Over 220 U.S. Mayors to Meet With President Obama, Cabinet Officials on the Condition of Mainstreet America: The Economy, Unemployment, Green Jobs and Transportation

78th Winter Meeting of the United States Conference of Mayors

January 20 - 22, 2010 – Washington, D.C.

WASHINGTON, Jan. 20 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- More than 220 of the nation's mayors, led by U.S. Conference of Mayors President Burnsville, MN, Mayor Elizabeth Kautz, will convene for the 78th Winter Meeting of The U.S. Conference of Mayors on Wednesday, January 20 - Friday, January 22, at the Capital Hilton Hotel in Washington, D.C.  

The nation's mayors will meet with the Obama Administration and Congress to advocate for a national bipartisan political agenda that confronts the unemployment that still exists on main street America, the need for a federal/city partnership on climate protection and energy with block grants to cities producing green jobs, and a more balanced transportation bill next year that recognizes the necessity to modernize the current transportation system in order to daily move goods and people in our metro areas of the nation.

Highlighting the three-day session was the release of a report on Wednesday, June 20th that forecasts the pace of the economic recovery and job growth in the nation's 363 individual metropolitan economies, where 85% of the people in this country live.

Confirmed speakers for the remaining days of the Conference include:

THURSDAY: Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, WA Senator Patty Murray, Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski, Americans for the Arts Bob Lynch, NEA Chairman Rocco Landesman and recording artist Michael Feinstein

FRIDAY: Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, Attorney General Eric Holder, U.S. Treasurer Rosie Rios, Mexico City Mayor Marcelo Ebrard and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.  

Mayors will also visit the White House to meet with President Obama and his Economic Advisory Team on Thursday, January 21.

Also tomorrow, Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley joins mayors, public interest groups, and legal and law enforcement officials at a news conference in support of Chicago's ordinance banning handguns. The constitutionality of the ordinance has been challenged by the Illinois State Rifle Association and the U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments in the case March 2.

Chicago's ordinance, enacted in 1982, prohibits the sale and possession of handguns in the City. The issue before the Supreme Court, however, is about whether local governments can enact laws and other measures that keep their communities free from violence.

WHO: Chicago, IL Mayor Richard Daley,

Rochester, NY Mayor Robert Duffy, USCM Chair of Mayors and Police Chiefs Task Force

Philadelphia, PA Mayor Michael Nutter

San Francisco, CA Mayor Gavin Newsom

Elizabeth, NJ Mayor Chris Bollwage

Seattle, WA Mayor Michael McGinn

Columbus, OH Michael Coleman

Providence, RI David Cicilline

WHAT: Press Conference Supporting Chicago's Ordinance Banning Handguns

WHEN: Thursday, January 21, 2010 at 10:00 a.m.

WHERE: Capitol Hilton Hotel -- 2nd Floor FOYER AREA outside South American Room

1001 16th Street NW -- Washington, D.C.  20036

As the new President of The Conference of Mayors, Mayor Kautz is serving the balance of former Seattle Mayor Greg Nickel's term, which would have ended in June 2010, and then serve a full term of her own until June 2011. (Greg Nickels was defeated in the most recent mayoral election and his term ended on January 2.)  Mayor Kautz was previously the Vice President of The Conference and under the rules of the organization's Constitution, when the current President is no longer a mayor, the Vice President automatically becomes President.  

Mayor Kautz was first elected Burnsville's Mayor in 1994 and has been re-elected five times since. Mayor Kautz is the fifth woman President in the history of The U.S. Conference of Mayors, and due to her succession last week, Mayor Kautz will be the longest serving woman President in the organization's 78-year history.

SOURCE The U.S. Conference of Mayors