Peters.

DEARBORN — For democratic U.S. senate candidate Gary Peters, the number one issue is the economy. Back in 2008, Peters, who represents the 14th district in Congress, supported the rescue of the automobile industry, which  saved Michigan’s economy from collapse. 

He also called small businesses the engine of growth in the state’s economy.

Peters, who worked as an investment advisor for 22 years and served two terms in the State Senate from 1994-2002, focuses primarily on small business issues and the ability for a small business person to have access to loans to help build their businesses. 

“I authored the state small business credit initiative, which provides resources for small businesses that might not otherwise get them,” he said. 

Peters said the legislation has already been credited with creating more than six thousand jobs in the state and more than 50,000 jobs across the country. 

“And in U.S. Senate we can expand that to include even more jobs,” he said. 

Throughout his political career, Peters, who is vying with republican Terri Lynn Land for the seat of retiring democratic Senator Carl Levin, has maintained a close relationship with Michigan’s Arab community. He called the region’s diversity the strength of the greater Detroit area.

 “I always say that I am proud to represent the largest Middle Eastern community outside the Middle East here in Detroit,” said Peters, who recently earned the endorsement of the Arab American Political Action Committee. 

Peters visited The Arab American News on Oct. 10, after returning from an event at the Detroit Music Hall where First Lady Michelle Obama campaigned on behalf of both himself and democratic gubernatorial candidate Mark Schauer. 

Local Muslims have taken issue with an evangelical Christian non-profit group operated by Land’s family, which lists Islam, Judaism and Buddhism as “obstacles” to its mission in a promotional video. Muslim Americans have questioned whether the charity categorizing the faiths as obstacles would impact Land’s ability to represent Michigan’s diverse communities in Washington. 

“As a United States senator you have to represent everybody,” he said, when asked about that video.

For that same reason, he questions why Land has refused to agree to “town hall” type debates, such as the one between Schauer and Gov. Rick Snyder on Sunday.

 “She simply doesn’t want to be at a town hall forum,” he said. “I don’t know how you can be a United States senator and be afraid to stand in front of voters and answer their questions directly. That is what we should do, and apparently that is something she won’t do.” 

Land’s campaign has accused Peters of not agreeing to a public debate with local ABC affiliate WXYZ on Oct. 27. When asked about that charge, Peters said he agreed to a few debates. He said Land never responded and the debates were subsequently canceled. 

Peters and Land initially took issue with the format of the debate. WXYZ agreed to change the format of the debate and make half of it a town hall style and the other half moderated. 

 “Let’s have this out in the open and I’ll put this out there right now,” Peters said. “We’ll have an open town hall debate like the gubernatorial candidates and we’ll see what she says.” 

Peters said that throughout her campaign, Land has avoided both the press and talking to voters. He said neither students from Michigan State University, the League of Women Voters nor the Chamber of Commerce in Traverse City were able to get responses from Land’s campaign. 

On Oct. 16, Peters and Land spoke separately at the Shenandoah Country Club in West Bloomfield, addressing area Chaldean groups.

An overwhelming number of refugees from Syria and Iraq are seeking asylum in other countries.  Peters advocates comprehensive immigration reform under the Border Security Economic Opportunity and Immigration Modernization Act, which has not made it to the House and addresses the needs of refugees.

He has staff members in his office who focus specifically on immigration because he believes it is such an important issue. 

Peters recently voted to support a bill that grants authorization to train and arm Syrian rebels as part of a strategy to fight the “Islamic State.” He also agrees that President Obama should not have launched air strikes in Syria without congressional approval. “You need to have congressional authorization for these activities,” he said. 

Peters said he doesn’t believe the “Islamic State” is representative of Islam. 

“This brutal group, at least in my mind, doesn’t represent Islam at all,” he said. “This is not at all a group that has anything to do with a very beautiful religion. If we are going to deal with a group like ISIS, it has to be nations and groups of people coming together to condemn that action.” 

Peters has also addressed serious issues impacting the Arab community including people being placed on the U.S. No Fly List without reasonable explanation, and concerns about the U.S. Watch some Arabs in Dearborn have been put on.

As of Sept. 1 Peters and Land have spent approximately $19 million combined on TV ads for the open senate seat. However, Peters said it’s not just about money. 

“It is about being in a community and having folks that get to know you,” he said, adding that they also want to understand a senator’s track record and to know that he’ll be an aggressive advocate for them in Washington D.C.

“Bottom line, that is what this campaign is about.” 

Peters defended his decision to support the Affordable Care Act, saying the measure, better known as “Obamacare”, has benefited hundreds of thousands of families. 

“I believe very deeply [that] everyone in this country, no matter who you are and no matter where you live, should have access to quality affordable healthcare,” he said. “My opponent wants to get rid of that and basically go back to the days where people can’t afford insurance…and tens of hundreds of thousands of people died because they didn’t have access to healthcare. She is wrong.” 

Peters, who served as a Lt. Commander in the U.S. Navy Reserves, also supports universal background checks for purchasing weapons. Forty percent of gun sales are done without any background checks and polls show 90 percent of Americans support having background checks done before guns are purchased. 

“We need to close that loophole and have universal background checks,” he said. 

A television ad that was run in support of Peters, but not his campaign, criticized Land for accepting more than $6 million in donations from the billionaire Koch brothers whose companies have been linked to contributing to issues such as high rates of asthma and cancer in southwest Detroit. 

“Are they contributing six and a half million dollars because they think she is going to be a champion for the environment or are they contributing six and a half million because she will support their agenda, which basically allows these types of activity to incur in neighborhoods that I was entrusted to represent,” Peters asked, rhetorically.