Lois Frankel

Lois Frankel is a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives, representing the 22nd district of Florida.

“Majored in protests”

Frankel first became interested in politics as an undergraduate at Boston University, where she majored in psychology, graduating Phi Beta Kappa. Frankel became active in student government. An outspoken opponent of the Vietnam War, she jokes that she “majored in protests” while a BU student.

After graduating from Georgetown University Law Center in 1973, Frankel moved to West Palm Beach, lending her energy and legal know-how to a number of activist reform movements. She established a West Palm Beach chapter of the National Organization for Women, worked as an assistant public defender, and advocated for women, prisoners, and people with AIDS. In her early years as a state legislator in the 1980s, Frankel recalls, “nobody really knew much about this new disease, and I kept saying we need to look into this. The health care committee chairman finally said all right, and I ended up writing one of the first AIDS bills in the country.”

She says her days as a young activist at BU taught her to question the establishment, and that has served her well, even though she chose to join and embrace that establishment. “I told myself I want to try to get into a position where I’m not protesting my government, where I’m part of the government and in a position to change it.”

Politics

Lois Frankel was elected Mayor of West Palm Beach, Florida in 2003, serving two terms in office until leaving in 2011 due to term limits. A former member of the Florida House of Representatives for sixteen years, Frankel became the first woman to serve as Minority Leader of the State House in Florida's history.

No to China committee

Sixty-five Democrats in the House of Representatives voted on Tuesday January 10, 2022, against creating a committee to investigate China and find ways to counter the communist country’s growing international influence.

The House overwhelmingly voted to create the Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party on a 365 to 65 margin, in one of the first votes since the Republicans took control of the chamber.

However, even though some members did not vote, all 65 lawmakers who voted against the committee’s creation were Democrats, including Lois Frankel.

Labor Caucus

The Labor Caucus is an official caucus in the U.S. House of Representatives. In 2021 members included Lois Frankel .

Congressional Progressive Caucus

In January 2013, Lois Frankel was listed as a new member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.

2012 CLW House victories

2012 Council for a Livable World House Victories were;

Ron Barber (D-AZ), Ami Bera (D-CA), Tim Bishop (D-NY) Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR), Bruce Braley (D-IA), Cheri Bustos (D-IL), Lois Capps (D-CA), Suzan DelBene (D-WA), Lois Frankel (D-FL), John Garamendi (D-CA), Joe Garcia (D-FL), Raul Grijalva (D-AZ), Colleen Hanabusa (D-HI), Denny Heck (D-WA), Steven Horsford (D-NV), Derek Kilmer (D-WA), Ann McLane Kuster (D-NH), Dave Loebsack (D-IA), Patrick Murphy (D-FL), Rick Nolan (D-MN), Raul Ruiz (D-CA), Brad Schneider(D-IL), Carol Shea-Porter(D–NH), Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ),Mark Takano(D-CA) and John Tierney(D-MA)..

The Council said of Frankel;

As mother who has watched her son, a Marine veteran, go to war, Frankel knows the importance of a national security policy based more on diplomacy than on military might and recognizes the grave threat that nuclear weapons pose to U.S. security. She supports the vision of a nuclear weapons free world articulated by President Obama and others. She sees reciprocal, negotiated reductions in nuclear arsenals as the path to this goal and supports another round of negotiations with Russia to move past the levels set by the New START treaty. Frankel is also deeply concerned about the prospect of terrorists obtaining a nuclear or radioactive device. She supports full funding for programs to round up and secure dangerous nuclear. She favors diplomatic solutions to the stand-offs over Iranian and North Korean nuclear ambitions. She is hopeful that recent leadership changes in North Korea may provide opportunities for cooperation.

CLW Inauguration event

Council for a Livable World and the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation hosted an event on Monday, January 21, 2013 celebrating the second inauguration of President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden and theirr endorsed candidates in the 113th Congress. The event was held at the Phoenix Park Hotel ballroom across from Union Station and just two blocks from the U.S. Capitol.

A number of prestigious guests attended the event, including Senators Tammy Baldwin, Martin Heinrich, Angus King and Bernie Sanders, U.S. Representatives Suzan DelBene, Lois Frankel and Mark Takano, United Steel Workers International President Leo Gerard, host of The Ed Show on MSNBC, Ed Schultz and Vicki Hansen Thackray from the executive committee of Democrats Abroad.

