Gary Peters

It just seems inconsistent that we have a budget that was put forward by the President to basically cut Essential Air Service, which is truly essential in these small communities.

I think it was well received by the community, and I appreciate you taking the effort to come out to my State.

I am concerned that the President's budget plans to cut critical Transportation Security Administration (TSA) programs at a time that we cannot afford to let up on these security measures.

We cannot neglect our ports of entry as we try to increase resources in terms of Border Patrol and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents.

The President's budget aims to cut the VIPR teams from 31 down to just 8 teams to cover the entire country.

The President's budget will also slash other DHS programs that provide critical security to our transportation systems.

Taking away Medicaid would make it even more difficult.

Anything like Medicaid expansion being eliminated that limits people's access to health care, I cannot see any good coming from that in this crisis, especially with its mortality.

I think more than 1.6 million Americans have now gained access to substance abuse treatment.

Medicaid expansion has led to over 600,000 individuals now having health care coverage where they did not have it before.

Opioid abuse in Michigan is growing at an alarming rate, as it is around the country.

We know that China is currently executing a multi-decade strategic plan to acquire the United States' technologies.

One issue that came up of particular concern is the amount of space debris that now exists in orbit.

Taking some concrete actions would be very important.

It is a priority now, as far as being under review?

I am also very concerned about the Russian deployment of an intermediate-range, nuclear-capable missile that is clearly in violation of the INF [Intermediate Nuclear Forces] Treaty.

I believe that it's critical to develop next-generation non-proliferation technology to sustain international norms.

It's my belief that the continued improvement of nuclear detection technology is an often overlooked component of the international non-proliferation regime.

We have to harden our satellites. We have to harden our assets that the Air Force has.

I think the forecasting, the analogy to hurricane forecast is a very large impact like we had back in 1859.

We are seeing this erosion of trust in our society that I think has very ominous implications for the democracy that we all love, and the Republic that we cherish here in the United States.

We are here to discuss a very, very serious and valid issue in American society, the issue of building social capital in our communities.

The report required by the first Executive Order is overdue by over 60 days, more than twice as much time as required.

I want to just challenge a little bit of the assessment that other communities are adequately prepared for it.

I am certainly hearing from my departments in Michigan there are still unmet needs that they think are pretty critical.