Gov. David Ige took advantage of his recent trip to Washington, D.C., to make a direct pitch to President Barack Obama, encouraging him to choose Hawaii as the location for his presidential library.

Ige briefed reporters Thursday about his trip to the National Governors Association Winter Meeting last week as well as a variety of meetings he held with Cabinet members, including Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx, Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell and Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Gina McCarthy.

Ige said he also joined in four sessions that were attended by Obama, and took the opportunity to put in a plug for a presidential library in Hawaii.

"I did remind the president that it would be a big boon if a portion of the library was located in Hawaii, and it would be an appropriate tribute to his parents," Ige said. "So, we’ll see what happens when that decision is made."

The nonprofit Barack Obama Foundation is choosing among four universities that made the shortlist of locations vying for the library. The University of Chicago, the University of Illinois at Chicago, Columbia University in New York and the University of Hawaii are competing to be the location for the library.

The governors conducted two formal working sessions with Obama and had dinner at the White House, according to a statement from the Governor’s Office.

Ige also attended a signing ceremony establishing the Hono­uli­uli National Monument. The ceremony was also attended by members of Hawaii’s congressional delegation and representatives of the Japa­nese Cultural Center of Hawaii and the Japa­nese American Citizens League.