Hayden Panettiere honoured for D.C. statehood support

Hayden Panettiere has landed her own day in Washington, D.C. in recognition of the actress' efforts to make the capital a state.

The Heroes star is backing a campaign to make the District of Columbia a state so that residents can gain full representation in Congress.

To thank Panettiere for her support, Mayor Vincent C. Gray honoured her with her own day in D.C. on Friday (16Sep11) and praised her for raising "awareness among a new generation of our unique and unjust plight".

Panettiere says, "It doesn't get much cooler than that. It's a huge honour. We'll continue just chipping away at the problem and trying to fix it. It seems like such (an) unfathomable fact that, you know, it's taxation without representation in D.C., and that there's no democracy in our democracy, at the heart of it."