now, i'm pleased to call our new ceo, ceo and trrt director to the stage, tom cochran. come on over here, tom. >> i'm coming out to thank a very special person. she is the 79th president of the united states mayors conference, nan whily. >>. [applause] . >> i started here at the age of 12 and i've served 54 presidents and i think, you know, here political leadership and political skills surpasses most. she's got a heart as big as ohio and i hope they know that. and my final thing is this, the best person i've ever known to get drunk with. ladies and gentlemen, watch the video. [laughter] >> joining us now president of the u.s. conference of mayor, the mayor of dayton, ohio, nan whaley. mayor whaley, it's great to have you on the show this morning. >> i will come out of covid area, find you in your cities, and hunt you down and now on that. >> this is what we're made to do. they need to hear from us, they need to feel the heat. we just have to be ferocious about it and i'm into being on ferocious on that. i'm looking forward to having the senate feel the power of the u.s

i'm tom cochrane. want to welcome you to the 90th winter meeting of the united states conference of mayors here in washington, d.c.. [applause] tom: from the music of richard rogers and the lyrics of oscar hammer stein, they gave us "oklahoma" in 1944. they gave us "south pacific" in 1949. but somewhere in 1945 they gave us "carousel". and so i offer these words from one of the most beautiful songs in my opinion that's ever been written. and i dedicate these words to you. when you walk through a storm, hold your head up high and don't be afraid of the dark. walk on through the rain. walk on through the rain. walk on through the wind, though your dreams be tossed and blown. walk on, walk on. with hope in your heart. and you will never, ever walk alone. so many times during this time, since we last met here in this hotel in 2020, mayors have been alone. you've been in the dark. we have had this pandemic. we have had mass shootings. we've had social uprisings, black lives matter demonstrations there was a

let me start by thanking tom cochran for that wild and wonderful introduction. completely untrue. i want to thank tom for his friendship and support during my first term as mayor of dayton and in my leadership of this organization. i want to thank all the staff of the conference of mayors who do great work every single day and all they did to help us realize a historic year of accomplishment. thank you all for your friendship and your cons tan support of every mayor in this room. you know who you are. and you make us all look as good as possible. mayor suarez, i know you'll do an amazing job leading this organization for the next 18 months and thank you for all you did for being vice president. being a mayor was the honor of my lifetime and one of the most fulfilling parts of that was working with other mayors, particularly with the united states conference of mayors. becoming involved in this organization is one of the best decisions i have ever made. usdm has allowed me to meet mayors all over the country to learn from and lean on. you know, being a mayor can be lonely. the buck

-- ffour ----covering four decades, tom cochran. use] they are applauding us, tom, for being so, so old. i am proud to speak after the environmental leader of our administration, michael reagan, and before the captain of our economic team, secretary of the treasury janet yellen. there are few people i have worked within the white house who are such high performance consistently as julie rodriguez, our head of intergovernmental affairs. [applause] her team is so amazing. and luke macgowan who works with me and her other rescue plan delivers over and over for both of us. i think one thing everybody understands is that the american rescue plan had a dual mission, number one, to combat the immediate crisis we inherited in 2021 and jumpstart our economy. but number two, to ensure that we as a nation and all of you has mayors have the financial power and flexibility to an -- to invest in a durable economic recovery, to take on not just of immediate, but the lingering impacts of covid and provide an insurance policy and cushion against unpr

-- ffour ----covering four decades, tom cochran. use] they are applauding us, tom, for being so, so old. i am proud to speak after the environmental leader of our administration, michael reagan, and before the captain of our economic team, secretary of the treasury janet yellen. there are few people i have worked within the white house who are such high performance consistently as julie rodriguez, our head of intergovernmental affairs. [applause] her team is so amazing. and luke macgowan who works with me and her other rescue plan delivers over and over for both of us. i think one thing everybody understands is that the american rescue plan had a dual mission, number one, to combat the immediate crisis we inherited in 2021 and jumpstart our economy. but number two, to ensure that we as a nation and all of you has mayors have the financial power and flexibility to an -- to invest in a durable economic recovery, to take on not just of immediate, but the lingering impacts of covid and provide an insurance policy and cushion against unpr

i want to give a special thanks to tom cochran and the entire team at the u.s. commerce of mayors.y've been tremendous partners and allies. and most recently organizing a bipartisan sign on letter with 151 mayors to advocate for voting rights and to ensure that we are doing what we can to protect this fundamental right is part of our democracy. at as the mayor mention i am the director of inter- government at the white house which has the privilege of vibeing able to work with each and every one of you all to address some of the most pressing issues facing our communities and cities. have tackled incredibly difficult issues together. our frequent regular engagement with the engagement in the conference is a real testament to the value that you see in each and every one of you all as we implement the critical priorities addressing our country. facing our country. truly opportunities like this i had to connect with you all individually. i'm sure we will get invited to many ribbon cuttings as we continue to highlight theet important and historic return on investment that we have seen

