By Ed Somers
December 20, 2006

Under the leadership of Conference President Trenton Mayor Douglas H. Palmer, over 800 participants - including more than 250 mayors - plus private'sector leaders and public'sector partners will come to Washington for the 75th Winter Meeting of The U.S. Conference of Mayors. The meeting will be held on January 24-26, 2007 at the Capital Hilton Hotel.

The opening plenary session will feature a special memorial tribute to the 64th President of The U.S. Conference of Mayors Michael A. Guido of Dearborn.

The Conference has invited President Bush and the bi-partisan leadership from both the House and Senate to participate in the meeting. In addition, Republican and Democratic presidential candidates are being invited, and several have already confirmed including Senators Joseph Biden (DE) and Chris Dodd (CT).

During the meeting the Conference will discuss priority issues for the 110th Congress, as well as for the '08 presidential election. Key issues to be discussed in plenary sessions and committee meetings include:

• crime/homeland security
• energy/environment/climate protection
• poverty
• workforce
• education
• housing
• tax incentives
• transportation
• …and many others

Invited Speakers (to date):

President George W. Bush
House Speaker-Elect Nancy Pelosi (CA)
Senate Majority Leader-Elect Harry Reid (NV)
House Republican Leader-Elect John Boehner (OH)
Senate Republican Leader-Elect Mitch McConnell (KY)
House Ways and Means Committee Chairman-Elect Charles Rangel (NY)
House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman-Elect John Dingell (MI)
Senator Norm Coleman (MN)

Invited Republican Presidential Candidates (to date):

Former Speaker Newt Gingrich (GA)
Former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani (NY)
Senator Chuck Hagel (NE)
Governor Mike Huckabee (AR)
Representative Duncan Hunter (CA)
Senator John McCain (AZ)
Governor George Pataki (NY)
Governor Mitt Romney (MA)

Invited Democratic Presidential Candidates (to date):

Senator Evan Bayh (IN)
Senator Joseph Biden (DE) - CONFIRMED
General Wesley Clark (AR)
Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (NY)
Senator Christopher Dodd (CT) - CONFIRMED
Former Senator John Edwards (NC)
Former Vice President Al Gore (TN)
Senator John F. Kerry (MA)
Senator Barack Obama (IL)
Governor Bill Richardson (NM)
Governor Tom Vilsack (IA)

Mayors are asked to help contact these individuals and urge them to participate in the 75th Winter Meeting. For more information, please contact Ed Somers at esomers@usmayors.org.