tom: hi. i'm tom cochrane. we want to welcome you to the 90th winter meeting of the united states conference of mayors here in washington, d.c.. [applause] tom: from the music of richard rogers and the lyrics of oscar hammer stein, they gave us "oklahoma" in 1944. they gave us "south pacific" in 1949. but somewhere in 1945 they gave us "carousel". and so i offer these words from one of the most beautiful songs in my opinion that's ever been written. and i dedicate these words to you. when you walk through a storm, hold your head up high and don't be afraid of the dark. walk on through the rain. walk on through the rain. walk on through the wind, though your dreams be tossed and blown. walk on, walk on. with hope in your heart. and you will never, ever walk alone. so many times during this time, since we last met here in this hotel in 2020, mayors have been alone. you've been in the dark. we have had this pandemic. we have had mass shootings. we've had social uprisings, black lives matter demonstrations there wa

finally, i just do want to thank tom cochran, the staff, judy, dr. rich anderson, everyone who makes this organization what it is. it's absolutely critical to not just our local communities but to our nation that this organization remains vital and focused because what is on the agenda today is nothing less than the united states of america. thank you all. ♪ ♪♪ >>> ladies and gentlemen, on january the 3rd i had the pleasure of being in miami, florida where we inaugurated francis suarez to be your 80th president of this organization. miami is a very special place. the statue of liberty looks to europe. miami is the capital of latin america, and it looks to the east, the south, the west and the north. a very emotional day. young andrew, the son of the mayor, gave the pledge of allegiance. i think he's nine years old. i told young andrew, i said, andrew, you run for mayor, you come back and i will be here to give you the gavel. the other thing that was very special was his father, mr. juarez, and we have had father and son mayors, we at the mitche

[applause] and that's thanks to the leadership of the ceo and my friend of many years, tom cochran with the entire conference team. thank you to the staff. [applause] today i come here officially on behalf of the house of representatives, a body that boasts more than 30 former mayors in our ranks. i also come here personally as the proud sister and daughter of two mayors of baltimore, junior and of the third. so i've seen firsthand how your success is the foundation of america's success with no buffer between you and your communities, you have the intimate understanding of the problems people face, hearing their concerns whether the grocery store or attending church service. many people know who the president of the united states is and the only other public official who is the mayor of the city, nothing in between so you are the one they turned to. in doing so, you are the stewards of the hopes of the families, the talent of the workers and the dreams of the children. indeed it is a testament to the experience and expertise of america's mayors that president biden chose to former mayor

and that's thanks to leadership of your ceo and my friend of many years tom cochran and the terrific work of the conference team, thank you to the staff. today i come here officially on behalf of the house of representatives, a body who goes through 40 former mayors in our ranks and come here personally as the proud sister and daughter of the mayors, two mayors of baltimore, thomas delisandro junior, thomas delisandro the third, so i have seen firsthand our how your success is the foundation of america's success, with no buffer between you and your communities, you had the intimate understanding the problems people face, hearing their concerns, whether in the grocery store or attending church services. many people know who the president of the united states is and the only other public official i know who is the mayor of their city, nothing in between. so you're the one they turn to in doing so, you are the stewards of the hopes of our families, the talents of our work and the dreams of our children. indeed, it is a testament to the experience and expertise of america's mayors that p

conference of mayor's staff. [ applause ] under the leadership of the infamous tom cochran and mayor suarez of pulling this off. i am preaching to the choir when i say a strong country is built on strong communities. the work you do every day to build safer, healthier, more vibrant cities and towns has never been more important as it has opinion in the last couple of years. on behalf of the beverage industry, let me say thank you for your leadership and all that you do. the beverage industry has a long and rich history and deep roots in communities from coast to coast. the men and women who make up america's non-alcoholic beverage companies work every day to ensure that their communities are healthy, sustainable and economically strong. i'd like to begin with a short video that illustrates how. >> every day, in every town, in every corner of the country millions of men and women go to work to deliver something real for their communities. putting food and beverages on store shelves so america's families can put them on their tables. making sure every stadium, every restaurant and ever

i want to thank mayor suarez and tom cochran for their leadership on this program. let's announce the winners. all right. third place winners in each category will take home a $15,000 grant for their program, second place winners will take home $50,000 and we'll soon get to the first place winners. we're going to start with the small city category winners. so for small cities, third place goes to mayor derek henry of daytona beach, florida. for the mayors' math and fitness boot camp. [applause] in second place, recognition goes to mayor karen alexander of salisbury, north carolina, for the 5-2-1-0 prescription program this program assesses patients' lifestyles using a healthy habit survey and then they write a prescription to make referrals for patients and families to get on track living a healthier lifestyle. so let's congratulate the mayor. [applause] all right. the small cities first place winner goes to mayor thomas roach of white plains, new york, for the peer advocates for healthy living program. mayor roach will be receiving $125,000 grant for this program.