[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 43 (Tuesday, March 29, 2011)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E544]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   SENATOR BARBARA MIKULSKI'S VISION

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. ELIJAH E. CUMMINGS

                              of maryland

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, March 29, 2011

  Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, I rise to applaud those who are leading 
America toward equality and equity for all people--and, especially, to 
commend Maryland's Senior Senator, Barbara Mikulski.
  As a father, my greatest hope is for the continued social progress 
that will allow my daughters to achieve the full measure of their 
dreams. That is why, during Women's History Month each year, I am 
thinking more about our future than about our past.
  Recently, President Obama, also the father of two daughters, 
expressed the same perspective.
  ``While enormous progress has been made,'' he observed, ``there is 
still work to be done before women achieve true parity.''
  His observation is backed up by ``kitchen table'' economics. When 
women are not treated fairly, their families suffer as a result.
  One would think that the concept of equal pay for equal work is so 
American that it would already be a ``done deal'' in this country. Yet, 
we know that equal pay is not yet a reality.
  Family hardships result from the harsh reality that women, on 
average, make just 77 cents for every dollar earned by men in 
comparable jobs (just 69 cents if you are an African American woman--
and 59 cents if you are a Latina woman).
  Last week, Senator Mikulski was afforded another opportunity to 
remind everyone of this still-to-be-achieved civil rights goal as we 
participated in an event honoring Lilly Ledbetter, the woman whose 
Supreme Court equal opportunity case led to the ``Lilly Ledbetter Fair 
Pay Act of 2009.''
  As she was applauding Ms. Ledbetter for the courage and determination 
she had shown fighting for fair pay, I had the opportunity to reflect 
on Barbara Mikulski's vision for America--and upon all that she has 
achieved in public life.
  Maryland's senior Senator is a remarkable human being--and a person I 
am honored to call my friend.
  When I first entered the Congress after a Special Election in 1996, 
Barbara was there for me, helping us to get our office up and running 
as quickly as possible so no one in Maryland's 7th Congressional 
District would lack representation.
  I have never forgotten that kindness. It was a practical 
demonstration of the same human compassion that Barbara Mikulski has 
offered to tens of thousands of Marylanders over the years.
  It is why she has become a national leader--and why her colleagues in 
the Senate have supported her work and leadership on two of its most 
prestigious committees: Appropriations and the Committee on Health, 
Education, Labor, and Pensions.
  We all have an interest in women and their families receiving fair 
pay for the work that they perform. Maryland's Senior Senator was one 
of the essential leaders in our efforts to enact the Affordable Care 
Act, as well as the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act.
  Yet, despite the national prominence that she has achieved, ``Senator 
Barb'' has never lost that candor, honesty and strength that are so 
typical of the Highlandtown of her youth.
  In her family's grocery store, she learned the challenges faced by 
working families. Then, as a social worker, she perfected the skills 
that she needed to become an effective leader in our cause.
  Today, I doubt whether there is a single person in our home State of 
Maryland who does not know what Senator Mikulski stands for. Her 
progressive values are solid and clear. We know that she is going to 
fight for all of us every single day.
  Less well known, however, is Barbara Mikulski's lifetime vision of 
bringing all of America's working families together in support of 
progressive change. It is a dream that ties together her roots in 
Highlandtown with my own South and West Baltimore heritage: 
``Unfortunately, because of old prejudices and new fears,'' she 
observed back in 1970, ``anger is generated [within European ethnic 
communities] against other minority groups rather than those who have 
power. What is needed is an alliance of white and black, white collar, 
blue collar and no collar based upon mutual need, interdependence and 
respect--an alliance to develop the strategy for new kinds of community 
organization and political participation.''
  All Americans are better off for our progress toward achieving 
Barbara Mikulski's dream--and the movement toward a better America that 
her dream sustains.

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