Report by Ms. Jackie Cabasso, Executive Advisor, Hiroshima Peace Culture Foundation
At the close of its Annual Meeting in Tampa, Florida, on June 22, 2025, the final business plenary of the United States Conference of Mayors (USCM) unanimously adopted a timely new resolution, “Urging the United States to Lead the World Back From the Brink of Nuclear War and Halt and Reverse the Nuclear Arms Race.” This is the twentieth consecutive year that the USCM has adopted resolutions submitted by U.S. members of Mayors for Peace.
On June 20, the day before the United States bombed Iran’s nuclear technology infrastructure, the USCM International Affairs Standing Committee considered and unanimously adopted the new resolution, passing it on to the business plenary for final adoption. During the Committee meeting, Acting Chair, Mayor Martha Guerrero, of West Sacramento, California, one of the resolution’s cosponsors, noted, “In an increasingly interconnected world, mayors are stepping into the role of diplomats…. U.S. and international mayors are shaping foreign policy from the ground up.”
The resolution’s lead sponsor, Mayor Quentin Hart of Waterloo, Iowa, commented, “In this heightened hour of conflict and division this resolution rings as a reminder that we have so much work to do. It is essential to examine how we use nuclear weapons and to foster meaningful global dialogue to prevent nuclear conflict and promote peace. I am honored to stand alongside fellow mayors worldwide as a member of Mayors for Peace, advocating for a safer, more peaceful future.”
The USCM is the official non-partisan association of cities with populations over 30,000. Resolutions adopted at its annual meetings become the organization’s official policy.
Visit the link below for the full text of this report: www.wslfweb.org/docs/2025USMayorsresPR.pdf
Visit the link below for the full text of the resolution:https://www.usmayors.org/the-conference/resolutions/?category=u42015&meeting=93rd%20Annual%20Meeting
Visit the link below to read Ms. Cabasso’s Op-ed, published by Inter Press Service News Agency: https://www.ipsnews.net/2025/07/us-mayors-renew-call-for-us-to-lead-world-back-from-nuclear-brink/
Photos: courtesy of Ms. Cabasso, Executive Advisor