Clinton says District should be a state

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Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton has openly supported congressional voting rights for the District since announcing her presidential candidacy.

But today, she went a step further.

At a press conference in Arlington, Mrs. Clinton, New York Democrat, said she was looking forward to competing in the Potomac region presidential primaries Tuesday, when residents in the District, Maryland and Virginia will cast votes.

"It is two states and the District of Columbia, which I think should be a state, so let's call it two-and-a-half states," she said.

The belief that the District should be a state is nothing new Inside the Beltway, but it is a step beyond recent attempts to give the District a House vote.

In April, Mrs. Clinton was the first presidential candidate to applaud the House passage of a bill granting the District a congressional seat, calling the move "long overdue."

Mrs. Clinton, along with her Democratic rival, Sen. Barack Obama, of Illinois, also co-sponsored a similar bill that died in the Senate in September.

She said today that if elected, she would work to grant the District congressional representation. When her husband was president and Republicans controlled Congress, efforts to give the District a House vote languished.

"I'll certainly try as president to remedy the injustice of the District of Columbia not being represented in our government," Mrs. Clinton said.