Issue Report: Aerospace

Each issue team gave short presentations on their priorities for SA to DC. Below is the report from the leaders of the Aerospace issue team, led by Jim Perschbach, Partner, Bracewell Guiliani.

Air Force Leader: Nation Must Address Tough Questions about the Military

Gen. Larry O. Spencer, vice chief of staff of the Air Force, told SA to DC participants that
sequestration and the government shutdown made 2013 a challenging year for the military.  And while a budget agreement has addressed those problems for the short term, there is still great uncertainty in the military community about what will happen in 2016 and beyond.  That uncertainty, he said, is "pretty tough on our airmen."

Spencer said the Air Force and other branches are planning for reductions.  "Regardless of how a budget is settled, the Air Force and military will be smaller in the future."  In some respects, this is not unlike the peace dividends reaped following military build-ups in World War II, Vietnam and the Cold War.  What differs with the expected cutbacks following the build-ups for Afghanistan and Iraq, he noted, is that the nation's enemies haven't yet been vanquished, and new adversaries are emerging on the horizon.

Americans need to have a serious conversation about the size of military and capabilities they want and about national defense needs, Spencer advised.  "How much military do the American people want?  How much of GDP do they want to spend?"

Spencer, who went through basic training at Lackland Air Force Base, gave special thanks to the San Antonio community's embrace of the military.  "If we could clone a community to replicate across the military, it would be San Antonio."

Spencer also made a special plea for recognizing and addressing the needs of military personnel with wounds that aren't necessarily visible, including PTSD.  He referred to his own father, an Army veteran who was gravely injured in Korea, and failed to seek help until he was 80 years old -- two years before his death.

S.A. Business Leaders will visit D.C. to Advance Legislative Priorities

Over 110 San Antonio business leaders will travel to the nation’s capital Feb. 2-5 for SA to DC, where they will present a comprehensive federal agenda representing the regional business needs of our community. For 36 years, the San Antonio Chamber of Commerce has led a delegation from San Antonio to Washington, D.C. to meet with legislators, administration officials and agencies and discuss key actions that will benefit our local community.

The SA to DC trip began in the late 70s with members of the San Antonio Chamber’s Military Affairs Committee traveling to the Pentagon to offer our support for the various Department of Defense (DoD) missions located in our community. While the trip has expanded to include additional hosts and a dozen other key industries and issue topics, the focus on our military missions remains a key objective during the trip.

Participants are scheduled to hear from Jim Clapper, Director of National Intelligence, and General Larry O. Spencer, Vice Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force, in addition to other senior leaders during meetings at the Pentagon. San Antonio is home to several commands and missions that are integral to our national defense, and our delegation will take time in Washington to speak with senior DoD officials about what the new budget agreement means for defense spending, how current service reorganization will affect San Antonio, and what our community can do to continue supporting growth in areas such as military medical training and cybersecurity.

The San Antonio Chamber’s Board of Directors will review and approve the federal agenda on January 23. The key issues and priorities include:

• funding for the construction of a new federal courthouse in San Antonio;
• reauthorization of the Export-Import Bank that supports small and large businesses selling to foreign customers;
• support for the Secretary of the Interior’s nomination of the San Antonio Missions as a UNESCO World Heritage Site; and
• support for comprehensive immigration reform. 

San Antonio will travel to D.C. with representation from the business community, city and county, our public utilities and many organizations supporting the growth and development of industries across Bexar County.

In addition to the advocacy work accomplished during the trip, there may be no better way to get to know more than 100 of San Antonio’s top executives than during the annual 4-day fly-in to D.C.  There is still limited space available; click here to learn more.