We are ONE America.

Jan. 7 , 2021

Joint Statement of the Arkansas Public Policy Panel and Citizens First Congress:

What we witnessed yesterday in Washington, D.C. is the trampling of our American sacred values and traditions that have enabled our 243-year experiment in self-governance. The violence and attacks on our democracy are unacceptable. Period.

Yesterday, as a Joint Session of Congress met to certify a free and fair election of Joe Biden as the next President of the United States, armed rioters stormed the United States Capitol. They were urged on by the President of the United States and some members of his party who refused to concede an election for the only time in American history.

This would be a dangerous and embarrassing spectacle in the weakest of democracies, much less here in our home. The United States of America has been a beacon of freedom for generations to millions around the world because we do the hard work of making democracy work. We do not settle disputes with violence, threats, illegal schemes, or by dehumanizing our opposition.

Today our shared values of democracy, community, family, liberty, and working together for the common good are at risk. Violence threatens not only lives and property, but it also threatens the very idea of America that our forefathers and mothers sacrificed to build, and that our children will inherit. We must settle our disputes peacefully through dialogue and through our democratic institutions and traditions.

We are all Americans who deserve respect. We are all in this together. Whatsoever we do to the least of us impacts us all. We share families, communities, and destinies far beyond our political views. We must remember that it is our shared values as well as our diversity that combine to make us stronger.

We must examine how we have allowed polarization and division to grow to the boiling point that we reached today. We must examine how racist, white nationalism has resurfaced as a force in American culture and politics again. We must hold the rioters who broke the law yesterday accountable, as well as the political leaders like the President who incited them.

We must examine and hold our elected officials and ourselves accountable for enabling these divisions, and we must hold each other accountable for making our great democracy thrive again.

America has many challenges. We have one of the most diverse societies in the world. We must tackle income inequality, racial inequality, climate change, health care, quality education, mass incarceration, and creating opportunity for all Americans. These are not partisan problems. These are common challenges and our diversity will be our greatest strength in solving them.

No matter our political differences, we must remember to love and respect each other and our humanity.

We hope the vast majority of Arkansans and Americans will come together to reject what we witnessed and rebuild our sacred democracy and communities again.