SOURCE: WASHINGTON TIMES
URL:
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/jun/23/rep-steve-king-loses-bid-keep-harriet-tubman-20-bi/by: Andrew Blake
The House Rules Committee decided Tuesday evening against voting on an amendment that would have prevented abolitionist Harriet Tubman from appearing on the $20 bill.
Rep. Steve King, Iowa Republican, proposed a measure that would have barred the U.S. Treasury Department from spending any money on currency redesign, effectively stalling plans to put a portrait of Underground Railroad architect on the $20 bill.
President Andrew Jackson has graced the front of the denomination since 1928, but the Treasury announced in April that it plans on replacing his likeness with an image of Tubman by 2020.
“It’s not about Harriet Tubman, it’s about keeping the picture on the $20,” the congressman said Tuesday, according to Politico. “Y’know? Why would you want to change that? I am a conservative, I like to keep what we have.”
“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,” Mr. King said.
President Obama, the congressman added, is “going to do everything he can think of to upset this society and this civilization” before his term expires in January, Politico reported.
During Tuesday evening’s committee meaning, however, lawmakers determined the amendment was not in compliance with House rules and refused to bring it to a vote, much to the delight of Iowan Democrats who opposed their colleague’s proposal.
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