Inauguration To Be Platform For D.C. Statehood

WASHINGTON (AP) -- District of Columbia officials are using Inauguration Day to call attention to the District's lack of statehood and congressional representation.

Mayor Vincent Gray on Wednesday revealed a sign on the reviewing stand that top D.C. officials plans to use on Monday to watch the Pennsylvania Avenue parade.

The sign states: "A More Perfect Union Must Include Full Democracy in DC."

Gray says he hopes it will provoke discussion about the fact that D.C. does not have full budget autonomy and is not its own state. He says many people know that D.C. is not a state, but don't really understand the full implications.

He says he's grateful that President Barack Obama's limousine will soon carry the District of Columbia's "Taxation Without Representation" license plate.

(Copyright 2013 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)