[applause] and that's thanks to the leadership of the ceo and my friend of many years, tom cochran with the entire conference team. thank you to the staff. [applause] today i come here officially on behalf of the house of representatives, a body that boasts more than 30 former mayors in our ranks. i also come here personally as the proud sister and daughter of two mayors of baltimore, junior and of the third. so i've seen firsthand how your success is the foundation of america's success with no buffer between you and your communities, you have the intimate understanding of the problems people face, hearing their concerns whether the grocery store or attending church service. many people know who the president of the united states is and the only other public official who is the mayor of the city, nothing in between so you are the one they turned to. in doing so, you are the stewards of the hopes of the families, the talent of the workers and the dreams of the children. indeed it is a testament to the experience and expertise of america's mayors that president biden chose to former mayor

and my friend of many years, tom cochran, than eterrific work of the entire conference team. thank you to the staff. [applause] today i come here officially, officially, on behalf of the house of representatives. a body that boasts more than 30 former mayors in our ranks. i also come here personally as the proud sister and daughter of the mayors of -- two mayors of baltimore, thomas dell sandro jr. and thomas deervetionalesadal -- delasandrio iii. you have the intimate understanding of the what people face, hearing their concerns, whether in the grocery store or attending church services. few people know who the -- many people know who the president of the united states is and for many the only other public official they know is the mayor of their city. nothing in between. you're the one they turn to. you're the stewards of the hopes of our family, the talents of our workers and to dreams of our children. indeed,s a a testament to the experience and expertise of america's mayors that president biden chose four former mayors to serve in his cabinet. [applause] secretary marcia

i want to thank mayor suarez and tom cochran for their leadership on this program.et's announce the winners. all right. third place winners in each category will take home a $15,000 grant for their program, second place winners will take home $50,000 and we'll soon get to the first place winners. we're going to start with the small city category winners. so for small cities, third place goes to mayor derek henry of daytona beach, florida. for the mayors' math and fitness boot camp. [applause] in second place, recognition goes to mayor karen alexander of salisbury, north carolina, for the 5-2-1-0 prescription program this program assesses patients' lifestyles using a healthy habit survey and then they write a prescription to make referrals for patients and families to get on track living a healthier lifestyle. so let's congratulate the mayor. [applause] all right. the small cities first place winner goes to mayor thomas roach of white plains, new york, for the peer advocates for healthy living program. mayor roach will be receiving $125,000 grant for this program. so

mayor holt: tom cochrane and his jokes are classic here. in all sincerity, the small business administration didn't exist until the 1950's. abraham lincoln didn't talk about small businesses. there was a period where we had to learn how to -- how to conceptualize the difference between corporate america and the small, main street businesses. so i think what you're very much a part of here is the vanguard of recognizing that there's a difference, even inside of the concept of small businesses. maybe there is room for another stratification that we as mayors and other policymakers need to start thinking about and talking more about. i don't use this phrase microbusinesses a lot, but i any i will after this meeting. i think others in this audience will as well. because there clearly is a difference between a business that has three employees and a business that has 75. a huge difference. and so we need to think about that. so yeah, i think for me, you ask, when have i become more aware? it's recent. i think definitely the pandemic contributed

i saw tom cochran backstage and i want to thank the staff and leadership here at the conference for themazing work that you do. i want to thank all the hotel workers in this hotel who made it possible. [applause] i want to thank every mayor. thank you for all you have done, for all you are doing to move your city forward under difficult circumstances. i was mayor of boston for seven years, including the first year of this pandemic, so i know how hard it is and how hard each of you are working under these circumstances. you are certainly making tough decisions, fighting for your constituents every day in this country and i want to say thank you. i also know how important federal partnerships are and what it means, the relationship between the federal government and america's cities make all the difference -- makes all the difference to our success as a nation. you are the leaders on the ground, understand that you are the leaders on the ground. if there is any national policy at work, you must be heard, supported and empowered and that is why this president and this administration have b

under the leadership of the infamous tom cochran and mayor for pulling this meeting off.eaching to the choir when i say a strong country is built on strong community. the work you do every day to build safer, healthier more vibrant cities and towns has never been more important as it has been in the last couple of years. on behalf of the beverage industry, let me say thank you for your leadership and for all that you do. the beverage industry as many of you know has a long and rich history and deep roots in communities from coast-to-coast. the men and women who make up america's nonalcoholic beverage companies, work every day to ensure their communities are healthy, sustainable and economically strong. i would like to begin with a short video that illustrates how. >> every day in every town in every corner of the country, men and women wake up and go to work to deliver something real for their communities. putting food and beverages on store shelves so america's families can put them on their tables. making sure every stadium, every restaurant every small business in betw