Hoyer Remarks on Addition of Harriet Tubman to U.S. Currency

WASHINGTON, DC – Congressman Steny H. Hoyer (MD-5) spoke on the House Floor today in support of yesterday's announcement by Treasury Secretary Jack Lew that Harriet Tubman and other American women will be added to U.S. currency: 

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"Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Secretary of the Treasury [Jack] Lew announced that for the first time U.S. paper currency will feature portraits of great American women.

"I am very proud that a Maryland native, an abolition hero, Harriet Tubman, was selected to be the new face on the $20 bill. Born into slavery on Maryland's Eastern Shore, she escaped to freedom, but returned to rescue her family members. It was dangerous and could easily have cost Tubman her life or her freedom. But after rescuing her family, she kept coming back for others who sought freedom. Using the alias ‘Moses' – how appropriate – she brought dozens of people out of slavery, never once losing a passenger on her Underground Railroad route.

"During the Civil War, she was an agent for the Union. In the decades following the war, she was active in the movement for women's suffrage.

"I can think of no one more suited to be honored with the portrait on the $20 bill. I'm also pleased that other women will be featured on our currency and I yield back the balance of my time."