[Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 58 (Friday, March 27, 2026)]
[House]
[Page H2782]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    RECOGNIZING FRANKIE MUSE FREEMAN

  (Mr. BELL asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  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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