Mayors from throughout the nation will travel to Iowa on Dec. 1 for the Heartland Presidential Candidate Forum and the Brown & Black Presidential Forum to communicate to presidential candidates the importance of city issues.

“For the first time in our history, the United States Conference of Mayors is bringing a bipartisan group of mayors to the Iowa caucuses,” said U.S. Conference of Mayors Executive Director Tom Cochran. “We believe that the issues of Iowa and the city of Des Moines are the same issues that face mayors around the country each and every day. We support (Des Moines) Mayor (Frank) Cownie and the other Iowa mayors as we present to the next president of the United States the challenges and opportunities before us.”

The mayors are concerned about health care, job creation, affordable housing, immigration, crime and illegal guns, failing public schools and climate protection. The mayors’ 10-point legislative agenda, “Strong Cities, Strong Families, for a Strong America,” highlights priorities for cities and urban areas.