PDA contact

In 2013 Progressive Democrats of America assigned activists to deliver their material to almost every US Congressman and Senator, Dan Isaacson, was assigned as the contacts for Rep. Frankel.

ARA endorsement, 2014

The Alliance for Retired Americans Political Action Fund endorsed Lois Frankel in 2014.

FARA connection

Lois Frankel with Tony Fransetta and Bill Sauers of the Florida Alliance for Retired Americans, November 6, 2017.

Intelligence scandal

Three brothers who managed office information technology for members of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and other lawmakers were abruptly relieved of their duties, on suspicion that they accessed congressional computers without permission.

Brothers Abid Awan, Imran Awan, and Jamal Awan were barred from computer networks at the House of Representatives Thursday February 2, 2017.

Three members of the intelligence panel and five members of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs were among the dozens of members who employed the suspects on a shared basis.

Also among those whose computer systems may have been compromised is Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the Florida Democrat who was previously the target of a disastrous email hack when she served as chairman of the Democratic National Committee during the 2016 campaign.

The brothers are suspected of serious violations, including accessing members’ computer networks without their knowledge and stealing equipment from Congress.

Jamal handled IT for Rep. Joaquin Castro, a Texas Democrat who serves on both the intelligence and foreign affairs panels.

“As of 2/2, his employment with our office has been terminated,” Castro spokeswoman Erin Hatch told TheDCNF Friday.

Jamal Awan also worked for Louisiana Democrat Rep. Cedric Richmond, who is on the Committee on Homeland Security.

Imran worked for Reps. Andre Carson, an Indiana Democrat, and Jackie Speier, a California Democrat. Both are members of the intelligence committee. Imran Awan, also worked for the House office of Wasserman Schultz.

Then-Rep. Tammy Duckworth, an Illinois Democrat, employed Abid Awan for IT work in 2016. She was a member of House committees dealing with the armed services, oversight, and Benghazi. Duckworth was elected to the Senate in November, 2016. Abid Awan has a prior criminal record and a bankruptcy.

Abid Awan also worked for Rep. Lois Frankel, a Florida Democrat who is member of the foreign affairs committee.

The three men are “shared employees,” meaning they are hired by multiple offices, which split their salaries and use them as needed for IT services. It is up to each member to fire them.

A criminal investigation into five unnamed people began late last year related to serious and potentially illegal violations of House IT policies. Chiefs of staff for the members were briefed Thursday by the Sergeant-at-Arms.

Capitol Police spokeswoman Eva Malecki said the investigation was still ongoing, and arrests have not been made but staff were “asked to update their security settings.”

The Sergeant-at-Arms told staff that the subjects were four men who were brothers and one woman. It did not name them. It quoted one of the affected members as saying “they said it was some sort of procurement scam, but now I’m concerned that they may have stolen data from us, emails, who knows.”

The three brothers have all shared a house in Lorton, Virginia, that is owned by Hina Alvi. Alvi is a female House IT employee who works for many of the same members as the three brothers, as well as the House Democratic Caucus. Alvi has worked for reps Gregory Meeks, Yvette Clarke, Dave Loebsack, and Emanuel Cleaver.

Signs of trouble have long been visible in public records. The Congressional Credit Union repossessed Abid’s car in 2009, and he declared bankruptcy in 2012, facing multiple lawsuits.

Alvi, who did not respond to TheDCNF’s request for comment, has taken multiple second mortgages.

Jack Langer, spokesman for the intelligence committee, said the committee office has its own IT staff and security measures and classified information from the panel is not allowed to be sent to members’ personal offices.

Florida Health Care Summit

Stacey Patel February 17, 2018 ·

Rep. Lois Frankel just signed on to support HR 676 - Expanded & Improved Medicare for All - at the Florida Health Care Summit!

Medicare For All Congressional Caucus founders

In August 2018 Medicare For All Congressional Caucus founding members included Representative Lois Frankel.

Medicare for All Act

In February 2019 Rep. Pramila Jayapal introduced H.R.1384 - Medicare for All Act of 2019. By May 29 she had 110 co-sponsors including Rep. Lois Frankel.

External links

• Campaign Website