HR0801LRB101 16772 LAW 66165 r

1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, In 2015, the United States Treasury Department
3announced a plan to place a woman on a currency note during the
4implementation of security and anti-counterfeiting measures
5along with the redesign process of the $20, $10 and $5 bills;
6and
 
7    WHEREAS, More than one million citizens expressed their
8opinion and made hundreds of suggestions to then Treasury
9Secretary Jacob J. Lew; and
 
10    WHEREAS, On April 20, 2016, Secretary Lew announced that
11the women's suffrage movement would be honored on the back of
12the redesigned $10 bill through depictions of Lucretia Mott,
13Sojourner Truth, Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and
14Alice Paul for their contributions in shaping the history of
15this country; and
 
16    WHEREAS, Secretary Lew added that honoring the advancement
17in the Civil Rights Movement would focus on events at the
18Lincoln Memorial on the back of the new $5 bill, and Harriet
19Tubman would appear on the front of the new $20 bill; and
 
20    WHEREAS, According to the Harriet Tubman Historical
21Society, Tubman was born Araminta Ross around 1822 in

 

 

HR0801- 2 -LRB101 16772 LAW 66165 r

1Dorchester County, Maryland; and
 
2    WHEREAS, Born into slavery, Tubman was forced to endure
3horrible living conditions and severe beatings while being
4forced to work under brutal and unconscionable labor conditions
5for the slave owners' families and in the fields of the
6plantations; and
 
7    WHEREAS, After successfully escaping to the north through
8the assistance of the Underground Railroad in 1849, Tubman
9returned to the south and helped to free hundreds of slaves
10through the Underground Railroad; and
 
11    WHEREAS, Tubman's persistence and bravery continued as she
12worked for the Union Army during the Civil War as a cook,
13nurse, scout, spy, and as a leader in the women's suffrage
14movement; and
 
15    WHEREAS, Tubman remained steadfast in her efforts toward
16freedom and equality until her death in 1913 in Auburn, New
17York; and
 
18    WHEREAS, Considering the exemplary life led by this
19American heroine, the nation overwhelmingly chose Tubman over
20any other individual female to receive the honor of being
21placed on the $20 bill; and
 

 

 

HR0801- 3 -LRB101 16772 LAW 66165 r

1    WHEREAS, in honor of the 100th anniversary of the passage
2of the 19th Amendment of the Constitution of the United States
3that gave women the right to vote, Secretary Mnuchin should
4maintain the original plan and redesign schedule and release
5the new currencies along with the added security measures in
62020; and
 
7    WHEREAS, the decade-long delay imposed by Secretary
8Mnuchin in the implementation of these changes shows blatant
9disrespect for the former administration and the will of the
10American people; therefore, be it
 
11    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE
12HUNDRED FIRST GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
13we support legislation and initiatives by the U.S. Congress to
14honor the pledge made to place Harriet Tubman's image on the
15$20 bill by 2020; and be it further
 
16    RESOLVED, That we urge President Trump and Secretary
17Mnuchin to reconsider the decision to delay the release of the
18new design of the $20 note and work to release the note with
19Harriet Tubman as soon as possible; and be it further
 
20    RESOLVED, That a copy of this resolution be transmitted to
21the President of the United States, the Vice President of the

 

 

HR0801- 4 -LRB101 16772 LAW 66165 r

1United States, members of the United States House of
2Representatives and the United States Senate, and other federal
3and state government officials and agencies as appropriate.