Some 672,000 people live in Washington, D.C. (I am one of them, for what it’s worth, as are many Public Citizen employees and members.)

That’s more than either Wyoming (581,000) or Vermont (647,000).

Yet D.C.residents have no representative or senators in Congress.

This has become accepted in America, but if you really think about it for a moment, it is actually a shocking injustice.

In a country held up as the beacon of democracy, how can we continue to accept that so many Americans are not fully represented in the legislative branch of our federal government?

We learn in school that the American Revolution was about “taxation without representation” — that we fought for, and won, our independence from Great Britain over this exact issue of not having a voice in a government that ruled over us.

Yet almost 250 years later, that very thing is happening, in the very place where our government operates.

And it must be noted that — unlike in many states, including the aforementioned Wyoming and Vermont — a majority of D.C. residents are people of color.

Pathetically, Republicans will exploit their control of the House of Representatives to stonewall any legislation in this congressional term that would at last right this wrong.

But we can’t just ignore how egregiously undemocratic this actually is.

I’m asking you to join me in declaring that it is categorically undemocratic for the people of Washington, D.C., to be without full representation in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives.

Click to add your name.

Thanks for taking action.

For democracy,

- Robert Weissman, President of Public Citizen

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