THE LIBERTY DOLLAR BILL ACT

By the time a dollar bill reaches your hands, it has traveled through those of countless other Americans. It is one of the most commonly shared physical objects in the United States. What if that dollar bill also carried the most important words Americans share?

As the 250th anniversary of the nation's founding nears, it is worth remembering that patriotism is not a campaign slogan or a partisan ideal. Patriotism is a commitment to the principles that define the U.S. Here's a powerful, surprisingly simple way to reaffirm that commitment: printing passages from the U.S. Constitution on the back of the one-dollar bill.

The idea is one that I raised in the 1990s as an eighth-grade civics teacher in Virginia. My students and I launched a project that eventually made its way to Congress and became known as the Liberty Dollar Bill Act. The proposal: that Congress place an abridged version of the Constitution on U.S. currency. Our goal was to put a civics lesson in every American's pocket.

Two months later, the Liberty Dollar Bill Act vanished from Congress's radar in the wake of 9/11... But now, more than 25 years after the Liberty Dollar Bill Act was first introduced, the country could benefit more than ever from its unifying message.

Paper money isn't as universal as it was in the 2000s, but a Siena Research Institute poll of more than 5,000 U.S. residents last year found that 85 percent said they had used cash for a purchase in the previous 30 days. If Congress reconsiders the proposal, everyone handling a dollar bill could see the government's framework in the Constitution and Bill of Rights: the separation of powers, the limits placed on authority, the rights guaranteed to citizens. The First Amendment's protections on freedom of speech and religion. The Fifth Amendment's guarantee of due process. The Eighth Amendment's prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment. With nearly a third of Americans unable to name all three branches of government, these words should not be confined to textbooks or courtroom arguments but instead woven into daily life.

In an era when patriotism is often reduced to rhetoric, the Liberty Dollar Bill Act offers something better: a daily reminder of the ideals that bind Americans together.

Not a slogan. Not a campaign promise. Just the inspiring words of the Constitution — in millions of American pockets.

To read the complete article, see:
How Congress could put the Constitution in every American's pocket (https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2026/04/05/congress-liberty-bill-act-virginia-constitution/)

To read the text of the original bill, see:
H.R.903 - Liberty Dollar Bill Act (https://www.congress.gov/bill/106th-congress/house-bill/903)

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