SHAHEEN RESPONDS TO SECRETARY LEW’S OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENT OF NEW REDESIGNS FOR THE $5, $10 & $20 BILLS

(Washington, DC)- U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), author of the Women on the Twenty Act and Harriet Tubman Currency Tribute Act of 2015, made the following statement after Treasury Secretary Jack Lew announced plans to redesign the five, ten and twenty dollar bills. Earlier today, Senator Shaheen responded to reports that Harriet Tubman would be prominently featured on the twenty dollar bill. Secretary Lew announced that the new ten dollar bill will feature an image of the historic march for suffrage that ended on the steps of the Treasury building in Washington. The bill will honor leaders of the suffrage movement, including Lucretia Mott, Sojourner Truth, Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Alice Paul. He also announced that the new five dollar bill will honor important events that occurred in front of the Lincoln Memorial, and will honor Marian Anderson, Eleanor Roosevelt and Martin Luther King Jr. Secretary Lew said these designs will be unveiled in 2020, the 100^th anniversary of the 19^th Amendment to the Constitution, which provided women the right to vote.    

“I’m very pleased that the new designs announced today will pay homage to these American women who helped our nation become more free and equal,” said Shaheen. “These new bills will be a fitting and timely tribute during the 100^th anniversary of women securing the right to vote. I’m also thrilled that the many voices across the country calling for a woman to be prominently featured on our currency, were heard.  Harriet Tubman’s fight for equality and freedom embodies the American spirit and she deserves to be featured beside our founding fathers.”

Last year, Senator Shaheen introduced the Women on the Twenty Act, which would begin the process for putting a woman on the twenty dollar bill. After a nationwide online poll selected Harriet Tubman, Senator Shaheen introduced legislation to put a portrait of her on the twenty.