A Statement from AICPA President and CEO, Barry Melancon, CPA, CGMA on the Events at the U.S. Capitol

January 7, 2021

The American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) strongly condemns yesterday’s unlawful criminal breach of our U.S. Capitol. Those actions do not reflect our nation’s deep-rooted commitment to peaceful assembly and protest and sadly, resulted in deaths, injuries, physical damage and tested our democracy’s resolve.

Our country has a long history of using peaceful protest to address and make change happen. Any violent protest is contrary to how our democracy is intended to work.

Our profession is founded on working in the public’s interest. The true public interest is about constantly making our country better, improving and supporting the economy for all and protecting freedoms and rights. Also, the AICPA has long history of working in a bipartisan way to resolve the business community’s and accounting profession’s important issues.

We are heartened that through last night’s chaos and criminal behaviors, the nation’s important Constitutional process continued and did not sway. The continuation of the U.S. Senate’s and House of Representatives’ important business and peaceful, civil debate showed the world that our nation is united and our democratic processes are strong.

We are grateful that our electoral processes were resilient and rose above the turmoil. Let’s hope 2021 can be a year marked by dedication to rational compromise and constructive debate.