Greetings from Washington, D.C.!
While the lights of Las Vegas are still shining bright, our delegation of leaders is up early and ready to kick off our first full day in D.C.. (With the three-hour time change, it seems a little too early – we may run out of coffee).
Last night, we hosted the first Nevada State Dinner Gala. It was a great evening of camaraderie amongst the 120 people who are part of the trip, as well as with our Congressional delegation and other distinguished guests. And we certainly enjoyed hearing from Anthony Scaramucci, aka The Mooch. Although best known as the White House Communications Director for 11 days, Mr. Scaramucci relayed his journey from son of a construction worker on Long Island to earning a Economics degree from Tufts and a law degree from Harvard, and becoming a successful Wall Street investment banker. He spoke very openly about his viewpoints and led a candid conversation with the audience about the current dynamics in Washington and the country. (You can see some of the photos from last night on Facebook and Instagram).
Today, we are meeting with several public policy experts on a variety of topics important to businesses, jobs, and the economy. Every year on our trip to D.C., the Metro Chamber takes advantage of the high number of think tanks and public policy organizations in Washington, and dedicates time to tap into their insights and expertise.
We will kick off the day by hearing from Justin Clark, White House Director of Intergovernmental Affairs about the Trump Administration’s legislative priorities. We will then meet with some of the top political and policy analysts from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, about key issue that can impact businesses. Today we will also hear from experts throughout the day on issues such as federal tax reform, healthcare, cyber security, and gaming at the federal level.
In previously years, we have found these policy discussions truly enlightening, and we will keep you posted in some of the valuable information we learn and can bring back to you, our members.
We will conclude the day with our annual I-11 Caucus Reception, co-hosted by Congresswoman Dina Titus and Congressman Paul Gosar of AZ, the co-chairs of the Caucus. There will be members of Congress from both states at the event, as well as members of the business and transportation communities from both Arizona and Nevada. This reception is a great opportunity to build collaboration between business leaders and public officials from Nevada and Arizona and coordinate our efforts to move the project forward.
Look for updates tomorrow about today’s meetings on Capitol Hill. And continue to stay connected to us through Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. Find us @LVChamber and follow along with the trip using #LVChamberinDC.