[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 97 (Wednesday, June 17, 2015)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4215-S4217]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
MICHIGAN PRODUCTIVITY AND INNOVATION
Mr. PETERS. Mr. President, I am truly blessed to represent the people
of Michigan in the Senate. My State was carved out in one era by the
ice age and again 200 years ago by the Congress. It is comprised of
more than just two beautiful peninsulas bordered by four Great Lakes.
Since our Nation's founding, Michigan has been at the frontier of
America, helping to build a stronger and more secure country. The
Northwest Ordinance, affirmed by the very first Congress, created the
midwestern region from which the Michigan Territory would be born. In
the 19th century, pioneers moved to what was then the western frontier
to settle in Michigan and its neighboring States.
The Peters family was among them. My family made the long journey
from New York and settled in Rochester, MI, in the early 1840s. They
were among the earliest pioneers to settle in my State. From that time
on, generations of Michiganders pioneered a State devoted to great
public education. While the Northwest Ordinance made primary education
a priority and stated that ``schools and the means of education shall
forever be encouraged'' in the new territory, higher education also had
a place that made our State great very early. Twenty years before the
founding of the State of Michigan, the University of Michigan was
founded, one of the first public universities in the country. Later,
Michigan State University would become one of the pioneer land grant
universities. While the two schools may be rivals on the gridiron, they
have long complimented each other to the benefit of our State.
Today, Michigan is home to 93 universities, colleges, and community
colleges. Michigan grew rapidly as migrants from across the country and
immigrants from around the world were drawn to our supplies of timber,
ore, arable land, and abundant fresh water. As a new century dawned
across America, Michigan continued to grow with the advent of
industrialization and mass manufacturing, from mining and forestry at
the western tip of the Upper Peninsula to the booming auto factories of
Detroit. Michigan embodied the growing optimism, opportunity, and
prosperity that would be America's crowning achievement in the 20th
century.
Michigan factories would turn into the great arsenal of democracy,
building the armadas that would defeat tyranny, win the Second World
War, and, in the process, create America's middle class. During World
War II, my father, Herb Peters, was a proud solder in Eisenhower's
Army, helping free France from Nazi occupation. It was there that he
would meet my mother, Madeleine Vignier, a beautiful young French
woman. They were married and raised me and my two sisters, Gigi and
Jackie, in a typical middle-class home. A few years ago, with my late
father, I joined the Sons of the American Revolution. My forefather,
William Garrett, was a member of the Virginia militia and served
alongside General George Washington at Valley Forge.
My great-grandfather, Julian Peters, served with the Michigan
infantry during the Civil War. I am proud to follow earlier generations
of patriots who served their country and were prepared to make the
ultimate sacrifice in defense of freedom and liberty. But like millions
of Americans, I am also the son of an immigrant. America's shores were
new to my mother, but they provided an incredible expanse of
opportunity that people across the globe continue to dream of. My
mother worked long hours as a nurse's aide and fought for a better
workplace for herself and her coworkers, helping to organize her
workplace and later serving as a union steward.
Michigan's strong labor movement and our manufacturing sector helped
build economic opportunities for millions of Americans. Standing
together to call for fair wages, safer workplaces,
[[Page S4216]]
and better hours, Michigan workers and their families helped build the
middle class and make the American dream a reality for many. I am
honored to embody such a uniquely American experience--the descendant
of an American Revolutionary War soldier and the son of a foreign-born
naturalized citizen--and to carry on these rich traditions that
continue to make our Nation proud, diverse, and strong.
But while my story is uniquely American, it is not so different from
nearly 10 million Michiganders of varied backgrounds who have come
together to make our State an extraordinary, special place. Michigan is
unique in that we are the only State made up of two peninsulas.
Separated for thousands of years by waterways carved by retreating
glaciers, our peninsulas permanently united with Michigan statehood and
finally connected with the opening of the Mackinac Bridge almost 60
years ago.
The Mackinac Bridge is one of the longest suspension bridges in the
world. It remains an engineering marvel to this day and a symbol of how
Michiganders can come together to accomplish great things. Financed
with an innovative public-private bond structure, over 10,000 workers
contributed to this 5-mile span, implementing the vision and planning
of 350 engineers. In our State, it is simply known as ``The Bridge.''
Its construction unleashed economic growth for our State, increasing
tourism in the Upper Peninsula and providing a new avenue for goods to
be hauled south while agricultural products and manufactured goods
flowed north.
