of places to get political information. but only at c-span do you get it straight from the source. no matter where you are from or where you stand on the issues, sees and is america's network. unfiltered, unbiased, word-for-word. if it happens here or here or here, or anywhere that matters, america is watching on c-span, covered by a cable. >> victoria woodard, who serves as mayor of tacoma, washington, spoke from the u.s. conference of mayors meeting in washington, d.c. on how cities can address local challenges with partnerships from other organizations. ♪ >> all right, so they are back. and it is because my daughter did not feel like she had

a large enough role in the last -- [laughter] [applause] an event so we are going to expand her role a little bit. our next speaker is not only a strong member of our organization and chair of our women mayors leadership alliance, but she recently took over as president of our sister organization, national u.s. cities. she has been -- it has been a true partner on efficacy, and we are now working on the bipartisan infrastructural law through the bloomberg-funded local infrastructure hub. please join me in welcoming -- >> mayor victoria woodard's. >> very good! [cheers and applause] ♪ >> wow. on my notes it says it will be introduced by the voice of god, and i said, that must be francis

suarez. but then to have his daughter say my name, how cool is that? [applause] honestly, she got my name right more than most adults get my last name right. i might have to bring her with me as i continue to travel. but good morning, everyone. where are my west coast people? [cheers and applause] mayor woodards: are you feeling the burn right now? we have got to do something about always having to come to the east coast. right now when i got up this morning it was 4:00 a.m. at home. but still delighted, and it's worthwhile to travel to continue to be in this great partnership. already said i am proud to stand here before you representing 19,000 cities, towns, and

villages across the united states as the national league of cities new president. i can't tell you what an honor it is for me to serve in that capacity. [applause] but for me, it wasn't a choice, whether it was nlc or nlcs. it had to be both. i cannot overstate the importance of the partnership and the work that is done between our two organizations. and together we have achieved so much. at the height of the pandemic, we all know america's local leaders stepped up to him whether they were mayors, council members, or city managers. they took charge and got to work in the midst of this unprecedented crisis. folks, the reason we were so successful in doing that is because of the strong support that our organizations provided all of us back home. together, uscm and nlc work

hard to jump into action and get the american rescue plan act passed by congress admitted into law to bring transformative changes directly to all of our communities so that we could build back even better from the pandemic. this year my theme as president is people, partnerships, and possibilities. because i believe that if we can engage our people and leverage great partnerships like the ones between nlc and uscm, together we can create unlimited and unprecedented possibilities for our community and for the united states of america. once we got arpa done, not even a year later we did the same with the bipartisan infrastructural law, enabling cities, towns, and villages across the nation to map out

programs and projects to 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. through the inflation reduction act, we worked 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 is already investing in strong communities across the country. we have accomplished all of this together because we know that we can get more done together than we can get done separately, and that is why it is so important for us to continue this partnership. as a mayor myself, i can say with certainty that the work we have seen on the ground has been incredible thus far, but we still have work to do, and we have to stick together to be

able to do that work and be successful, not for us individually, but for the communities and those who are depending on us every day in our own cities. we must continue to show that funneling dollars directly -- directly to city leadership -- [applause] can have a monumental effect. nobody knows our communities better than us, and nobody knows the needs of our communities better than us. as we prove to the federal government, give it to cities. we can put it to work quicker, we can change lives quicker, and we can make our communities better quicker if they give it to us. ladies and gentlemen, i am 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. [applause] ♪

>> house energy and commerce committee holds a hearing on expanding u.s. energy production. then house lawmakers passed a measure to end the nation's covid-19 public health emergency status. later, representatives, on protecting religious freedom and human rights. >> the new york a congressman has decided to temporarily step down from his committee assignments. he informed his republican colleagues at a party conference meeting. the house gop's steering committee had assigned santos to a small business and the science of space and technology committees. republican representative of new york and the house democrats, pete aguilar and ted lieu, spoke about the decision shortly after it was announced.

>> like all of my colleagues, particularly in new york state i supported george santos as the nominee and the people of his district voted to elect him. >> i am just struck by the chaos, confusion, dysfunction of the republican conference. they defended putting him on committees and now they are announcing he's not going to

serve on a committee. i don't understand what the play of the day is. we've said from the very beginning that george santos is not fit to serve on any committees. republicans defended him, initially, as they have announced his committee appointments. som, -- so i am pleased to know that the agreement has now. this is the decision of the week, or if this is the final decision i am not sure. george santos has issues and concerns and this is likely the outcome of his meeting with the speaker. but, it is unfortunate when republicans are put in a position to defend the someone who only has a passing relationship with the truth. and we will see what the message is related to mr. santos for next week. >> i also urge george santos to listen to his republican and democratic constituents and resign from congress as well.

>> representative santos was confronted by rep orders outside his -- reporters outside his offices -- reporters outside of his office, shortly after he stepped down from his committee assignments and after investigations into his finances. >> how can you effectively do your job? [indiscernible] >> i have not been in touch with my campaign. so, i don't have an answer for you now. >> yes i am. >> why are you confident? >> i have nothing to hide. >> why don't you answer

questions about your past, your finances? >> questions will be answered to the appropriate people. the media is not judge and jury. sorry. >> you're under investigation. >> c-span is your unfiltered view of government. we're funded by these television companies and more including cox. >> homework can be hard. squatting in a diner for internetwork is even harder. that is why we are providing lower income students access to affordable internet, so homework it can just be homework, cox, connect to compete. >> cox, suort c-span is the public service along with these other television providers giving a front row seat to democracy. >> the house energy and commerce committee held a hearing on expanding u.s. energy production , topics included climate resilience global