I don't know what to make of this but, according to a report on the 109th Congress from the Library of Congress, 6 members of Congress were (or are still) accountants. That is a little over 1.1% of the 540 individuals who serve in Congress from the 50 states, as well as delegates from places such as Guam, Puerto Rico and D.C.
During the same time period, a Bureau of Labor Statistics report states that there were 1.3 million auditors and accountants employed in the US. With non-farm payroll at the same time quoted as 137M, it could be argued that accountants were slightly over-represented in Congress - although the loss of one member would have changed that to slight under-representation!
Compare that to vintners (two members) and radio broadcasters (five members) and accountants might certainly seem to be outnumbered - at least proportional to their numbers in society. The real discrepancy comes when you look at lawyers (42% of the 109th Congress) and Congressional staffers (20% of the 109th Congress).
Any accountants out there want to answer the call to public service?
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