City leaders head to DC for annual visit

SAN ANTONIO – San Antonio-area leaders left for Washington, D.C., Monday morning on an annual trip to meet with federal lawmakers and leaders in the Obama administration.

This year's visit will likely focus on issues of enhancing highways, cybersecurity and bringing more non-stop flights to San Antonio International Airport.

For the next four days, local elected officials and members of the business community will meet with leaders in Homeland Security, committee chairs and federal lawmakers from Texas.

Richard Perez, president and CEO of the San Antonio Chamber of Commerce, is one of those making the trip.

"UTSA is the No. 1 cybersecurity educating institution of higher learning in the country. We want to keep it that way and continue to bring grants and opportunities for higher research to UTSA," Perez said.

District 3 City Councilwoman Rebecca Viagran is also on the trip.

"As a city, one of our main federal issues is working on non-stop flights from San Antonio to D.C. Reagan National (airport). We want to make sure that we can provide that convenience. And I think it's a necessity for our military personnel and all of those that are traveling straight into Washington, D.C.," she said.

Another important topic to be discussed is how to take advantage of the UNESCO World Heritage designation that the San Antonio Missions received last year.

For the first time this year, people can follow the progress of the trip via the new SA to DC 2016 smartphone app. It's available on the Apple Apps Store and Google Play.

This is the 38th year that San Antonio-area officials have made the trip to Washington.


About the Authors:

Myra Arthur is passionate about San Antonio and sharing its stories. She graduated high school in the Alamo City and always wanted to anchor and report in her hometown. Myra anchors KSAT News at 6:00 p.m. and hosts and reports for the streaming show, KSAT Explains. She joined KSAT in 2012 after anchoring and reporting in Waco and Corpus Christi.