[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 53 (Tuesday, April 23, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3879-S3880]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    A TRIBUTE TO CHRISTINE MIKULSKI

  Mr. SARBANES. Mr. President, as I think most of our colleagues know, 
Mrs. Christine Mikulski, the mother of our dear friend and colleague, 
Senator Barbara Mikulski, passed away on March 31, during our Easter 
recess.
  My wife and I were fortunate to know ``Miss Chris,'' as she was known 
to all, for many years, and were privileged to call her our friend.
  Miss Chris was enormously proud of the accomplishments of her 
daughter, our colleague, Senator Barbara Mikulski, as indeed are we 
all. Miss Chris played a key role in all of Barbara's campaigns, and a 
key role in Barbara's life, to really be very explicit about it. She 
was an effective and enthusiastic volunteer in Senator Mikulski's 
constituent service office in her home neighborhood of Highlandtown in 
east Baltimore. Indeed, she became known as Miss Chris, the First Lady 
of Highlandtown. And, indeed, she was a first lady.
  Miss Chris was an extraordinary woman beloved by her family and 
friends. She was part of that immigrant generation--her father was born 
in Poland--that built our Nation over the early decades of this 
century. She reflected that determination of spirit, courage and 
strength of character, which are exactly the values we hold out to our 
young people to emulate today.
  In an eloquent and heartfelt tribute at the funeral service on 
Wednesday, April 3, Senator Mikulski spoke movingly about her mother 
and about the many ways in which her mother was so special to her 
family, her community, her church, and all who were privileged to know 
her. I simply wanted to take this opportunity to share with my 
colleagues Senator Mikulski's eloquent tribute to her mother on that 
occasion.
  I ask unanimous consent that her tribute be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows

                 Remarks of Senator Barbara A. Mikulski

       My mother would have been pleased by this gathering. She 
     would have been honored that so many people came today. She 
     would have been pleased to have her family here today. She 
     would have been honored that the Governor and the mayor were 
     here.
       My mother would have been honored that Senator Paul 
     Sarbanes, members of Congress, and the Baltimore City Council 
     were here today. She would have loved that members of her 
     clubs and organizations were here.
       She would have also loved the fact that she made the 
     headlines in the Baltimore Sun and the Washington Post. That 
     she was on radio and television. That Richard Scher announced 
     her favorite name--the First Lady of Highlandtown.
       She would have been touched by the fact that the President 
     of the United States called to express his condolences and 
     that Vice President Al Gore called because he very much 
     wanted me to bring my mother to lunch at their home in 
     Washington. He was sorry that he and Tipper never met my 
     mother.
       My mother, as you know was a very determined lady. She 
     always planned ahead. She had very specific instructions 
     about today and the way she wanted to be remembered. In her 
     final days, with the illness fast overtaking her, she gave me 
     some very specific instructions about today.
       One of those was to be sure to thank everybody. You know my 
     mother was an enormously courteous and considerate woman. So 
     there were certain thank you's she wanted me to give for her. 
     I'd also like to say they are from me and my family.
       First she said be sure to thank the priests. Thank the 
     priests of Loyola College. Other priests in the audience.
       My mother particularly wanted me to thank the priest of 
     Holy Rosary, where she was baptized, went to school, and 
     married. She also wanted me to thank the priests here at 
     Sacred Heart, her home parish for more than 50 years. She 
     said say thanks to the priests at Sacred Heart for their 
