Bill Pascrell: “I rise to affirm my support for the image of Alexander Hamilton to remain on the face of the $10 bill. Paterson, New…”

“I rise to affirm my support for the image of Alexander Hamilton to remain on the face of the $10 bill. Paterson, New Jersey, a city characterized by its Great Falls, is a great city that was transformed by Hamilton to serve as one of America's first industrial centers. I have lived there all my life. I still live there. I would like to share some of the knowledge that I have obtained about Alexander Hamilton. He arrived in America as a poor immigrant from the Caribbean island of Nevis. He attended school in New York and became involved in the American Revolution, was a great general in the battles of Trenton, Princeton, and Monmouth, and indeed at the battle of Yorktown, which was the turning point of the Revolutionary War. For those who read history, George Washington turned to him. He was his trusted aide. Hamilton wrote 51 of the Federalist Papers. In 1789, Hamilton served in George Washington's administration, and was the first Secretary of the Treasury. His innovative mind afforded him the opportunity to use his new position to provide Americans with financial machinery, including banks. Ronald Reagan, our dearly beloved former President, was correct when he called Alexander Hamilton 'a man of enormous intellectual capacity and courage.' Mr. Speaker, I challenge those proponents who want to change the image on the $10 bill not to a duel, but for a little sanity here on the floor of the House.”