Obama On D.C. Statehood: 'I'm For It' [View all]

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Source: WAMU (Washington, DC Public Radio)

For the first time since he took office, President Barack Obama has come out in favor of making Washington, D.C. the nation's 51st state.

"I’m in D.C., so I’m for it," he said of D.C. statehood during an event in Washington today. "I've been for it for quite some time. I've long believed that folks in D.C. pay taxes like everybody else. They contribute to the overall well-being of the country like everybody else. They should be represented like everybody else."

Since moving into the White House in 2009, Obama has expressed support for congressional representation for D.C. residents and defended the city's right to craft its own laws and spend its own money. Last week, Obama issued a veto threat on a spending bill over Republican efforts to stop the city from implementing a marijuana decriminalization law.

But he has remained quiet on the issue of statehood, and during his first term opted not to use the city's "Taxation Without Representation" license plates on his presidential limo. He was also criticized in 2011 for agreeing to a Republican demand that prohibited D.C. from spending local and federal funds on abortions for low-income women.

Read more: http://wamu.org/news/14/07/21/obama_on_dc_statehood_im_for_it