vulnerabilities in the surrounding communities. Improving our understanding of these threats will help installation commanders better work with local communities to shore up their defenses and prevent adversaries from exploiting these weaknesses to attack our country.

• Bolstering Response to Significant Cybersecurity Incidents: Peters secured the inclusion of his bill, the Defense Support for Cyber Emergencies Response Act, which would allow the Secretary of Defense to call up Reservists to active duty to support Department of Defense responses to significant cyber incidents, including for potential requests by the Department of Homeland Security for cyber assistance.

• Defending Allies Against Cyber-Attacks: Peters authored a provision in the bill mandating that the Department of Defense study the creation of a “Foreign Cyber Incident Response Plan.” This effort comes in the wake of the devastating Iranian cyber-attacks against our North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) ally Albania. Peters traveled in May to the Western Balkans and met with senior Albanian and U.S. officials to discuss the cyber incident. This provision would help the Department respond to future cyber-attacks against our allies.

 Investing in Defense Operations and Supporting U.S. Security Interests:

• Bolstering Support for Ukraine and NATO: The bill would take a number of steps to reinforce U.S. support of Ukraine and our NATO allies abroad. It would extend the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI) through fiscal year 2027 and authorize the full budget request of $300 million in fiscal year 2024. The bill also includes language expressing that the United States’ commitment to NATO is ironclad and that emphasizes the importance of maintaining a unified response to the Russian Federation’s unjust war in Ukraine.

• Boosting Defense Cooperation Between US and Kosovo: Peters secured his bill, the Kosovo Defense Cooperation Enhancement Act, that would allow U.S. and Kosovo forces to train more closely and create new opportunities for the Kosovo military to participate in multi-national exercises. Giving Kosovo these opportunities would increase their defense capabilities and strengthen ties between our nations. This builds on Peters’ trip to Kosovo, Albania and the Western Balkans earlier this year.

• Working to End the War in Yemen: Peters supported a provision to extend the U.S.’s prohibition on providing in-flight refueling that would support offensive operations conducted by the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen. Peters has repeatedly spoken out against the war in Yemen and the resulting humanitarian crisis, including most recently on the Senate floor in March following the eighth anniversary of the war.

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