[inaudible conversations] >> the state of the union is strong because you, the american people, are strong. >> president biden delivered the annual state with the union address outlining his priorities to congress on tuesday february 7th. 's first stage of the union speech since republicans won back control of the house, we will hear the republican response and take your phone calls, texts and tweets. watch live coverage of the state of the union at 8:00 pm eastern on c-span, c-span now, free mobile video apps or online, c-span.org. >> c-span is your unfiltered view of government, funded by these television companies and more, including and itseo. ♪♪

>> nit go supports c-span with these other television providers giving your front row seat to democracy. >> victoria watered --woodard spoke about how cities can address local challenges through partnerships with other organizations. >> they are back. my daughter does not feel like she had a large enough role in the last one. so we are going to expand her role a little bit. our next speaker is a strong member of our organization and chair of the women mayors

leadership alliance, recently took over as president of our sister organization. many true partners on legislation advocacy, we are working on implementation of the bipartisan infrastructure law through the bloomberg funded infrastructure hub. please join me in welcoming victoria wwoodard. [applause] >> wow. on my notes, it's as you will be introduced by the voice of god, i said that must be francis suarez. but then, to have his daughter say my name, how cool is that? honestly, she got my name right

more than most adult get my name right. i have to bring her with me as i continue to travel. good morning, everyone. where are my west coast people. are you all feeling -- feeling the burn right about now? we've got to do something about always having to come to the east coast because right now when i got up this morning it was 4:00 am at home, but still delighted and this is worthwhile to continue to be in this great partnership. i'm proud to stand before you representing 19,000 villages across the united states as national league of cities new president. i can't tell you what honor it is for me to serve in that capacity. for me, it wasn't a choice, it

had to be both. i cannot overstate the importance of the partnership and work done between our two organizations and to gather we have achieved so much. at the height of the pandemic you know america's local leaders stepped up to whether they were mayors, councilmembers or city managers, they took charge and we got to work in the midst of this unprecedented crisis. the reason we were so successful in doing that is because of the strong support that our organizations provided all of us back home. we work hard to jump into action and get the american rescue plan passed by congress, written into law, to bring transformative changes directly to all our communities so we could build back even better

from the pandemic. this year my theme as president dues people, partnerships, and possibilities. if we could engage our people and leverage great partnerships like the ones between and lcn usc and we could create unlimited and unprecedented possibilities for our community and for the united states of america because once we got that done, not even a year later, we did the same with the bipartisan infrastructure law enabling cities, towns and villages across the nation to map out programs and projects to help rebuild our crumbling infrastructure. today, together we are providing resources and assistance to help communities access those funds that were brought into law and that doesn't stop there. but through the inflation

reduction act we work to get funding for cities to develop new clean energy projects and to work to meet their climate goals. we successfully lobbied for the chips act which has already invested and strong communities across the country. we have accomplished all of this together because we know we can get more done together than we can get done separately and that is why it is important to continue this partnership. as a mayor myself, i can say with certainty that the work we've seen on the ground has been incredible thus far but we still have work to do and we have to stick together to do that work and to be successful, not for us individually but for the communities and those depending on us every day in our own cities. we must continue to show that funneling dollars directly,

directly to city leadership can have a monumental effect. nobody knows our communities better than us, nobody knows the needs of our communities better than us. as we proved to the federal government, we can put it to work quicker, we can change lives quicker and make our communities better quicker, if they give it to us. ladies and gentlemen, i'm so honored to be a member of both organizations and look forward to the year ahead as we continue to partner together. thank you, and enjoy the rest of the conference. >> next, agriculture secretary tom vilsack talks about the department's mission at the winter meeting in washington dc. he comments on food and