Two More Peters Bills Headed to President to be Signed into Law, Building on Peters’ Record of Bipartisanship & Effectiveness

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. House of Representatives passed two more bills written by U.S. Senator Gary Peters (MI) this week that are headed to the President’s desk, building on Peters’ strong record of bipartisanship and effectiveness. Once signed into law, the legislation passed this week – the bipartisan CHARGE Act and bipartisan PROSWIFT Act – would mark six standalone Peters bills signed into law under President Trump—the most of any Democratic senator in his presidency. Despite serving in his first term and in the minority, Peters also has:

• Passed through Congress and sent eight standalone bills to the White House to be signed into law since he began serving in the Senate in 2015, the most of any Democratic senator during this period;
• Passed 14 bills through the Senate since 2017, the most of any Democratic senator since Trump took office; and
• Passed nine bills out of the Senate this Congress (2019-2020), which is more than any other Senator from either party.

“My approach is finding common ground and working in a bipartisan manner to get things done for Michigan. That’s what Michiganders expect of their elected officials,” said Senator Peters. “Whether it’s expanding apprenticeship opportunities for veterans, increasing our border security, or ensuring Michigan is best-positioned for future success – I have worked to deliver results. I’m going to continue focusing on the issues I hear about from Michiganders.”

In addition to the CHARGE Act and the PROSWIFT Act that passed the House of Representatives this week – and previously passed the Senate – four other Peters standalone bills have been signed into law by President Trump, including:

• The Support for Veterans in Effective Apprenticeships Act of 2019, introduced with Senator Shelly Moore Capito (R-WV), which will increase veterans’ access to Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) financial assistance that they can use toward a Department of Labor registered apprenticeship program. The bipartisan measure was passed unanimously by the Senate in December 2019 and signed into law this past March.

• The Protecting America's Food and Agriculture Act of 2019, introduced with Senators Pat Roberts (R-KS), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) and John Cornyn (R-TX), which will help address the shortage of agricultural inspectors who protect the nation’s food supply and agricultural industries at the border. The bipartisan legislation was passed by the Senate in October of 2019 and signed into law this past March.

• The Federal Personal Property Management Act of 2018, introduced with Senators Rand Paul (R-KY), Doug Jones (D-AL) and James Lankford (R-OK), which streamlined the federal inventory review process to save taxpayer money by directing federal agencies to more frequently assess unneeded federal property and selling or disposing of that excess property. The assessment will include identifying the age and condition of the property and the extent to which the property is used or needed. This bill became law in January 2019.

• The Small Business Innovation Protection Act of 2017, introduced with Senator Jim Risch (R-ID) to help small businesses protect their intellectual property by improving education on obtaining and protecting patents via outreach programs run by SBA and the USPTO. Further, the bill will help businesses ensure they have international patents, as small businesses who do not register in foreign markets, such as China, receive no intellectual property protections. This will be accomplished by improving SBA/USPTO partnerships with small business and make Small Business Development Centers more effective. This bill became law in October 2018.

• The Promoting Research and Observations of Space Weather to Improve the Forecasting of Tomorrow (PROSWIFT) Act, introduced with Senator Cory Gardner (R-CO), would strengthen the nation’s ability to predict severe space weather events and mitigate their harmful impacts on Earth. This bill is headed to the President to be signed into law.

• The Charging Helps Agencies Realize General Efficiencies (CHARGE) Act, introduced with Senator Portman (R-OH), would save taxpayer dollars by updating policies to help federal agencies adopt electric vehicles, which are more energy efficient than traditional gas-powered vehicles. This bill is headed to the President to be signed into law.

Peters has been recognized as one of the most bipartisan and effective lawmakers in the Senate. This year, the non-partisan Lugar Center ranked him as the 3rd-most bipartisan Democrat and 12th-most bipartisan Senator. This follows Peters being named the 4th-most bipartisan Democrat by the Lugar Center last year and the 4th-most effective Democratic senator in the 115th Senate (2017-2018) by the non-partisan Center for Effective Lawmaking. This year, he also earned the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Jefferson-Hamilton Award for Bipartisanship.

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