U.S. Representative Lois J. Frankel (FL-21)
From her days as a working mom and now as she describes herself—a working grandmother, Congresswoman Lois Frankel has spent her life delivering positive change to her community as a civic leader, state legislator, mayor, and now Member of the United States House of Representatives. Currently, she sits on the House Appropriations Committee and on the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs, which is personal to her as a proud mom of a brave Marine war veteran.
As a member of the Labor, Health and Human Services Subcommittee, Congresswoman Frankel believes all Americans deserve access to affordable health care, and takes pride in advocating for policies that further this goal. For far too long, America’s health care system has been too inaccessible and costly for too many hardworking families and small businesses. In 2010, Congress passed the Affordable Care Act (ACA) to lower costs and provide quality health care to all Americans. Millions of people are already enjoying the numerous benefits that this legislation provides, including prohibiting insurance companies from denying insurance for pre-existing conditions or dropping coverage when people get sick.
Like most Americans, Frankel believes we should work out the kinks instead of going back to a system where the insurance companies are in charge. When it comes to the ACA, we need to mend it, not end it. In Florida, approximately 1.6 million people signed up for health care through the new insurance markets – more than any other state. It is vital that we safeguard these important reforms as we move forward in improving our health care system.
Opioid Crisis: Rep. Frankel believes the opioid crisis is national tragedy, taking so many lives, especially young lives, and putting incredible pressure on medical and emergency infrastructure. As a member of the Bipartisan Heroin Task Force, Rep. Frankel has led the charge in taking on the growing sober home issue and opioid crisis in Palm Beach County since arriving to Congress in 2013. From the very beginning of her tenure in Congress, she brought together local stakeholders and representatives from the federal government to protect addicts exploited by corrupt sober home facilities. As a result of her advocacy, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) issued an updated joint statement in November 2016 that protects the rights of people recovering from drug addiction, while providing legal clarity for cities to regulate group homes. In July 2017, Frankel convened roundtables with the VA and health care professionals that led to the Palm Beach Medical Society creating an opioid task force and implementing a pilot program to prevent the over-prescribing of opioids. On Capitol Hill, Congresswoman Frankel supports legislation to tackle this nationwide crisis, and remains a strong supporter of the Affordable Care Act, which requires insurance companies to cover addiction treatment.
As a Co-Chair of the Democratic Women's Caucus, and a member of the Labor, Health and Human Services Subcommittee, Congresswoman Frankel understands that a woman's health care decisions should be made by herself, with the guidance of her doctor – not by politicians. She is a committed supporter of Roe v. Wade and will continue to protect and defend women's access to the full range of reproductive health care services available.
Across the U.S., state legislatures enacted over 230 pieces of anti-choice legislation between 2010 and 2014 in an attempt to curb women’s reproductive rights. For these reasons, Frankel joined with like-minded colleagues in the House and Senate to introduce the Women’s Health Protection Act. This bill if enacted would prohibit state laws that impose burdensome requirements on reproductive health services such as requiring doctors to perform unnecessary tests and procedures – or preventing doctors from prescribing medication as is medically appropriate.
Frankel is also a proud sponsor of the Not My Boss’ Business Act that would repeal the United States Supreme Court decision that allows corporations to use its owner’s religious beliefs to deny health care coverage for contraception. Frankel believes that no one should lose access to birth control because her employer does not approve of it.
As Co-Chair of Democratic Women's Caucus, Congresswoman Frankel is a supporter of the Women’s Economic Agenda, launched in 2013 by House Democrats. It aims to unleash the economic power of women by addressing pay, work and family balance, affordable quality child care, and retirement security.
Pay: Nearly two thirds of minimum wage workers are women and women make on average only 78 cents for every dollar earned by men, amounting to a yearly gap of $11,084 between full-time men and women. That $11,084 is equivalent to 89 weeks of food, more than 3,000 gallons of gas, or more than one year of rent. This current wage gap represents a loss of $430,000 over the course of a career of a woman working full time. Frankel supports raising the minimum wage and the Paycheck Fairness Act.
Work & Family Balance: When a child is sick, no parent should have to choose between losing a paycheck or taking their son or daughter to the doctor. That's why Frankel is a cosponsor of the Healthy Families Act that would allow workers to accrue paid sick days to care for themselves or their families. She also supports the Family and Medical Insurance Leave Act, which would ensure that workers can take time off after the birth of a child or for an extended medical issue. Currently, the United States has no mandatory paid family leave policy — making it one of just three countries in the world and the only industrialized country to not mandate paid maternity leave for new mothers.
Child Care: Frankel understands that child care is a critical component of a parent’s economic security and that many families struggle to find affordable quality child care. That is why she introduced the Working Families Child Care Act to increase access to affordable child care for working parents. This bill would increase the mandatory funding that serves families with infants and toddlers by $2 billion and provide $500 million each year through child care and development grants for states to improve the quality of child care.
