A.V. DELEGATION WARMLY RECEIVED IN WASHINGTON.Byline: Jim Skeen Daily News Staff Writer Antelope Valley This article is about the Los Angeles County region. For the census-designated place in Wyoming, see Antelope Valley-Crestview, Wyoming. The Antelope Valley Board of Trade leaders wrapped up a three-day lobbying blitz of federal government officials and deemed the trip successful in building name recognition for their region. The five-member delegation visited officials at the Pentagon, the Pentagon, the, building accommodating the U.S. Dept. of Defense. Located in Arlington, Va., across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C., the Pentagon is a five-sided building consisting of five concentric pentagons connected to each other by corridors and covering Capital, NASA NASA: see National Aeronautics and Space Administration. NASA in full National Aeronautics and Space Administration Independent U.S. and other government departments to try to spare the High Desert from the ``out of sight, out of mind'' syndrome. ``The main goal was to get a better awareness of the Antelope Valley and get a consciousness of who we are, what we are and the issues we carry,'' executive director Howard Brooks said. ``We got to tell our story to a lot of new people and remind a lot of old people on what we are doing.'' Making the trip were board president John Fergione; Brooks; Norm Hickling, chairman-elect of the Lancaster Chamber of Commerce; Lew Stults, field representative for U.S. Rep. Howard ``Buck'' McKeon, R-Santa Clarita; and Stults' wife, Karen, principal of Jack Northrop School. Their itinerary included meetings with Lt. Gen. Greg Martin, principal deputy secretary of the Air Force for acquisition; and Jack Manclark, director of Air Force Test and Evaluation. At both meetings, the board delegates voiced their support for bringing more test programs to Edwards Air Force Base Edwards Air Force Base, U.S. military installation, 301,000 acres (121,805 hectares), S Calif., NE of Lancaster; est. 1933. It is one of the largest air force bases in the United States and has the world's longest runway. and reiterated the community's support for the Joint Strike Fighter program The Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) became synonymous with the later F-35 Lightning II, however until 2001 the term was applied to the competition between the Boeing X-32 and Lockheed Martin X-35. . The delegation did not come away with any great promises of support but received warm receptions anyway. Tom O'Brien Tom O’Brien or Thomas O’Brien may refer to:
In a meeting with staff members of Sen. Dianne Feinstein Dianne Goldman Berman Feinstein (born June 22, 1933) is the senior U.S. Senator from California, having held office as a senator since 1992. She is a member of the Democratic Party. , D-Calif., the board got a pledge of support for bringing flight test work on the X-34 space technology demonstrator rocket from New Mexico New Mexico, state in the SW United States. At its northwestern corner are the so-called Four Corners, where Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, and Utah meet at right angles; New Mexico is also bordered by Oklahoma (NE), Texas (E, S), and Mexico (S). to California. Congressional delegations from the two states are battling to be the site for the initial flight testing of the winged rocket. In a meeting with staff from the federal Transportation Department, the delegation found kindred spirits on the topic of development of high-speed rail lines. ``The fact we were so supportive of it excited them,'' Brooks said. Hickling, who was making his first trip to Washington, said the experience was an eye-opener in how lobbying works. ``It taught me the lesson of how much you have to make the contact and explain the issues,'' Hickling said. ``Every office we went into, they wanted the information. They wanted to hear our perspective, and they asked questions.'' |
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