Reps. Pascrell, Plaskett Renew Call to Retain Hamilton on Ten Dollar Bill

Today, U.S. Reps. Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-NJ) and Stacey Plaskett (D-VI), announced they are seeking support from their colleagues in urging U.S. Department of Treasury Secretary Jack Lew to retain Alexander Hamilton, who spent his youth in the Virgin Islands and founded Pascrell's birthplace of Paterson, on the ten dollar bill and instead feature a woman on the more prominent twenty dollar note. Secretary Lew recently announced Treasury's decision that a newly redesigned ten dollar bill will feature a woman, potentially replacing Hamilton.

Reps. Pascrell and Plaskett and urging colleagues to sign on to a letter to Secretary Lew which lauds Treasury's decision to finally recognize women's contributions to our nation, but suggests replacing President Andrew Jackson on the twenty dollar bill instead so a woman can be featured on a more prominent note. According to the Federal Reserve website, in 2014 there were 8.1 billion twenty dollar bills in circulation, compared with only 1.9 billion ten dollar notes.

"Given the fact that men are currently featured on all six paper currencies and all four of the most commonly used coins, redesigning the less-circulated ten dollar bill in a way that features a notable woman with Hamilton, as has been proposed, is simply not adequate," the lawmakers wrote. "We reiterate our deep concern with the effort to remove Alexander Hamilton from the ten dollar bill while preserving President Jackson on the more heavily-utilized twenty dollar bill. We hope to work with you to preserve Alexander Hamilton's place on our currency while elevating a woman to a place she deserves."

Since the decision to redesign the bill was announced, many have expressed concern with the idea of replacing Alexander Hamilton or diminishing his presence on the ten dollar bill. Dozens of news outlets as diverse as the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, New York Post and USA Today, historians like Ron Chernow, and former Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, along with many others, have urged Secretary Lew to move forward with the plan initially proposed by the grassroots organization Women On 20s to feature a woman on the twenty dollar bill in place of Andrew Jackson.

Rep. Pascrell first urged Secretary Lew to retain Alexander Hamilton, our nation's first Secretary of the Treasury, on the ten dollar bill immediately after Treasury's announcement of their redesign plan in June.

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