[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 50 (Tuesday, March 27, 2012)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2077-S2078]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  TRIBUTE TO SENATOR BARBARA MIKULSKI

  Mr. NELSON of Florida. Mr. President, with all of the very well 
deserved statements that have been made about our colleague Senator 
Barbara Mikulski, I wanted to raise my voice in support of the 
milestone she recently achieved as the longest-serving woman in 
congressional history.
  A personal word I want to add about Senator Mikulski is that she has 
been so supportive and such a leader of our Nation's space program. As 
the Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, 
Justice, and

[[Page S2078]]

Science, she has to be intimately familiar with the details and the 
appropriate way to allocate funds that are vital for our civilian 
program to go forward in the visionary and frontier breaking manner 
that it always has and I am grateful for her leadership. I wanted to 
add this to the accolades that she so well deserves and has already 
heard from so many of our colleagues.
  Senator Mikulski began her tenure in Congress in 1977 as a member of 
the House of Representatives. She represented Maryland's Third District 
for ten years before moving to the Senate in 1986.
  During her time in the Senate, Senator Mikulski has been a champion 
for many of the issues that are particularly important to my fellow 
Floridians and me. She is a strong supporter of veterans' and seniors' 
issues.
  Senator Mikulski has also worked to protect our oceans by supporting 
the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, especially during 
one of the worst environmental disasters we've seen. In 2010 she 
conducted a subcommittee hearing to explore the use of dispersants in 
response to the Deepwater Horizon spill in the Gulf, helping us to 
better understand the long-term consequences of that environmental 
tragedy.
  Senator Mikulski also serves as Chairman for the Health, Education, 
Labor, and Pensions Subcommittee on Children and Families. In December, 
she chaired a hearing on child abuse, casting light on this issue and 
urging her colleagues to take greater steps to combat it.
  I am honored to have served with Senator Mikulski for the past 
decade, and I look forward to continuing to work with her on matters of 
great importance to Maryland, Florida, and the rest of the country.
  Ms. STABENOW. Mr. President, I join my colleagues in honoring the 
service of the Senator from Maryland, Barbara Mikulski, on becoming the 
longest-serving woman in the history of Congress. She is an 
inspiration, a mentor, and a friend, and I congratulate her on 
achieving this historic milestone.
  The story of Barbara Mikulski is the story of the American Dream. The 
daughter of a grocer in Baltimore, she learned what it meant to do a 
hard day's work. She got good grades, went to college, and eventually 
got her Master's Degree in Social Work.
  When she was in her 20's, she got involved in a fight to stop a 
highway proposal that would have cut through a working-class 
neighborhood. She stopped that highway and saved the homes of the 
families who lived there.
  Those families saw something that day that all of us would recognize 
today: a woman of passion, hard work, and determination.
  Throughout her years of service, she has reflected these values day 
in and day out as she has fought for America's working families. She 
understands that our country needs to make things and grow things if we 
are going to have a middle class and an American Dream. She understands 
the dignity of work, and how important that is to families who want to 
create a better future for their children, just as Barbara's family did 
for her.
  And in her many years of leadership and service, she has been 
fighting every day to create a better future for every little girl and 
boy in Maryland. She did not come here for the power; she came here to 
serve. And I think that is why the people of Maryland have chosen her, 
time and time again, to be their champion in the U.S. Senate.
  In the whole history of the United States, 1,931 people have served 
in the U.S. Senate. Of those, 39 were women. And of those, 17 are 
serving right now. And of those, only one--Senator Barbara Mikulski--is 
our Dean and our mentor.
  I want to thank my friend, Senator Mikulski, for all she has done for 
me and for all the women who will follow in her footsteps in the years 
to come.
  Mr. WEBB. Mr. President, the Senate is in the midst of recognizing a 
very important milestone in our history. I would like to join my Senate 
colleagues in congratulating Senator Barbara Mikulski as the longest 
serving female Member of Congress.
  As we all know, Senator Mikulski has dedicated her life to public 
service. Before running for public office, Senator Mikulski worked as a 
social worker helping at-risk children and educating seniors on 
Medicare. In 1971, she successfully ran for her first public office and 
was elected to serve in the Baltimore City Council, where she served 
for 5 years.
  Senator Mikulski first ran for Congress in 1976, seeking to represent 
Maryland's Third District. She won that race and went on to hold the 
seat for a decade. In 1986 she decided to run for the U.S. Senate, and 
she has been serving here ever since. The Senate was a very different 
place when she first arrived as one of two women Senators. She not only 
had to learn how the Senate functioned but had a quick lesson in 
bipartisanship--as the other woman, Nancy Kassebaum-Baker, was a 
Republican from Kansas. Today, we have 17 women in the Senate and 76 
women serving in the House of Representatives.
  Senator Mikulski has been an outspoken advocate for working people 
everywhere. Due in large part to her leadership and strong advocacy on 
behalf of women, our daughters and granddaughters will have 
opportunities that were not available to many women in the past. She is 
a wonderful role model through her dedication to public service, as she 
fights passionately every day for the people of Maryland that she is 
here to represent.
  And so I want to add my voice to those praising Senator Mikulski as 
she reaches this important milestone. She is a true pioneer, a strong 
example of a smart legislator, and an outspoken voice for working 
people. I have great respect for the journey she has taken, and I am 
proud to serve alongside her.

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