     prayers, where we made our first communion, graduation, and 
     where we went to school.
       Father Ed Foley, she particularly wanted me to thank you 
     for bringing her communion every day throughout the days she 
     was shut-in. As she would always say to you when you left, 
     ``Father, I am very grateful.''
       She wanted me particularly to thank the nuns. All of those 
     who are here, who taught my sisters and me. The holy nuns who 
     ran the day care center, she wanted to say thanks to you all 
     for the good work that you do and for what you meant to our 
     family.
       My mother wanted me to thank the Sisters of Mercy. The 
     Sisters of Mercy who educated my sisters and me, who ran the 
     hospital where my sisters and me were born. My mother said 
     thank you. It was there that we were born, it was there that 
     she died. It was there she went during so many emergencies 
     and was rescued. And she was very grateful for your comfort 
     until the end. So she asked me to thank you.
       She also said to say thank you to the Polish Women's 
     Alliance ladies, who were her honorary pall bearers today. 
     She loved being a member of the Alliance. She was very proud 
     of her Polish heritage. She was very proud to be a member of 
     a Polish Heritage Association. She loved the friendship. She 
     loved the fellowship. She loved the bingo. She loved you, 
     Lorraine. She loved your mother, Miss Viki.
       She asked me to remind you that when she was 16 years old, 
     she won an essay contest run by the Polish Falcons. The prize 
     was a trip to Poland. She was very proud of that and very 
     thankful for the opportunity to go to the land of her 
     heritage.
       She wanted me to thank the ladies at the Altor Society, who 
     gave her a candle light honor guard today. She wanted me to 
     give a special thanks to the ``Cheer-up Club,'' of which she 
     was a perpetual member.
       My mother also wanted me to thank the neighbors. To Rosie, 
     to Pat, to Mel--thanks for helping out and being there during 
     the hard days. But, she said, remember the good days and the 
     grocery store.
       As you know my mother and my father, Willie, ran a grocery 
     store in Highland. They saw many people through hard times. 
     My mother asked me to thank all the people for coming to the 
     store. There were so many of you who told so many stories to 
     me about going to the store.
       My mother was Miss Chris and my father was Mr. Willie. My 
     sisters and I were known as little Willies. We heard all the 
     stories about the extra candy my mother distributed to the 
     children. She was known a the lollipop lady. Also she was the 
     lady who, along with my father, would give extra store credit 
     to families during those hard times.
       My mother would stand at the back of the store by the cash 
     register and give tips to the homemakers and favorite 
     recipes. She always pretended she liked to cook, but as my 
     sisters and I know, my mother really liked carry out. She was 
     a woman of the 90's--in the 1950's and the 1960's.
       She and my father were a fantastic team running that 
     grocery store. And as you know, they brought a tremendous 
     amount of goodness and generosity into this community.
       My mother and father were also wonderful parents. My 
     sisters and I could not have had a better mother than our 
     mother. She saw to it that we had a good home.
       They worked very hard so that we would have a good 
     education, and that we would also have the extras. Whether it 
     was the ballet lessons or whether it was the trip for 
     leadership training. Whatever it was--slumber parties, the 
     prom, all of those things--they wanted us to have a very good 
     life. They didn't realize though that the greatest gift they 
     gave us was themselves and their love.
       My mother really loved her family. She loved her husband, 
     her daughters, her brothers, her sisters, her in-laws.

