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Congresswoman Beatty Pushes Secretary Mnuchin to Commit to Tubman Twenty

June 27, 2019

WASHINGTON, D.C.— Today, U.S. Congresswoman Joyce Beatty (OH-03) led a press conference on the steps of the U.S. Department of Treasury to call on Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin to place famous abolitionist Harriet Tubman on the new $20 bill. Joining Beatty at the national press conference were House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (MD-05), House Democratic Caucus Chair Hakeem Jeffries (NY-08) and Vice-Chair Katherine Clark (MA-05), Congressional Black Caucus Chairwoman Karen Bass (CA-37), and nearly 20 other Members of Congress.

"We are here today on the steps of the Department of Treasury to send a clear message to Secretary Mnuchin and this Administration: Congress and Americans everywhere want Harriet Tubman to take her rightful place on the $20 bill," Beatty said opening the press conference. "The decision to place Tubman on the $20 was not pulled out of thin air, but part of a nearly year-long comment process conducted by the Treasury Department." Beatty continued, "As Tubman once said, ‘I would fight for liberty so long as my strength lasted.' In that spirit, it is time for Congress to fight for her legacy and to ensure our currency better reflects the diversity of this great country."

Beatty has fought throughout her time in Congress to secure a woman on our nation's currency. In June 2015, she introduced the Woman on the Twenty Act, directing the Secretary of the Treasury to create a citizens' panel to recommend a woman to be placed on a $20 bill. Several weeks later, she spoke from the House Floor in support of putting Harriet Tubman on the new $20. The following April, Beatty wrote a letter to former Treasury Secretary Jack Lew calling on the Department to fast track the new note and have it in circulation by 2020. Then, in 2017, Beatty wrote Mnuchin urging him to recommit to the redesign of the $20 bill featuring Harriet Tubman. Moreover, earlier this month, Beatty reintroduced the Woman on the Twenty Act of 2019, H.R. 3082, a bill that would require a $20 note printed after 2022 to prominently feature a portrait of Tubman. Finally, just this week, she had H.R. 3082's language included in the Financial Services and Government Appropriations Act, H.R. 3351. This piece of legislation is awaiting further consideration by the U.S. Senate.

Also standing in support at the June 27th press conference were Representatives Sanford Bishop (GA-02), Sheila Jackson Lee (TX-18), Barbara Lee (CA-13), Dutch Ruppersberger (MD-02), G.K. Butterfield (NC-01), Gwen Moore (WI-04), Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL-23), Emanuel Cleaver (MO-05), Frederica Wilson (FL-24), Lois Frankel (FL-21), Grace Meng (NY-06), Alma Adams (NC-12), Brenda Lawrence (MI-14), Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ-12), Pete Aguilar (CA-31), Steven Horsford (NV-04), Dwight Evans (PA-03), and Ayanna Pressley (MA-07).

The "Tubman on the Twenty" press conference can be viewed on Beatty's YouTubeand Facebook pages.

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