--- description: An Illinois Congressman introduced a bill on Tuesday calling for a woman’s portrait to appear on the $20 bill. title: Congressman Proposes Putting a Woman's Face on the $20 Bill image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [Politics](/section/politics/) ## Politics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Congress](/tag/congress/) ## Congress Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Congressman Proposes Putting a Woman's Face on the $20 Bill  by [Noah Rayman](/author/noah-rayman/)  ## Noah Rayman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 21, 2015 11:34 PM CUT  by [Noah Rayman](/author/noah-rayman/)  ## Noah Rayman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 21, 2015 11:34 PM CUT The push to put a woman’s face on American currency [got a bump](http://gutierrez.house.gov/press-release/rep-gutiérrez-introduces-“put-woman-twenty-act” "undefined") Tuesday from a Congressman in Illinois. Representative Luis Gutiérrez, a Democrat, introduced a bill calling for a woman’s portrait to appear on the $20 bill. The “Put a Woman on the Twenty Act” would direct the Treasury Secretary to convene a special commission that would ask the American public for their suggestions and then make recommendations on who would replace former President Andrew Jackson on the note. “If this is a country that truly believes in equality,” Gutiérrez said in a statement, “it is time to put our money where our mouths are, literally, and express that sense of justice and fairness on the most widely used bill in circulation.” The move comes in the [wake of the viral Women on 20s campaign](http://time.com/3747908/the-campaign-to-get-a-woman-on-the-20-bill-is-picking-up-steam/ "undefined"), which hosted an online poll of 15 potential faces to appear on the bills. Voters can [now pick one of four](http://www.womenon20s.org/vote2 "undefined") women finalists: Harriet Tubman, Rosa Parks, Eleanor Roosevelt and Wilma Mankiller, the Cherokee Nation’s first female chief. And it follows a comment on the matter from President Barack Obama, who, after a little girl [asked in a letter](http://time.com/3765227/woman-us-currency-obama-letter/ "undefined") to him why there weren’t any women on U.S. currency, said having female faces on American bills sounded like a “pretty good idea.” “I’ll keep working to make sure you grow up in a country where women have the same opportunities as men, and I hope you’ll stay involved in issues that matter to you,” he said in a reply to her. _Read next:_ [_Read a 9-Year-Old’s Letter to Obama About Putting a Woman on U.S. Currency—and His Response_](http://time.com/3765227/woman-us-currency-obama-letter/ "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3830613/congressman-illinois-woman-american-currency/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3830613/congressman-illinois-woman-american-currency/"},"headline":"Congressman Proposes Putting a Woman's Face on the $20 Bill","datePublished":"2015-04-21T23:34:34.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T06:33:55.809Z","description":"\"It is time to put our money where our mouths are, literally\"","url":"https://time.com/3830613/congressman-illinois-woman-american-currency/","keywords":["Congress","feminism","women","Money","President Barack Obama"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Noah Rayman","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/noah-rayman/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/congress/","name":"Congress"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3830613/congressman-illinois-woman-american-currency/","name":"Congressman Proposes Putting a Woman's Face on the $20 Bill"}}]}] ```