For Immediate Release
January 25, 2000

Contact: Tony Iallonardo
Ph. (202)293-7330

WASHINGTON, DC -- The opening plenary session of USCM's 68th Annual Winter Meeting will feature an address from Denver Mayor Wellington E. Webb challenging presidential candidates to embrace a sweeping 10-point urban agenda. Webb is President of the United States Conference of Mayors. The Agenda will serve as the Conference's platform through the 2000 presidential election. At the same session, House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert will address the Mayors on his vision for the new session of Congress.

The speech is scheduled for 9:00 AM, Thursday January 27, in the Presidential Ballroom of the Capital Hilton Hotel. Press is required to register for this event and others during the Conference's Winter Meeting. Pre-registration will be accepted by telephone or on the Internet at the Conference's Winter Meeting Information Center, /68thWinterMeeting. This site also includes complete information on all news events scheduled for the Winter Meeting. On site registrations will be accepted in the USCM press room at the Capital Hilton Hotel. The USCM press room on site will be the Pan American Room (Ph. 202-639-5422). Press conferences will be held in the New York Room.

The Mayor's 10 point agenda will cover a broad array of urban issues: from job training, education, affordable housing and healthcare to smart growth, safety, arts, culture and economic development. Webb will also call for a new federal "domestic policy Czar" to help restructure the relationship between the federal and local governments. Later this year, Mayors will host a candidate forum that will allow the party nominees to respond to Webb's challenge.

The U. S. Conference of Mayors is the official nonpartisan organization of cities with populations of 30,000 or more. There are about 1,100 such cities in the country today. Each city is represented in the Conference by its chief elected official, the mayor.