Nation's Mayors Applaud Selection of Former Mayor Pete Buttigieg as Next Transportation Secretary

WASHINGTON, Dec. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Below is a statement by U.S. Conference of Mayors (USCM) President Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer and USCM CEO and Executive Director Tom Cochran on President-elect Joe Biden's selection of former Mayor Pete Buttigieg to serve as the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation in the new administration:

"The nation's mayors applaud President-elect Joe Biden's selection of Pete Buttigieg as the next Secretary of Transportation. As a former mayor, he is acutely aware of the infrastructure challenges facing cities across the country and the impact they have on the health of the economy, the environment and the quality of people's lives. We also appreciate that President-elect Biden continues to make working with mayors a priority.  

"During his time as a mayor, he served as Chair of the Conference's Automation Task Force, exploring how new technologies could help solve some of the most difficult municipal problems and deliver better services. His expertise, deep-seated curiosity and understanding of the impact federal policy has on our communities proved to be invaluable to our work, just as it will in his new role.

"The Department of Transportation will play a critical role as the nation recovers from the devastating impacts of the pandemic. We are confident that his leadership at this moment will help bring the voices of local leaders to the table as we work to modernize our transportation infrastructure to meet the challenges of the future. We stand ready to support him as he takes on this new challenge and look forward to continuing our work with Mayor Pete in the months ahead."

About The United States Conference of Mayors -- The U.S. Conference of Mayors is the official nonpartisan organization of cities with populations of 30,000 or more. There are nearly 1,400 such cities in the country today, and each city is represented in the Conference by its chief elected official, the mayor. Like us on Facebook at facebook.com/usmayors, or follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/usmayors.

SOURCE U.S. Conference of Mayors