U.S. Senator Gary Peters has been honored to represent the State of Michigan in the U.S. Senate since 2015. As someone who has lived in Michigan his entire life, Gary understands the importance of protecting our environment, our public lands, and especially our treasured freshwater resources. The Great Lakes are an ecological treasure that provide drinking water to more than 40 million people. Perhaps most importantly, they are simply part of our DNA as Michiganders, which is why Gary has made conservation of Michigan’s precious natural resources a top priority of his work in the Senate.

Throughout his entire career, Gary has been a tireless advocate for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI). Since its inception in 2010, the GLRI has provided more than $4 billion for 8,000 projects across the Great Lakes Basin, helping to accelerate efforts to stop the spread of invasive species, restore coastlines and habitats, clean up environmentally damaged Areas of Concern, and prevent future contamination. In 2022, Gary fought to secure a $1 billion investment in the GLRI through the bipartisan infrastructure law, which is the single-largest-ever investment in the program. Earlier this year, he introduced the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) Act of 2025 to reauthorize and expand resources for the GLRI to put the program on solid footing for years to come

Gary also knows that an oil spill in the Straits of Mackinac would be catastrophic for the health of the Great Lakes ecosystem and countless Michiganders. In 2018, after the then-Commandant of the Coast Guard told him at a hearing that the U.S. was not prepared for an oil spill in the Great Lakes, Gary authored and passed legislation into law establishing the U.S. Coast Guard Great Lakes Oil Spill Center of Expertise to study the impacts of oil spills in freshwater environments and help develop effective clean-up strategies. He then successfully secured $4.5 million to kick-start the initiative. In 2021, he announced that the center would be headquartered in two Michigan locations, the Center for Freshwater Research and Education at Lake Superior State University (LSSU) and the Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory in Ann Arbor. In 2022, Gary participated in the official ribbon-cutting ceremony at LSSU.

In 2025, Peters was also named Co-Chair of the Great Lakes Task Force in the 119th Congress. Founded in 1987, the Task Force is a bipartisan working group that advocates for the protection of the Great Lakes. As Co-Chair, Peters will convene meetings between Great Lakes Senators and staff to coordinate legislative initiatives, funding priorities, and oversight efforts to address the most important issues facing the Great Lakes.

After hearing how PFAS contamination has devasted communities across Michigan, Gary went to work to safeguard our public health and environment from these harmful forever chemicals. In September 2018, Gary convened the first-ever hearing on PFAS in the Senate to assess the federal response to contamination and remediation. The following month, he passed a provision into law allowing airports to phase out the use of firefighting foams that contain PFAS. He’s also led legislation that helps Michigan airports limit and prevent exposure to PFAS for our firefighters and first responders. Throughout his time in the Senate, Gary has brought key federal officials to Michigan to meet with his constituents who have been impacted by PFAS exposure. After years of advocating for more action to rid Michigan communities of these toxic chemicals, the EPA announced the first-ever national drinking water standard to protect Americans from PFAS in April 2024.

Climate change continues to threaten Michigan’s future – from our environment to our economy. That’s why Gary got to work and helped enact the Inflation Reduction Act. This historic law has made major investments to combat climate change while lowering energy costs for working families, increasing American clean energy production, and reducing our carbon emissions. The Inflation Reduction Act also created tax credits to help average Americans invest in clean energy alternatives like electric vehicles and energy efficient home improvements, while also providing tax incentives for American manufacturers to accelerate production of solar panels, wind turbines, batteries, and critical minerals. Together, these investments are creating jobs and economic opportunity for Michiganders, improving our energy security, and helping to confront the climate crisis.

While reducing greenhouse gas emissions is essential to addressing future climate and economic impacts, Gary recognizes that climate change has already had a devasting effect on Michigan. To help Michigan communities invest in making their infrastructure more resilient, he passed the STORM Act into law in 2021. This legislation created the Safeguarding Tomorrow Revolving Loan Fund (RLF) program to help communities across Michigan invest in projects that protect against severe flooding, rising water levels, coastal erosion, and other natural hazards. Gary secured the first federal funding to kick start the program as part of the bipartisan infrastructure law. In the first two funding cycles, Michigan has received more than $22 million from the RLF, including $17.3 million from the program’s Fiscal Year 2024 cycle – the largest allocation of the 12 states awarded.

Gary is Ranking Member of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, which is the Senate’s top oversight committee. He also serves on the Appropriations Committee, which is responsible for crafting legislation that allocates federal resources, the Armed Services Committee, and the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, where he is also Ranking Member of the Surface Transportation, Freight, Pipelines, and Safety Subcommittee.

Gary is a fifth-generation Michigander, a product of Michigan public schools, and has lived in Michigan his entire life. He and his wife, Colleen, live in Oakland County and have three children: Gary Jr., Madeleine and Alana. They recently became proud grandparents.