Retirement Security: Frankel recognizes that when women earn less than men over their careers, and take time out of the workplace to care for children and family members, they are impacted twice—first with fewer resources to provide for their families and again later in life in reduced retirement benefits. For a woman working full time, the current wage gap represents a loss of $430,000 over the course of her career. She will continue to work to close the pay gap, help caregivers, and strengthen Social Security and Medicare.
As a member of the Labor, Health and Human Services Subcommittee, Congresswoman Lois Frankel understands that Medicare and Social Security are two of the most successful social programs in our country's history, and that they help millions of seniors retire with dignity. Congresswoman Frankel is dedicated to ensuring these programs are preserved for not only current retirees, but for the next generation of seniors. She opposes any cut in benefits for the two programs.
Medicare: Medicare fraud and abuse cost taxpayers billions of dollars each year, threatening the security of the Medicare trust fund. In response, Frankel introduced the Fighting Medicare Fraud Act, which would close a loophole that corrupt CEOs and parent corporations have used to exploit Medicare. Frankel’s legislation adds tough new penalties for illegally stealing or distributing medical identification numbers.
Social Security: Frankel helped to pass a proposal to eliminate Social Security numbers from Medicare ID Cards – one of the leading causes of medical identity theft. She supports applying payroll taxes to higher incomes over the current cap of $118,500 so that all Americans pay their fair share to support the sustainability of our Social Security program.
We are a nation with a proud immigrant tradition. Not only have immigrants enriched our ethnic and cultural diversity, they also played an important role in our country's economic vitality. With 11 million undocumented immigrants living in the shadows of our country, Congresswoman Frankel believes it is time to fix our nation’s broken immigration system. Reform should reflect both our national interests and our values. This includes respect of rule of law, keeping families together, and giving people the opportunity to better their lives with a clear path to citizenship that allows them to pay taxes and educate their children.
Congresswoman Frankel is committed to making sure students in South Florida, and across the country, have access to high quality education – regardless of background and income. She is an outspoken advocate for improving our nation's public school system, providing early education to all children, and expanding higher education opportunities.
As a mother and Congresswoman, Frankel understands that children are our most precious resource and that we must invest in their futures. Research continues to demonstrate that a child’s first few years of life are critical to his or her ability to succeed in school and beyond. Furthermore, for every dollar invested in early childhood programs there is a return of more than eight dollars in the long-term. That is why Frankel co-sponsored the Strong Start for America's Children Act of 2013, a bipartisan bill that would create a 10-year federal-state partnership to improve and expand access to quality early education programs.
Thousands of students in South Florida rely on affordable federal loans. Frankel is working to make sure that every student who wants to go to college can follow their dreams without struggling with debt upon graduation. In 2013, she helped pass a bipartisan bill that prevented interest rates from doubling, and will continue working to strengthen loan programs that keep higher education within reach for all students.
Investments in transportation and infrastructure are critical to move the Nation's economy. South Florida is home to ports, international and commuter airports, passenger and freight rail, major highways, waterways, and the jewel of Florida, the Everglades.
As a former member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, Congresswoman Frankel worked to develop and pass into law the Water Resources Reform and Development Act (WRRDA), a bipartisan effort that creates millions of jobs and billions of dollars in economic impact across the country. It authorizes four important Everglades restoration projects and allows Port Everglades to move forward with its expansion, which has been 18 years in the making. Once this project is complete it is projected to create 7,000 new jobs and 135,000 indirect jobs with an economic impact of more than $31 million every year. Additionally, Frankel worked to cut through bureaucratic red tape to help secure the permit for a planned expansion of Rybovich Marina, which has the potential to create hundreds of new jobs in South Florida.
The United States faces a wide range of international challenges, including threats to our national security, economy, environment, and basic human rights. As Co-Chair of the bipartisan Women, Peace, and Security Caucus, a member of the State and Foreign Operations subcommittee, and a former member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Congresswoman Frankel is focused on improving the effectiveness of U.S. diplomatic, economic, and military engagement.
During her time on the Foreign Affairs Committee, Frankel has worked across the aisle to bolster security for our diplomats serving in high threat posts overseas, prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons, combat the rise of terrorist groups across the Middle East and Africa, and expand educational opportunities for women internationally.
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Israel is the United States’ closest and most important ally in an increasingly unstable region. The bond between our two countries is rooted in our shared national interest as well as our shared values of democracy, rule of law, and the protection of basic human rights. This relationship strengthens both our nations. Israeli advancements in technology, medicine, and defense, help improve and protect the lives of people around the world. |
Congresswoman Frankel is committed to continuing the fight for full equality for all Americans. As a member of the Equality Caucus, she is working to ensure that all people can be open, honest, and safe no matter where they live, work, go to school, or travel to in our country. Frankel also serves as a member of the LGBT Aging Taskforce, which focuses on ways to ensure LGBT seniors are treated with dignity and fairness.
