Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign announced today that Rep. Jay Inslee has endorsed the New York senator for president. Inslee was also named as co-chair of Clinton's Energy and Environmental Task Force.

Inslee said in a statement released by the campaign:

"We need a candidate who has been through the fire and knows how to lead. ... Hillary Clinton has the vision to lead this country in a clean-energy revolution. She has the toughness, experience, and resolve needed to end the Iraq war and begin rebuilding America's image around the world."

Inslee's political career has been influenced by the Clintons. He lost his Eastern Washington seat in Congress in the anti-Clinton backlash of 1994, with the added trouble of having voted for Clinton's gun control measures. After his defeat, Inslee worked for President Bill Clinton has the regional director of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Inslee was elected again to the House in 1998, in part, after he attacked Republican efforts to impeach President Clinton.