Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa was in the nation’s capital Tuesday heading up a delegation of 200 business leaders who will ask Congress for help in jumpstarting the local economy.

The agenda for Tuesday includes a breakfast with Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a Republican luncheon hosted by Sen. John McCain, a briefing with Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer on Capitol Hill and a meeting with White House Senior Advisor Valerie Jarrett.

The annual trip is organized by the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce and has 14 corporate sponsors. This year it carries the theme “Southern California is America’s Recovery Engine.”

“This year’s trip is focused on advancing policies and investments that create jobs and accelerate economic recovery,” the chamber said in a statement. “The region is poised to create and preserve more than a million jobs and generate significant economic activity through its airports and ports.”

Issues that the group plans to lobby on include LAX modernization, freeway and rail transportation funding, solutions to the water shortage, immigration reform and education spending.

The steering committee for the trip are Matt Toledo, chamber chairman and publisher of the Los Angeles Business Journal; Gilbert Ivey, chief administrative officer at Metropolitan Water District; and Lucy Dunn, president of the Orange County Business Council.