Beatty to Trump’s Treasurer Secretary: Get Harriet Tubman on the $20, Please

September 8, 2017

Rep. Joyce Beatty wants Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to clarify whether he wants to move forward with plans to put abolitionist Harriet Tubman on the front of the $20 bill.

Beatty, D–Jefferson Township, sent Mnuchin a letter Friday urging Mnuchin to move forward with the plans, which were announced April 20, 2016. The new bill would include Tubman on the front of the $20 and President Andrew Jackson on the back of the bill.

Mnuchin, speaking on CNBC in late August, declined to endorse putting Tubman on the $20, saying, "Right now we've got a lot more important issues to focus on." He said the idea was one he would consider.

To Beatty, who fought to put a woman on the $20 bill, those comments aren't good enough. The proposal, she wrote, was part of a 10 month public engagement effort between Treasury and the American people to choose a replacement.

"I write to remind you that placing Harriet Tubman on the face of the $20 bill is critically important to the millions of Americans who worked to see these plans come to fruition," she wrote, adding that she wants to "begin a dialogue" aimed at making the change happen.

This article was originally published by The Columbus Dispatch on September 8, 2017.