The Jewish Community Council of Greater Washington has been on record for over 50 years in support of self-determination for the citizens of the District of Columbia in local affairs, and representation of District citizens in the national government equal to all other American citizens.

Following is our most recent call for Congress to grant fulls rights of citizenship to D.C. residents. 
JCRC distributed this letter to all regional members of Congress:

December 26, 2006   

Re:       JCRC support for D.C. voting representation in Congress

Dear Senator or Congressman:

The Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) of Greater Washington serves as the government affairs and community relations arm for 210 Jewish agencies and synagogues throughout the District, Maryland and Northern Virginia and over 267,000 individuals in Jewish households. 

As one of the oldest JCRCs in the country, we are proud of our long history advocating full voting representation for the residents of the District of Columbia in the U.S. Congress.  We believe the current denial of voting representation to the District and its residents is incompatible with our nation’s underlying democratic values. 

It is with regret that we note the D.C. Voting Rights Act (H.R. 5388) was not enacted during the 109th Congress.  This is the legislation to expand the House of Representatives by two seats – adding one for D.C., and one for Utah.  Although we recognize this proposed solution may fall short of full congressional voting representation for D.C., we believe the approach represented a constructive step in the right direction and therefore merited support. 

We understand the D.C. Voting Rights Act will be reintroduced early in the upcoming 110th Congress.  We want to you know of the Jewish Community Relations Council’s strong support for the legislation.  We urge you to vote in favor of the bill, and hope you will be an advocate for the legislation among your colleagues in the Congress.  Please contact Debra Linick, dlinick@jcouncil.org, 703-893-4007 if we can be of further assistance.