Marriage Equality: The U.S. Supreme Court made a monumental decision in June 2015when it declared marriage equality the law of the land and affirmed that any person, regardless of gender or sexual orientation, is allowed to marry the one they love. Prior to the Supreme Court ruling, Congresswoman Frankel was an original cosponsor the Respect for Marriage Act and signed an amicus brief for the Supreme Court decision. Now that marriage equality is the law of the land, she will continue to fight to ensure all LGBT people are treated equally in all aspects of life.
Equality Act: She is a proud original cosponsor of the Equality Act, which would explicitly protect individuals from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. If enacted, it would ensure protection against discrimination in employment, housing, credit, education, public spaces, and federal programs.
As a mother of a U.S. Marine war veteran, Congresswoman Lois Frankel is dedicated to advocating for our men and women in uniform to ensure they have the resources they need upon re-entering civilian life.
Now that she is on the Veterans’ Affairs Committee, Congresswoman Frankel is looking forward to working with her colleagues to help our nation’s veterans, including the nearly 80,000 veterans in Palm Beach County. Her first priority is making sure that all veterans who qualify based on current CDC guidance are able to get the COVID-19 vaccine through the VA health care system.
In 2019, Congresswoman Frankel introduced bipartisan legislation to create Student Veteran Centers on college campuses, in order to help ease the transition from the battlefield to the classroom by creating a one-stop-shop for student veterans to find academic support, networking opportunities, peer mentorship, financial assistance, counseling, and career services. In 2016, Congresswoman Frankel introduced a resolution to designate October 5th the National Day of Honor for American Veterans Disabled for Life. The resolution was signed into law on December 16, 2016.
Congresswoman Lois Frankel knows that in South Florida, a well-nurtured environment is essential to our health, our communities, and our economy. As a member of the Energy and Water Subcommittee, the Everglades Caucus, and the Safe Climate Caucus, Frankel has worked with Democrats and Republicans to advance important Florida projects that strengthen our economy and preserve our natural resources.
Everglades Restoration: Congresswoman Frankel worked with the entire Florida delegation, including her Republican colleague on the Transportation & Infrastructure Committee, Congressman Dan Webster, to champion the Everglades restoration projects. As a result, the Central Everglades Planning Project (CEPP) passed as part of the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation (WIIN) Act of 2016. CEPP is major step forward for the restoration of the flow of the Everglades, the home to extraordinary natural habitat and storage for the water supply of over seven million Floridians and visitors. It is a $2 billion series of engineering projects that will direct water south from Lake Okeechobee into Central Everglades, keeping the drinking water in South Florida safe and plentiful, and minimizing future algae outbreaks like those in the Treasure Coast in the past couple of years. Frankel will continue to fight for adequate funding to complete these important projects.
Climate Change: As a member of the Safe Climate Caucus, Congresswoman Frankel works to protect communities from harm caused by global climate change. Frankel opposed President Trump’s decision to pull the United States out of the Paris Climate Agreement and routinely votes against harmful legislation seeking to roll back laws and regulations that protect clean air and safe drinking water.
Congresswoman Lois Frankel believes that we must act to rebuild America’s infrastructure, creating good-paying jobs, and addressing the climate crisis in the process, with infrastructure that is smarter, safer, and made to last.
Beyond the job creation that would come with an infrastructure overhaul, Congresswoman Frankel understands that growing our economy also necessitates raising the minimum wage, investing in childcare to help working parents, investing in education, and working to improve pay equity.
Every day in our country, gun violence devastates families and destroys lives. On average, 90 Americans a day are killed by a gun. Last year alone 33,000 families, including some in our own South Florida community, grieved the loss of a loved one. Congresswoman Frankel knows there is no magic wand to end gun violence, but she believes there are many responsible, common sense, and reasonable actions we can take to save lives.
As a member of the Gun Violence Prevention Task Force, Congresswoman Frankel has supported legislation to expand universal background checks, reinstate the federal ban on assault rifles and high capacity magazines, and repeal the ban on using federal funds to conduct gun violence research. She has also supported legislation that would ensure that people who have abused dating partners are prohibited from buying or owning firearms.
Congresswoman Frankel participated in a sit-in on the House Floor demanding action on gun violence legislation after the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando, Florida. After the tragic school shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Congresswoman Frankel held local town halls on gun violence, met with student activists and survivors, and supported students walking out across the country to demand action on gun violence.
To emphasize the need for common-sense action to reduce gun violence, Congresswoman Frankel brought the mother of a Newtown victim as her guest to the 2013 State of the Union. Lynn McDonnell is the mother of seven-year-old Grace McDonnell, who died tragically in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. In 2016, Congresswoman Frankel invited a local Detective who lost his daughter to gun violence to the State of the Union, where President Obama left one empty seat in the House Chamber, where the speech takes place, to represent gun victims like Detective Sergeant Gregory Key’s daughter.