William Petroski

bpetrosk@dmreg.com

U.S. Rep. Steve King has introduced an amendment in Congress that would prevent Harriet Tubman, an abolitionist and supporter of women's suffrage, from replacing President Andrew Jackson on the $20 bill.

However, the House Rules Committee agreed Tuesday night to deny floor consideration of proposal, which would have prevented the Treasury Department from spending money to redesign paper currency or coins.

The Iowan Republican's amendment, which was first reported by the Huffington Post, would scrap the federal government's plans to replace Jackson on the $20 bill with a picture of Tubman, a black woman who was born in to slavery in 1822 and later escaped. She subsequently made repeated missions on the Underground Railroad to rescue black people from slavery. During the Civil War, she served as a Union Army scout and spy.

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"It's not about Harriet Tubman, it's about keeping the picture on the $20," King said Tuesday night, according to Politico, pulling a $20 bill from his pocket and pointing at President Andrew Jackson. "Y'know? Why would you want to change that? I am a conservative, I like to keep what we have."

Politico quoted King as saying it is "racist" and "sexist" to say a woman or person of color should be added to currency.

"Here's what's really happening, this is liberal activism on the part of the president, that's trying to identify people by categories and he's divided us on the lines of groups. … This is a divisive proposal on the part of the president and mine's unifying. It says just don't change anything."

The Des Moines Register had inquired about the amendment earlier Tuesday with King's congressional staff in Washington, D.C. A spokeswoman for King said the congressman planned to issue a statement about his amendment, but as the day passed the statement was never issued.

Jackson, the seventh U.S. president, was born during the colonial era and owned hundreds of slaves on a Tennessee plantation. He gained national fame as a military commander during the War of 1812, was a lawyer, and served in Congress. As president, he signed the Indian Removal Act, which with subsequent treaties led to the removal of some tribes from their traditional lands.

Kim Weaver of Sheldon, King's Democratic opponent in Iowa's 4th District race for the House this fall, criticized the seven-term lawmaker's proposal.

“Iowans have four representatives in the United States House of Representatives, and unfortunately one of them seems to maintain a laser focus on where his next headline-grabbing piece of stunt legislation will come from," Weaver said. “What will this amendment do for residents of Iowa’s 4th District? Nothing. How will it make the lives of his constituents better? It won’t. And what chance does this meaningless and mean-spirited gesture have of actually passing? Just like most measures introduced by Steve King, none.”

The Treasury Department's plan announced in May would place Jackson on the back of the $20 bill in a reduced image along with the White House. Tubman would be the first woman on the $20 bill since Martha Washington's portrait was on a $1 bill in the late 19th Century. Pocahontas was on the $20 bill from 1865 to 1869.

One of the impacts of King's amendment is that it would have prevented the U.S. government from incorporating into Federal Reserve notes advanced security features to stay ahead of counterfeiting, along with a tactile feature for the blind and visually impaired community.

In addition, the amendment would have reportedly prevented the United States Mint from complying with the America’s Beautiful National Parks Quarter Dollar Coin Act of 2008. This law requires the Mint to issue five new quarter-dollar coins each year featuring designs depicting national parks and other national sites. It would also negatively affect the Native American $1 Coin Act, which requires the minting and issuance of $1 coins each year featuring designs celebrating the important contributions made by Indian tribes and individual Native Americans to the history and development of the United States.

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Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, has proposed keeping Jackson on the $20 bill and honoring Tubman on another denomination.

"Andrew Jackson had a great history and I think it’s very rough when you take somebody off the bill," Trump told the Today Show in April. He added: “I think Harriet Tubman is fantastic. I would love to leave Andrew Jackson and see if we can maybe come up with another denomination. Maybe we do the $2 or we do another bill. …Yes, I think it’s pure political correctness.”

Democratic candidate Weaver complained that King has been ignoring real challenges in Congress.

"Tuition costs are rising and graduating students are suffocating under oppressive student loan debt. Seniors are struggling to make ends meet and retire in dignity. Wages for working class Iowans continue to stagnate. And Steve King is waging a one-man war against putting the first African-American woman on U.S. currency. It really is time to send someone to Congress who will fight for Iowans and stay focused on results," she said.