“GSC to DC” Fly-in is an acronym for “Greater Shreveport Chamber to Washington DC.”. The Washington DC fly-in has been sponsored by the Greater Shreveport Chamber for more than 42 years.
Twenty-seven years ago, the Greater Shreveport Chamber expanded the participation to include a more regional representation consisting of the Greater Shreveport Chamber, Bossier Chamber of Commerce, Committee of 100, Barksdale Forward and the North Louisiana Council of Governments, and local industry executives. Our purpose is to connect with members of Louisiana’s Congressional Delegation to update them on issues of importance to Northwest Louisiana and to explore issues of concern to them. The Bossier Chamber leads a similar trip each fall where we expand our discussions to include Committee Staff and federal agencies.
Each trip also includes a briefing at the US Chamber of Commerce headquarters to hear the latest update on issues and policies affecting the business community. Fly-In delegations receive a front-row seat at a program tailored specifically to their top business priorities from U.S. Chamber policy and advocacy experts.
The last week of March, our group of seven flew to Washington, DC to participate in a series of meetings with the Louisiana Congressional Delegation and with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. They began with the briefing at the US Chamber of Commerce where they received updates on Energy Policy, Transportation and Infrastructure, Military Defense Budget, and Broadband.
On Capitol Hill, participants met with: Senator Bill Cassidy, Senator John Kennedy, Representative Mike Johnson, and Representative Julia Letlow. We believe it is important to meet with the entire Louisiana Delegation and so our participants met with senior staff from Representative Steve Scalise, Representative Troy Carter, Representative Garret Graves, and Representative Clay Higgins.
A week prior to the meetings, the Chamber staff provided the Louisiana Delegation, and their staff, with issues affecting our area. This allowed them to be fully aware of the issues that were slated to be discussed during the meetings. Each legislative office provided good feedback on the topics and answered questions that were raised by our group.
Republished from the GSC newsletter
