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[Page H4721]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
{time} 0915
CELEBRATING 100 YEARS OF WOMEN'S SUFFRAGE
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from
California (Ms. Lee) for 5 minutes.
Ms. LEE of California. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak in support
of H.R. 1923, the Women's History and Nineteenth Amendment Centennial
Quarter Dollar Coin Program Act. This bill will celebrate 100 years of
women's suffrage by featuring women leaders from across the country on
quarter dollar coins.
We have been working to advance this bill for over 3 years, and I am
so proud to have the endorsement of various stakeholders and the
support of the United States Mint and Treasury on this legislation.
Let me first thank my co-lead, Congressman Anthony Gonzalez, as well
as our Senate counterparts, Senators Catherine Cortez Masto and Deb
Fischer, for their efforts, and for all of our staff for working
diligently on this legislation.
And I thank my good friend Congresswoman Maxine Waters and the
Financial Services Committee for their leadership and commitment to
getting this bill to the floor. There is bipartisan and bicameral
support for this legislation.
My good friend, Congresswoman Bonnie Watson Coleman's legislation on
semiquincentennial coins commemorating the 250th anniversary of the
United States is included in this coin package, and I thank her for
spearheading the efforts on that initiative.
Finally, let me thank my dear friend, former U.S. Treasurer, Rosie
Rios, who was really instrumental in shaping this legislation years
ago, and for her incredible work to raise the visibility of women in
every space and place to reinforce the critical role women have played
and continue to play in history. I am deeply grateful for her
leadership.
Finally, let me just specifically acknowledge my staff, my former
legislative director, Emma Mehrabi, for early on never missing a beat
with diligence and strategic work in getting this bill to the floor,
and also my current legislative director, Gregory Adams, who really has
taken this bill to the finish line.
H.R. 1923 will create a new series of circulating quarters, starting
in 2022, featuring trailblazing women in American history. It is my
hope that women of all backgrounds, diverse American women, will be
chosen and depicted, celebrating the accomplishments of our Nation's
historical leaders, thinkers, innovators, activists, freedom fighters,
women who have contributed to achievements in many, many fields: civil
rights, abolition, suffrage, science, and technology, the arts and
humanities, education. Because of these women our country is better for
them and their leadership.
Much like the previous and celebrated 50 State Quarters program, the
women featured on these coins and their images will be selected with
broad public input. Each Governor will engage with members of the
general public and local groups focused on increasing the inclusion of
women or improving the quality of life for women to recommend a
prominent, trailblazing woman to represent their State or territory to
be featured on their State coin.
It is my hope that through this process the broader American public
can engage in a dialogue and celebration of the contributions of these
women, ensuring that their legacy and contributions are more widely
known, understood, and valued in each and every corner of our country.
Mr. Speaker, driving to the Capitol this morning, traffic was stopped
at the corner. I saw the hearse carrying the casket of our beloved
Justice Ginsburg to the Supreme Court. I said a prayer as I witnessed
the procession, and thought about her life and how she paved the way
for racial and gender equality, and I thought about it in the context
of this bill today, and the phenomenal women who this country will have
a chance to get to know. I thank her for her life, her legacy, and for
what she has done to ensure that women now have their rightful place in
history.
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