As Michigan and our Nation transition to a 21st-century economy, we
would do well to draw on the engineering know-how, skilled workforce,
and boldness to invest in transformative infrastructure that made the
Mackinac Bridge possible. Michigan's products move and feed the Nation.
We invented the modern automobile, advanced manufacturing, and
America's middle class.
We are the second most agriculturally diverse State in the Nation.
Our blueberries, apples, cherries, and sugar beets are just a few of
the 300 crops we grow and ship across the country and the world. Our
incredible farmers, growers, and producers use Michigan's unique
climate and resources to feed people across our country and around the
world.
Whether we are talking about our State, our Nation or our successful
industries, we cannot rest on our laurels. We are in constant
competition. The coming decades will see rapid growth abroad, but I
know our Nation will continue to lead the world with our ability to
innovate and efficiently align capital and talent to maximize the
strengths of our workforce.
Today's small business in Grand Rapids or a start-up in Detroit can
access consumers across the world. I know that Michigan will be at the
cutting edge of this new global economy. Michigan is at the forefront
of developing the transformative technologies that will remake America
and help our country sustain its stature and prominence.
Southeast Michigan has more engineers per capita than any State in
the country, which is one of the reasons Detroit is home to the first
field patent office outside of Washington, DC. Our automakers, parts
suppliers, and advanced manufacturers are constantly innovating--and
not just generations of new goods but also intellectual property. If
you can make it, we can find a way to make it faster, lighter, more
efficient, safer, and more affordable.
Incremental innovation meaningfully improves lives, but as a nation
we must keep working toward the next big thing. Investments in
education and basic scientific research are the downpayment on our
future. It is particularly critical that we continue these investments
at a time when our country faces so many unique challenges.
Growing income inequality is a threat to our middle class, our
economy, and our democracy. While globalization is opening new markets
for American goods, it is also hollowing out the mid-level jobs that
are the foundation of the American middle class. Without a strong
middle class we cannot have a strong economy, and without a strong
middle class we simply cannot have a strong democracy.
There are many ideas about how to deal with these challenges, but
history has taught us that increased productivity is the No. 1 driver
of economic progress and, in my view, the key to American greatness.
Economic historians tell us that after hundreds of years of zero
economic growth, groundbreaking innovations changed the face of
commerce.
In the mid-1700s came the cotton gin, steam engine, and railroads,
followed by more breakthroughs in the 1800s, electricity, the internal
combustion engine, and even indoor plumbing. Before indoor plumbing, a
recent study estimated the average housewife spent nearly 150 hours per
year walking back and forth to gather 3.5 tons of water for her family
to cook, clean, and drink. The technology of indoor plumbing alone
unleashed enormous gains in productivity.
Today, we have tablets and smartphones and social media, but if we
are going to solve the tough challenges facing the middle-class
families and all those who aspire to be in the middle class, we will
need to unleash even more productivity and more innovation. We will
need to discover the next big thing, and I don't know what that next
big thing will be, but I do know the Federal Government must continue
investing in the seed corn of basic research and development.
From the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams at Michigan State to Wayne
State's bioresearch facility, to the University of Michigan's extensive
joint projects with NASA, our State's universities are leading the way
in research.
The research being conducted at our universities is also creating
jobs in Michigan as these transformative technologies are
commercialized. Students are not just inventing new technologies, they
are also inventing their own jobs and companies.
For example, using technology developed at the University of Michigan
for NASA to measure electric fields resulting from dust storms blowing
across Mars, a startup spun off of these efforts is now creating jobs
on Earth to help an electric company monitor their utility lines.
Innovation is creating new industries in Michigan and is also
revolutionizing many of our existing industries. Advanced sensors,
robotics, and big data will allow precision agriculture that boosts
productivity and conserves natural resources.
One industry that has always meant jobs for Michigan is, of course,
the automobile industry. We are on the verge of an automotive
technological revolution that will allow vehicles to communicate their
location, speed, and other data electronically with each other and our
transportation infrastructure as well.
Research by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
estimates this technology can reduce accidents by 80 percent, save
fuel, and cut congestion at a time when Americans spend an estimated 5
vacation days a year stuck in traffic jams.
When more than 30,000 Americans are killed in accidents on our roads
and highways every year, the advancements of this kind of technology
will literally save thousands of lives.
This means active crash-avoidance technology that stops accidents
before they happen, and before long, autonomous vehicles that drive
themselves. This is truly revolutionary technology packaged with
horsepower and torque, my favorite part of the car.
