 Hello, I'm Tom Cochran, CEO and Executive Director of the United States Conference of Mayors. Today, Mayor Stephen K. Benjamin becomes a 76th President of the United States Conference of Mayors. For 85 years, the United States Conference of Mayors has come together to work on issues that have shaped our cities and guided our nation's success. Mayor Benjamin is joining a distinguished group today of Mayors, who have served as President of our organization. Names such as Fiorello A. LaGuardia, Richard J. Daly, Richard M. Daly, Joseph P. Riley Jr., Ernest Dutch and Mark Moriel, Moon and Mitch Landrieu, Tom Monino, Beverly O'Neill, Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, Elizabeth Coutts, Doug Palmer, Antonio Villargoza, Kevin Johnson and Don Plasquelec. Over the decades, be it healthcare, housing, crime, civil rights, women's rights, gay and lesbian rights, transportation, the environment and the health of our children, mayors have led the way, and now Mayor Benjamin will lead the conference in a bipartisan effort to help cities thrive in three major areas, infrastructure, innovation and inclusion. Mayor Benjamin will become America's mayor, speaking for the nation's mayors as our organization's spokesperson to the nation and the world. He will carry the bipartisan message of civil honest conversations among mayors working with or without Washington, D.C., to drive real and meaningful change for our nation. We at the United States Conference of Mayors welcome Mayor Benjamin. We look forward to sharing with the nation the success you have all seen here firsthand in Columbia, South Carolina. Columbia is a fantastic city. We took office in 2010 with a really bold vision about what we felt Columbia could be. We stressed the fact that we're one Columbia. Our young people, regardless of the zip code that they're born in, with schools they attend, I want to make sure everyone has an equal opportunity to be their very best selves. The opportunity for mayors to continue the great leadership that's happening in cities and metropolitan counties, indeed all over the world, is no greater than right now. Mayors roll their sleeves every single day to get the job done. We know that when partisan politics and divisive rhetoric become the starting point for every conversation, some mayors will left standing there as we attempt to help our communities make sense of what is not happening in Washington, D.C., having to explain how an abundantly wealthy country can behave at times so morally bankrupt. We stand here today in our nation's capital in Washington, D.C., urging our fellow elected officials to act. While this is an incredible challenge that we have to solve, violence in America, it is indeed solvable. This is about people. This is about our children and about helping ensuring their safety and their security. Mayors spend a great deal of time talking about building our cities and infrastructure. The greatest infrastructure that we can invest in is human infrastructure. If we help grow and nurture strong, independent, smart, healthy children, then I believe America's future is bright.