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Recognizing Frankie Muse Freeman

Floor Speech

Date: March 27, 2026
Location: Washington, DC

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Mr. BELL. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to talk about a woman who changed St. Louis and, in doing so, changed America. Her name is Frankie Muse Freeman.

In 1954, segregation was still the law of the land. Despite that, Frankie Muse Freeman walked into a St. Louis courtroom with her law degree. The result: the end of legal racial discrimination in public housing in Missouri. She was the lead attorney. She was a Black woman. She won.

She didn't wait for permission anywhere in her life. When law firms wouldn't write her back, she opened her own practice.

Mr. Speaker, during Women's History Month, when I think about what this administration is doing--gutting programs that Black women built careers and communities around, eliminating the pathways to economic stability--I think about what Frankie Muse Freeman would say.

I think she would say: Get back to work and, most importantly, win.

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