Current office and Palm Beach County service
Lois Frankel represents Florida’s 22nd Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives. A Democrat, she began congressional service on January 3, 2013. Before Congress, she practiced law, served in the Florida House of Representatives and was mayor of West Palm Beach. Her current committee is Appropriations, where her official biography identifies a leadership role on the National Security, Department of State, and Related Programs Subcommittee. S1S2S3
Frankel was born in New York City on May 16, 1948, and graduated from Great Neck South High School in 1966. Her subsequent public career became closely tied to Palm Beach County. That sequence distinguishes her birthplace and education from the Florida community in which she practiced and held office. S1
Education and legal practice
Frankel earned a bachelor’s degree at Boston University in 1970 and a law degree at Georgetown University in 1973. The House historian identifies private legal practice before her legislative career. The reviewed record does not require inventing an earlier public appointment or additional degree to explain that professional beginning. S1
Legal practice and congressional casework are different functions. The former involves professional representation; the latter is a public office’s assistance with federal agencies and receipt of policy views. Her law degree is part of the biography, not a promise that the congressional office can represent a constituent in litigation.
Two periods in the Florida House
Frankel served in the Florida House from 1986 to 1992 and again from 1994 to 2002. The break matters: the record should not be rewritten as an uninterrupted 1986–2002 term. She was the chamber’s minority leader from 2000 to 2002. The House historian also records an unsuccessful congressional campaign in 1992, which was not itself a period of federal service. S1
The state minority-leader role involved organizing the minority caucus in the Florida House. It was distinct from the state speakership and from later positions within the U.S. House. Keeping the institutional names and dates visible helps readers understand an otherwise easily compressed career chronology.
Mayor of West Palm Beach
Frankel served as mayor of West Palm Beach from 2003 through 2011. That municipal executive period came after her state House service and before Congress. A mayor’s responsibility for city administration is not the same as a federal representative’s power to vote on bills and funding. S1
Her official biography presents Palm Beach County as the continuing geographic connection across these offices. A resident’s present congressional representation nevertheless depends on current district boundaries, not on whether that person once lived within the city she led. District maps should be checked separately from the personal biography. S2
Federal service and appropriations
Frankel entered Congress in January 2013 and continued into the 119th Congress. The Clerk’s current member record identifies her as Florida’s 22nd District representative and records the oath for the current term on January 3, 2025. The first federal-service date and the most recent term’s oath date are separate facts. S1S3
The Clerk lists her on Appropriations, with subcommittee assignments involving Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies, as well as National Security, Department of State, and Related Programs. Her official biography identifies her as the lead Democrat on the latter subcommittee. This is a minority leadership position, not the full committee chairmanship. S2S3
Appropriations work concerns the federal spending process and oversight of funded programs. A member’s support for a project or funding request does not guarantee an award to an individual applicant. The office’s public information should distinguish requested amounts, enacted appropriations and actual agency distributions.
Women, peace and security
Frankel’s official biography identifies her as chair emerita of the Democratic Women’s Caucus and co-chair of the bipartisan Women, Peace, and Security Caucus. “Chair emerita” should not be shortened to current chair. The party caucus and bipartisan issue caucus are different institutions, and neither is a federal executive agency. S2S4
The biography also identifies interests in health care, family care and women’s economic participation. Those are policy areas the office says it works on, not independently measured outcomes. A neutral profile can identify them while directing readers to specific bills, votes and committee proceedings for an evaluation of the record.
Selected public actions
In September 2026, Frankel announced a bipartisan resolution recognizing National Falls Prevention Awareness Week. The office’s notice identified September 21–25, 2026 and described an awareness effort involving older adults. That is a dated congressional resolution initiative; it should not be turned into individualized medical advice or presented as an upcoming event after the dates have passed. S5
Another 2026 announcement described a joint resolution initiative with Representative Gus Bilirakis honoring Korean War and Korean Defense veterans. It is an example of cross-party commemorative work, not a new veterans-benefits entitlement. These examples show public actions with an identifiable subject and source rather than rely solely on general statements about priorities. S6
Frankel’s official biography also identifies abstract painting as a personal interest. That public detail broadens the career account without disclosing private information. Her family’s military connection is distinct from her own public-service record and is not presented as personal military service. S2
Official contact
The Clerk lists Frankel’s Washington office at 2305 Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, DC 20515, and telephone 202-225-9890. Her official biography directs people seeking the Delray Beach office to call 561-998-9045 for an appointment. Confirm arrangements through the official site before traveling. S2S3
This profile records the officeholder checked on October 28, 2026. It preserves the separate legal, state legislative, municipal and federal stages of her career, and should remain as a historical person page if a later transition changes the seat’s current holder.