[[Page S3880]]

       She remembered the great times when we would all go down to 
     my grandfather's shore. We played scrabble and canasta. My 
     mother loved the lottery. You have to know that over the last 
     days, my mother had five of us buying her little lotto 
     tickets. Why? Not because she liked to gamble. She liked 
     the action. She loved being involved.
       When our grocery store closed in the 1970's, mother 
     volunteered in my office. That's where she got the great 
     name--Miss Chris, The First Lady of Highlandtown.
       She helped run my neighborhood office. She worked with me 
     in the City Hall when I served on the City Council. Then she 
     worked in my Congressional office on Eastern Avenue and then 
     my Senate office on Highland Avenue.
       She ran my neighborhood office. Whenever people would call 
     she would say, ``Hi. I'm Barb's mother. What can I do to help 
     you?''
       If anyone asked where I was, my mother would say, ``Don't 
     worry about. I'll take care of it. I'll tell her tonight, 
     because I talk to her everyday.'' And she did.
       When I looked at the flowers at the funeral home, I noticed 
     that many of the flowers were from workers. They were from 
     the workers at General Motors. They came from the workers at 
     the Coast Guard Yard. They came from the workers at Goddard. 
     Why? Not because of me, but because many of them knew her. 
     They often spoke to her on the phone.
       When Congress threatened to close Goddard, the workers 
     called my mother looking for me. They came last night to the 
     funeral home. They brought a poem. They told me they had a 
     great time talking to my mother. She told them I loved the 
     space program. My mother didn't know I ever loved the space 
     program, but she made them feel special, feel valued and 
     reassured like she did for so many.
       Well for all of us, my sister, her grandchildren, she 
     always loved us. She would leave us little messages on the 
     answering machine. She would leave us little notes. She would 
     send us notes in the mail that said, ``Be aware.'' And then 
     she would ask about them.
       My mother would also send us prayers. Because she believed 
     that for every problem, there wasn't always a solution, but 
     for every problem, there was always a prayer that helped us 
     get to the solution. She was devoutly religious. It was her 
     faith and her prayers that sustained her.
       Mother had a very keen mind, incredible attention to 
     detail, and was a superb organizer. She had an enormously 
     strong presence.
       Now, as we come close to the end, and we can all think back 
     to the wonderful days and years we had together. She was a 
     wonderful neighbor. She was always taking care of someone. 
     She was always taking care of her family. She was always 
     taking care of people in need.
       But I want you also to know that our mother was a lot of 
     fun. She had a great sense of humor. She loved getting out 
     with her friends. She loved family outings and social 
     occasions. She loved going to political events.
       My mother loved hearing about the new restaurants with 
     names like ``Wild Mushroom.'' And she loved the old favorites 
     that she and my father went to like Haussner's. She loved 
     going to Eastern House with her friend Ethel.
       Mother was so outgoing. She was so strong. She had 
     incredible presence. And because of this presence and because 
     of her outgoingness, we all wondered with some apprehension 
     how she would cope with being a shut in.
       Two years after my father's death, she was so ill, she 
     could no longer go out. Diabetes had given her diabetic 
     neuropathy. Illness had taken its toll. She was to stay at 
     home--most often in a wheelchair.
       Once more, our mother surprised us. She amazed us. And she 
     inspired us. Though she had to give up going out or going to 
     the office, she just didn't give up. Her presence was strong 
     to the end.
       In her wheel chair, or welcoming visitors or being on the 
     phone, she was full of great cheer. She called me to tell us 
     what was happening and always wanted us to do the same.
       My mother was intellectually inquisitive until the last 
     days, reading The Paper. She wanted a subscription to People 
     magazine so she could be ``up on it'' and be able to talk to 
     her grandsons and granddaughters. Even when her eyes were 
     going, she would read with a magnifying glass with a light so 
     that she could be involved.
       My mother faced her illness the way she faced life itself--
     with great dignity and with great courage. My mother was 
     incredible. She had great spirit, great stamina and great 
     spunk.
       She insisted on being self-sufficient. Whenever we wanted 
     to help, she would say, ``let me do it myself, that's how I 
     keep going.'' And she did, right up to the end.
       Mother's faith inspired us all. She adopted a prayer 
     ministry when she was at home with her illness, praying for 
     the sick, for a special intention someone had requested, for 
     her family, friends and her country.
       She took it very seriously. Like everything else, she 
     believed in doing her duty. She did it with a combination of 
     great determination, great devotion and great love.
       My mother had a good life. She celebrated her 50th wedding 
     anniversary with my father, who was still well enough to 
     participate. She saw my two sisters, Chris and Fran, marry 
     two wonderful men, both named Ed. She had five fantastic 
     grandchildren. One is a Captain in the United States 
     military. She has a granddaughter who is a nurse at Johns 
     Hopkins. Another soon will be a nurse. A grandson planning on 
     medical school. And another grandson contemplating about what 
     he can do to bring about social change.
       She saw me elected to the United States Senate. She was 
     very proud that I was the first women of Polish heritage ever 
     elected to Congress and the first Democratic woman elected to 
     the Senate in her own right. So she saw many good things. She 
     loved life.
       So in closing, we ask you to remember our mother. We ask 
     you to remember the good times. To her friends of many years, 
     remember her young and dancing. To those who were her 
     neighbors and her constituents, remember her at the store and 
     at the office, helping out with a helping hand.
       We, her family, will remember her playing with us, playing 
     with her grandchildren. We'll remember her playing cards and 
     just having a good time. We'll remember her being there for 
     us in so many ways.
       We ask that you remember her during the holidays and the 
     Holy days. She and my father would have been getting ready 
     now for Easter. Now she is with her own mother, and with our 
     dear father. I know she will remember us in paradise.
  Ms. MIKULSKI. Mr. President, I want to, in the most heartfelt way, 
thank Senator Sarbanes for the very kind words he said about my mother 
and for his gracious generosity in putting that statement in the 
Record. My mother thought the world of Senator Sarbanes, but she also 
thought the world of the U.S. Senate and was very honored that I was in 
it. I thank the Senate for its courtesy at this moment.
  I yield the floor.
  Mr. SARBANES. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. DOLE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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