Washington, DC—Below is a statement by United States Conference of Mayors President Columbia (SC) Mayor Steve Benjamin on President Trump signing the First Step Act: “America’s mayors are thankful for these long needed federal criminal justice reforms and for the bipartisan leadership of the Congress and the White House. The First Step Act is a [...]
Washington, DC—Below is a statement by United States Conference of Mayors President Columbia (SC) Mayor Steve Benjamin on the Senate passing The First Step Act: “America’s mayors believe that last night’s Senate passage of The First Step Act represents important progress on two fronts. It is a win for public safety and a win for [...]
Washington, DC—Below is a statement by United States Conference of Mayors President Columbia (SC) Mayor Steve Benjamin on the Trump Administration’s decision to ban bump stocks: “America’s mayors commend the Trump Administration and the U.S. Department of Justice for its decision announced today to remove bump stocks from our cities and our nation. This is [...]
Washington, DC—Below is a statement by United States Conference of Mayors President Columbia (SC) Mayor Steve Benjamin on U.S. District Court Judge Reed O’Connor’s ruling on the Affordable Care Act: “While the Affordable Care will remain intact for now despite U.S. District Court Judge Reed O’Connor’s ruling late Friday night, the nation’s mayors remain deeply [...]
Washington, DC—Below is a statement by United States Conference of Mayors President Columbia (SC) Mayor Steve Benjamin on the passage of the 2018 Farm Bill: “The nation’s mayors applaud the passage of the 2018 Farm Bill by both the House and Senate. Mayors across the country recognize the critical impact the Farm Bill has on [...]
Washington, DC—In the face of rapidly changing technologies that could potentially accelerate progress for American cities, the United States Conference of Mayors (USCM) in collaboration with the New York University’s Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, has launched the Mayors Leadership Institute on Smart Cities (SCI). The goal of the Institute is to [...]
Washington, DC—Below is a statement by U.S. Conference of Mayors President and Columbia (SC) Mayor Steve Benjamin on the passing of President George H.W. Bush: “While we mourn the passing of President George H.W. Bush, we celebrate and honor his extraordinary service to our country. His longstanding commitment to the nation—including his military service in [...]
Washington, DC—Under the leadership of U.S. Conference of Mayors (USCM) President, Columbia (SC) Mayor Steve Benjamin, the U.S. Conference of Mayors will attend the inauguration of Mexican President-elect Andrés Manuel López Obrador on Saturday, December 1, 2018. The bipartisan delegation includes mayors from across the United States, who were invited by President-elect Obrador, the former [...]
Washington, DC—Today, United States Conference of Mayors (USCM) President Columbia (SC) Mayor Steve Benjamin sent a letter to Senator Lindsey Graham to register the strong bipartisan support of the nation’s mayors for the First Step Act of 2018 (S.3649). A text of the letter can be found below. "This proposed legislation, of which Senator Graham is [...]
Washington, DC—Below is a statement by U.S. Conference of Mayors President Columbia (SC) Mayor Steve Benjamin on last night’s shooting in Thousand Oaks, CA: “Once again, we’ve seen that senseless mass shootings can occur anywhere and anytime. As a result of last night’s shooting in a bar in Thousand Oaks, CA, 12 people are dead, [...]
Washington, DC—Below is a statement by U.S. Conference of Mayors President Columbia (SC) Mayor Steve Benjamin on last night’s mid-term elections: “Last night, we witnessed democracy at work as Americans from coast to coast went to the polls to cast their ballots. The incredible voter turnout, particularly with young people, is inspiring and serves as [...]
Washington, DC—Below is a statement by U.S. Conference of Mayors CEO and Executive Director Tom Cochran on the Conference of Mayors joining with cities and other local government interests across the nation in requesting the FCC to stay the effective date of its recent order substantially preempting local authority over the installation of small cell [...]
Washington, DC—Below is a statement by U.S. Conference of Mayors President Columbia (SC) Mayor Steve Benjamin in support of #ShowUpForShabbat: "The U.S. Conference of Mayors stands with the American Jewish Committee (AJC) in encouraging members of Jewish communities, mayors and elected officials, civic leaders, and others to attend Sabbath services at local synagogues this Friday [...]
Washington, DC—Below is a statement by U.S. Conference of Mayors President Columbia (SC) Mayor Steve Benjamin on the shooting at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh: “The horrific, anti-Semitic attack on worshippers at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh on Saturday breaks our hearts. The Anti- Defamation League believes this to be the [...]
Washington, DC—Below is a joint statement by U.S. Conference of Mayors (USCM) President Columbia (SC) Mayor Steve Benjamin and USCM CEO and Executive Director Tom Cochran on the bombs sent to prominent persons this week: “Violence has no place in our political discourse. America’s mayors condemn the mailing of pipe bombs to former Presidents and other [...]
Washington, DC—Below is a statement by U.S. Conference of Mayors CEO and Executive Director Tom Cochran on two Petitions for Review filed by the City of San Jose, California and twenty other western U.S. cities and Los Angeles County in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals challenging the constitutionality and legality of a recent FCC [...]
Long-term infrastructure investment commitment to clean water and sewer/stormwater management tops $1.99 Trillion from 1993 to 2016 By Rich Anderson Public spending on water and sewer/stormwater management continues to set new nominal dollar highs according to recently released local government Census data for 2016. Overall there was a 4 percent increase in spending from 2015 [...]
Bristol, England—Today, U.S. Conference of Mayors (USCM) President Columbia (SC) Mayor Steve Benjamin was elected to the Executive Committee of the Global Parliament of Mayors (GPM). Unlike any other urban network, the GPM is the first, and only, international organization exclusively for mayors. Founded in 2016, the GPM serves as an unprecedented platform for municipal [...]
Mayors from Around the World Gather for International Summit to Discuss Migration, Urban Security and Public Health October 21 – 23, 2018 Washington, DC—Under the leadership of U.S. Conference of Mayors (USCM) President Columbia (SC) Mayor Steve Benjamin, a delegation of mayors including USCM Vice President Rochester Hills (MI) Mayor Bryan Barnett, Dayton (OH) Mayor [...]
Report Shows Cities Could Save Billions of Dollars Over Next Decade on Replacing Aging Pipes Washington, DC—As the nation’s aging infrastructure continues to threaten water systems as well as the country’s health and economic vitality, a new report released today by the U.S. Conference of Mayors (USCM) shows how cities could potentially save billions of [...]