GOP congressman seeks to block changes to US currency

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A Republican congressman is trying to block the Treasury from redesigning U.S. currency, a move that could prevent the government from replacing Andrew Jackson on the front of the $20 bill with abolitionist Harriet Tubman.

Rep. Steve King of Iowa has offered an amendment to a spending bill barring the use of funds to redesign any Federal Reserve note or coin.

The back, which now features the Lincoln Memorial, will be redesigned to include important civil rights events at the memorial including Martin Luther King's "I have a dream" speech and a 1939 concert by African-American opera singer Marian Anderson.