Pushing to the future and finding jobs.
These are Congressman Gary Peters’ (D- MI 9th) key goals for the years to come.
Peters shared this viewpoint with at an Oct. 14 campaign stop at the Seaholm Auditorium. Peters, who attended the event at the request of the Seaholm Social Studies department, spoke to a crowd of more than 200 Flex and Government students.
“I think that Seaholm got a really great opportunity to hear [Peters],” Flex and Leadership teacher Robin Moten said. “I thought the Seaholm students- the questions they asked- were really impressive. I’m glad that [the candidates visited the school]. It’s not a rare occurrence, but it’s not done very much. People don’t respect high school students to that extent. I was really impressed with that.”
Peters’ resume is extensive. He was a Naval Reserve Lieutenant Commander, a Central Michigan University professor and worked 22 years in the investment industry’s private sector.
Peters, who after defeating incumbent Republican Joe Knollenberg in 2008, became the first Democrat to represent the district in 100 years, said he hopes he will be able to continue helping his state in Washington.
“It’s been a pretty intense time to be a congressman with all the economic troubles that we’ve been having here in Michigan as well as around the country,” Peters said. “That’s really been my focus. It’s been about the economy, and it’s been about jobs. In my mind there isn’t anything more important for all of us, certainly for all of you, especially for those of you who are going to go to school, want to work, and hopefully stay here in Michigan.”
In Washington, Peters serves on two committees: the financial services committee and the science and technology committee.
“[The] first [committee] is the financial services committee,” Peters said. “A lot of the work we do in Washington is primarily sitting around the committee that your associates assigned you. It is the committee responsible for all the financial industries in America. It’s the banking, it’s the insurance, it’s Wall Street. Wall Street reform is one of the biggest issues, and health care and Wall Street reform are the two biggest issues tackled by the upper level of congress.”
Peters also would like to make the market more accessible for small businesses.
“Probably the one issue I hear from small businesses all across this area is that it’s been difficult if they ask to get a loan,” Peters said. “[Small businesses need loans] in order to grow their business and hire people and just to have basic working capital to work in that business. They can’t get loans. The big Wall Street banks aren’t lending to them, and community banks are really being squeezed. It’s going to be a big deal to help bring in money to the hands of our small business owners here in Michigan. It’s going to be very, very important to bring in jobs.”
Science and technology is a committee to which Peters feels personally connected.
“The other committee I serve on is science and tech,” Peters said. “Normally if you’re on financial services, you can’t be on any other committee, because they’re an exclusive committee. But I felt very strongly about science and technology and asked for a waiver. To me, I felt strongly about it because it’s a part of the strength of who we are in Southeastern Michigan. We’ve got an incredible intellectual talent. We have more engineers in Southeast Michigan than any other region in the country. It’s an incredible resource that we have.”
Peters is especially stressing education in the sciences. He believes that is where the jobs will be for the younger generations.
“I think [something that] is so important, particularly in some of the tougher areas, is science and technology education,” Peters said. “That’s part of our science and technology committee. We’re working on science education and making sure there are rich opportunities for students in science and technology. That’s where the future is.”
Junior Timmy Christensen said that his favorite idea from Peters involved educating students in areas that will benefit the country, namely technology.
“I think [Peters] has got a good plan,” Christianson said. “He talked about pushing science and technology [in schools], and that’s the only way [Americans] are going to compete [in the job market].”
Peters also emphasized the importance of bringing those jobs to Michigan and keeping future generations here.
“My goal as a parent is to make sure that there are jobs available so that my 15 year old and 13 year old also stay in Michigan,” Peters said. “It’s probably the goal, I would think, of all of your parents as well. It’s to make sure there are opportunities and jobs so that you can stay here in Michigan. I know many of you [students] would like to leave the state. We would like to have you here. Personally, my saying is I hope to have my grandkids here. That’s what really motivated me to run two years ago.”
Another project Peters feels will greatly benefit students is Headstart. Peters calls this program “probably the most successful program the government has ever done.”
Headstart begins when a child enters preschool, and it works to ensure the child is on track and gaining a beneficial education.
“I’m a strong supporter of Headstart,” Peters said. “Headstart works with preschool to make sure that you go into preschool and you have a rich learning environment that sets them up for when they get into kindergarten. It had a dramatic, dramatic impact on [young students].”
Aside from programs like Headstart, however, Peters feels education should be handled by the state.
“My personal philosophy when it comes to education is the federal government should stay out of education,” Peters said. “It should be primarily a state issue. It should be in the control of the local school board, local parents, students, and teachers.”
Christensen, a self-proclaimed “strong Democrat,” thought that even though Peters had his support, more charm would have added to his presentation.
“I’m a supporter of Peters, and I like his policies,” Christianson said, “But he wasn’t that charismatic during the assembly with the school. He did what he had to do, and he said his ideas well enough, [but] I think [Republican challenger Andrew (Rocky) Raczkowski] definitely sold a lot more people.”
Moten, also a democrat, echoed Christensen, saying Peters needed more conviction.
“[He was] pretty uninspired,” Moten said. “His policies are fine. I’m a democrat, but for me I’m probably a bit more progressive on some issues than I think he is. But he’ll get my vote because he’s in my party. But as far as really understanding what he’s going to do to help transform Michigan and take Michigan in a new direction, I didn’t get that from neither Peters nor Raczkowski.”
Many students in attendance agreed with Moten and Christensen, saying that Peters could have had more charisma.
“Gary Peters was just very straight forward, very to the point,” Seaholm senior Megan Smith said. “He answered the questions very well, but it was not interesting as compared to Rocky [Raczkowski].”
Seaholm senior Andrea Giancarlo added that Peters was not as believable.
“I thought [Peters] was fairly well spoken, but his stories didn’t really add up to [Raczkowski]’s rebuttal,” Seaholm senior Andrea Giancarlo said. “[Peters] didn’t exactly elaborate.”
