Thank you, everybody. Thank you. Please have a seat. Thank you so much. Whenever I have the opportunity to meet with mayors, I think about how I got my start doing what you do each day: working with folks at the local level and doing our best to make a real impact on the lives of ordinary Americans. And that's just another reason why I'm so happy to welcome all of you here today.
I want to offer -- take a little personal prerogative here and welcome my own hometown mayor -- my friend, Rich Daley. (Applause.) His steady leadership has proven again and again that the American city can be a place of boundless opportunity and a source of solutions to our public problems; he has made a deep and lasting difference in the quality of life for millions of Chicagoans. I'm surprised he's still talking to me because I stole Arne Duncan from him -- (laughter) -- but I am confident that he will continue to make great strides.
I see friends from all over the place; some old friends -- not old in years, but people who I've known a long time. My other hometown mayor, Mufi, it's great to see you all the way from Honolulu. I've got Mayor Riley and others who are in attendance; Shirley Franklin doing great work; and Mayor Villaraigosa and Mayor Dellums from -- we've got the California contingent. So I'm grateful to all of you.
And I think all of you understand that we meet at such an urgent time. Last night, I signed an executive order establishing the White House Office of Urban Affairs. (Applause.) I've chosen Adolfo Carrión to be its first director. Adolfo wrote a real success story in the Bronx as borough president, and now he's going to be working with all of you to write our next success stories in cities across the country.
He's going to be responsible for coordinating all federal urban programs, and I've asked him to set up an advisory council with mayors and other urban leaders so that we can develop a new metropolitan strategy based on the lessons you've learned. Now, rebuilding our economies and renewing our cities is going to require a true partnership between mayors and the White House, and that partnership has to begin right now.
Those of you who have traveled great distances to be here come from different parties and philosophies. You govern very different cities, they're made up of different citizenries with different demographic makeups. But today, in the face of our common challenges, you're all hearing the same stories. I know because I'm getting letters from constituents all across the country, in many of your cities.
But you're on the front lines in our communities. You know what happens when folks get laid off, or they lose their homes or their health care, and they turn to the mayor's office for help. And just as your services stretch, your classrooms get crowded, and your streets grow less safe, your budgets shrink. You can't deficit spend, so you face impossible choices: raising taxes; cutting essential services; laying off teachers, firefighters, police officers.
And that's why the recovery plan we put into action this week is so important. It's a plan that will save or create 3.5 million jobs over the next two years; will help those hardest hit by our economic crisis; it will aid state and local governments in hopes you can avoid those excruciating choices.
It provides greater unemployment insurance for nearly 18 million Americans, and protects health care for 7 million who lost their health care along with their jobs. It includes the most progressive tax cuts in our history, spurring job creation and putting money into the pockets of 95 percent of all hardworking families. It invests in what works for our cities by funding programs like the Byrne Justice Assistance Grant and the COPS program, which boost public safety and bring down crime. It rewards responsibility, making sure that if you work hard, you won't have to raise a child below the poverty line.
But what makes this recovery plan so important isn't just the jobs it will create or the immediate help it provides; it's that we are putting Americans to work doing the work America needs done in critical areas that have been neglected for too long. (Applause.) So this plan does more to lay a new foundation for our cities' growth and opportunity than anything Washington has done in generations -- and it will bring real and lasting change for generations to come.