CONFERENCE OF MAYORS BACKS ROCKY'S MEASURES

Heeding Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson, the U.S. Conference of
Mayors is urging Congress and the Bush administration to oppose
criminalizing undocumented workers and to launch policies that help
cities reduce the need for fossil fuel. The mayors this week also
endorsed other Anderson-backed measures - including a call to end
mandatory minimum sentences for drug offenders and to send
peacekeeping troops to Darfur.

More than 200 mayors voted on the resolutions in Las Vegas, according
to a statement released by the mayor's office Tuesday. "No other Salt
Lake City mayor in recent memory has proposed and secured passage of
so many resolutions," said Len Simon, a Washington lobbyist who was in
Las Vegas, working on behalf of Anderson. Simon called Anderson the
"architect" of the conference's policies on Darfur and ending
mandatory minimum drug sentences.

Anderson argues that, with the support of federal policies, cities
are more effective in implementing economic and environmental programs
in addition to the bigger-picture items such as human rights.
"Legislative action on these resolutions will benefit Salt Lake City
and our entire nation by helping to achieve a more just, peaceful and
sustainable world," Anderson said in a news release.