But the Federal Government has to do its part to develop and protect
this technology. One of my top priorities, as a new member of the
Senate commerce committee, is to ensure that vehicles have the wireless
spectrum they need to communicate with each other and to make our roads
safer.
As manufacturing and technology merge, Michigan is prepared to lead
the way. What were once separate industries are now merging into
complements in a battle for the future that America must win.
Federal investment in research and development is just that, an
investment that has paid off many times over. Investment in research
supports the new technologies and industries of the future, drives job
creation, and provides technologies critical to our national security.
Necessary Federal investment in infrastructure and innovation is only
possible if those of us in Congress take
[[Page S4217]]
our job seriously as stewards of taxpayer dollars and look for places
to avoid unnecessary wasteful spending.
We also will not be able to accomplish anything without embracing
pragmatism and bipartisanship. We cannot focus on whether ideas come
from a Republican or from a Democrat. We need to focus only on whether
the idea has merit and is good for the country. This is why I have
spent my first 5 months in office the way I intend to spend the rest of
my career in public service, reaching across the aisle to find common
ground and the practical solutions that will make our government work
better, drive innovation and competitiveness, and keep Michigan and
America safe and strong.
I have introduced legislation with Senator Gardner from Colorado to
increase oversight of duplicative spending and force Congress to act on
deficit reduction.
I worked with Senator Ernst from Iowa to introduce legislation to
extend a tax credit for small businesses that support their activated
military reservist employees.
Senator Lankford of Oklahoma and I worked on a bill that would ensure
Federal agencies use remanufactured auto parts when maintaining their
fleets, an idea that will save natural resources and taxpayer dollars
while supporting our country's remanufactured parts industry. Just 2
days ago, this bill unanimously passed the Senate.
I worked with Senator Risch from Idaho to move legislation through
the small business committee to extend and preserve the Small Business
Administration's 7(a) Loan Program, so our Nation's small businesses
can access the capital they need to grow and create jobs.
Senator Cornyn, Senator Graham, and I introduced legislation to
create a bipartisan commission to examine our Nation's judicial system
from the top to the bottom and to make sure it is working for all
Americans.
Senator Sullivan and I worked together to introduce a bill to cut
excise taxes for small craft distillers, a growth industry in Michigan,
Alaska, and America.
I am also proud to say the legislation I introduced with Senator
Cassidy of Louisiana to provide training for medical professionals to
identify victims of human trafficking was also signed into law after it
passed the Senate as part of a larger effort to combat human
trafficking.
I was sent to the Senate to represent the people of Michigan, and
they want Congress to work together in a bipartisan way to solve the
challenges facing our country. We must focus more on what we have in
common and less on our differences. We should work on ideas that are
good for our country and good for our States. I have worked to be a
practical problem solver in my first few months, and it is what I
intend to do in the years ahead.
There is much to be done, and I will work tirelessly for the people
of Michigan. My weeks in Washington, unfortunately, keep me apart from
my wife Colleen and my children, Madeleine, Alana, and Gary, Jr., but
their love and steadfast support is with me each and every day. Colleen
was raised by her parents Raul and Kathy Ochoa in Oakland County--like
me--and together we share a passion for public service. I am so pleased
Colleen and Madeleine are here with me today in the Senate Gallery.
On the Senate floor, we are standing on the shoulders of giants. This
includes our Nation's Founding Fathers and more recent predecessors. My
staff and I recently moved into the Hart Senate Office Building, named
after Senator Phil Hart from Michigan, a man rightfully known as the
``Conscience of the Senate'' and a role model for all of us.
I could not be happier that my office will be right around the corner
from my close friend, mentor, colleague, and respected leader in the
Senate Senator Debbie Stabenow, and I am honored that Debbie has joined
me on the Senate floor for this speech.
Of course, I am deeply honored to succeed Senator Carl Levin, another
one of my mentors and a man who defined what it means to be a public
servant. The careers of Senators Levin, Hart, Riegle, Griffin, and
other Michiganders who preceded me provided the foundation on which I
hope to build our shared future and create the best Michigan possible--
not only the kind of Michigan we want to live in but the kind of
Michigan our children and grandchildren will want to spend their lives
in, a Michigan that is a magnet for migration and unbridled opportunity
for families and small businesses, and a State that will lead the world
in innovation.
I look forward to working with my colleagues in the Senate and
Michiganders across the State to make a better future for all of us a
reality. Together, we will continue to build a State and a country that
embody the opportunity, the possibility, and the promise that has made
our country a shining beacon for so many around the globe.
I yield back the remainder of my time.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Cotton). The Democratic leader.
____________________