HR0801 101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0801 LRB101 16772 LAW 66165 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, In 2015, the United States Treasury Department announced a plan to place a woman on a currency note during the implementation of security and anti-counterfeiting measures along with the redesign process of the $20, $10 and $5 bills; and

WHEREAS, More than one million citizens expressed their opinion and made hundreds of suggestions to then Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew; and

WHEREAS, On April 20, 2016, Secretary Lew announced that the women's suffrage movement would be honored on the back of the redesigned $10 bill through depictions of Lucretia Mott, Sojourner Truth, Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Alice Paul for their contributions in shaping the history of this country; and

WHEREAS, Secretary Lew added that honoring the advancement in the Civil Rights Movement would focus on events at the Lincoln Memorial on the back of the new $5 bill, and Harriet Tubman would appear on the front of the new $20 bill; and

WHEREAS, According to the Harriet Tubman Historical Society, Tubman was born Araminta Ross around 1822 in Dorchester County, Maryland; and

WHEREAS, Born into slavery, Tubman was forced to endure horrible living conditions and severe beatings while being forced to work under brutal and unconscionable labor conditions for the slave owners' families and in the fields of the plantations; and

WHEREAS, After successfully escaping to the north through the assistance of the Underground Railroad in 1849, Tubman returned to the south and helped to free hundreds of slaves through the Underground Railroad; and

WHEREAS, Tubman's persistence and bravery continued as she worked for the Union Army during the Civil War as a cook, nurse, scout, spy, and as a leader in the women's suffrage movement; and

WHEREAS, Tubman remained steadfast in her efforts toward freedom and equality until her death in 1913 in Auburn, New York; and

WHEREAS, Considering the exemplary life led by this American heroine, the nation overwhelmingly chose Tubman over any other individual female to receive the honor of being placed on the $20 bill; and

WHEREAS, in honor of the 100th anniversary of the passage of the 19th Amendment of the Constitution of the United States that gave women the right to vote, Secretary Mnuchin should maintain the original plan and redesign schedule and release the new currencies along with the added security measures in 2020; and

WHEREAS, the decade-long delay imposed by Secretary Mnuchin in the implementation of these changes shows blatant disrespect for the former administration and the will of the American people; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE HUNDRED FIRST GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we support legislation and initiatives by the U.S. Congress to honor the pledge made to place Harriet Tubman's image on the $20 bill by 2020; and be it further

RESOLVED, That we urge President Trump and Secretary Mnuchin to reconsider the decision to delay the release of the new design of the $20 note and work to release the note with Harriet Tubman as soon as possible; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a copy of this resolution be transmitted to the President of the United States, the Vice President of the United States, members of the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate, and other federal and state government officials and agencies as appropriate.