Policy Resolution BED-20-08

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;

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

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;

WHEREAS, Secretary Lew added that 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;

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

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 domestically for the slave owners’ families and in the fields of the plantations;

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;

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;

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

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;

WHEREAS, in honor of the 100th anniversary of the passage of the 19th Amendment of the Constitution of the United States, which 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, that the National Black Caucus of State Legislators (NBCSL) supports 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;

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the NBCSL urges 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 FINALLY RESOLVED, that a copy of this resolution be transmitted to the President of the United States, the Vice President of the Unites 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.

• SPONSOR: Representative Larry Miller (TN)
  
• Committee of Jurisdiction: Business and Economic Development Policy Committee
  
• Certified by Committee Co-Chair: Senator James Sanders (NY)
  
• Ratified in Plenary Session: Ratification Date is December 6, 2019
  
• Ratification is certified by: Representative Gilda Cobb-Hunter (SC), President