[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 176 (Wednesday, December 7, 2016)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6766-S6767]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     TRIBUTES TO DEPARTING SENATORS

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, finally, as each session of Congress 
comes to a close, both leaders traditionally pay tribute to the 
retiring Members of their own parties. This year is a bit different, of 
course, with the retirement of the Democratic leader. So in addition to 
what I will be saying about him tomorrow, I figured I might shake 
things up just a bit more, just this one time. I figured I would tell 
my colleagues about two colleagues from across the aisle who have made 
their own mark on this Chamber for many years.

[[Page S6767]]

  



                            barbara mikulski

  The first colleague I wish to speak about is from Maryland. Some call 
her Senator Mikulski, some call her Senator Barb, but everyone knows 
this: She is tough. It explains how she got here in the fist place.
  You see, Barbara Mikulski had a lot of dreams growing up. She wanted 
to be a scientist. She wanted to be a nun. She even wanted to be an 
astronaut. And if not for a ``C'' in chemistry, a vow of obedience, and 
the thought of wearing a flight suit--or so we have heard--she probably 
could have done all of those things. But Senator Barb chose a different 
path--or rather all of them at once. You see, you don't have to work in 
a lab to champion science research; you can serve as the lead 
Democratic appropriator on the Commerce-Justice-Science Subcommittee. 
You don't have to put on a habit to look out for others; you can serve 
as dean of the Senate women and cultivate mentorship among your 
colleagues. And you certainly don't have to blast into space to blaze a 
trail--something this longest serving female Member of Congress knows 
very well. It wasn't an easy road getting here. It wasn't an easy road 
when she got here. No Democratic woman had ever been elected to the 
Senate in her own right before Barbara Mikulski. But, as she said on 
the stump, ``I might be short, but I won't be overlooked.'' And, boy, 
she hasn't been. I doubt she ever will be. Maybe it has something to do 
with the mantra she follows: Do or do not--there is no try. No surprise 
that this ``Star Wars'' fan is taking advice from Master Yoda.
  She has learned a lot from others, too, like her great-grandmother, 
who emigrated from Poland with hope and little else--hope that her 
family might one day experience this country's many freedoms and 
opportunities. I know she would be proud of her great-granddaughter 
today, proud of this crime novelist, this crab cake gourmet, this 
senior Senator from Maryland.
  So here is what we have come to know about Senator Mikulski: Her word 
is her bond, she is a passionate advocate for the causes she supports, 
and good luck stopping her once she puts her mind to something.


                             Barbara Boxer

  You could say the same thing about another Barbara I know too. 
Senator Boxer, like her colleague from Maryland, is hardly the tallest 
Member around here, but she is not in the habit of getting overlooked 
either. The Boxer box helps with that, of course. It is what she stands 
on at press conferences to give her just a little more height. And, 
yes, if that sounds familiar, that is because it is that box which once 
served as inspiration for an episode of HBO's ``Veep.''
  It is a good thing our colleague has a sense of humor. She 
understands how far that can go around here. She has often relied on it 
through her years in the Senate, in fact, including when she announced 
her retirement via rhyme: ``More than 20 years in a job I love,'' she 
wrote, ``thanks to California and the Lord above.'' You get the 
picture. It goes on, but here is the key line: ``As long as there are 
issues and challenges and strife, I will never retire, `cause that's 
the meaning of my life.'' That sure sounds like the Senator Boxer I 
know.
  It is not always easy to find common ground around here. It takes 
hard work. It takes negotiation. It often takes those intangibles too--
like comic relief. So enter Senator Inhofe. I am really going to miss 
the Jim and Barbara show when it comes to an end next year, especially 
after such a storied run over at EPW. One day, she is the boss; the 
next day, it is he. They are the best of pals; they are the fiercest of 
rivals. They work together on everything; they agree on almost nothing. 
It sounds like the premise for some buddy comedy from the 1980s, but 
here is what it really is: a political masterstroke.
  This unlikeliest of partnerships led this year to the first 
significant environmental reform law in decades. It also led this year 
to Senate passage of a waterways infrastructure bill that will support 
important projects across our country. And while some may refer to 
Boxer and Inhofe as the ``oddest of Senate odd couples,'' here is what 
I would call them: pretty smart.
  I remember Senator Inhofe always telling me how much he enjoyed 
working with Senator Boxer and how there were things they could 
actually agree on, so I made a note of it and kept an eye out for an 
opportunity of my own. It finally happened in this very Congress. 
Senator Boxer and Senator Inhofe and I worked together to pass the 
longest term highway transportation and infrastructure bill in nearly 
two decades. This isn't something the critics thought could be done. We 
each harbored our own doubts. Yet, a bill that repeatedly threatened to 
come apart actually never did. As Senator Boxer put it, it was ``the 
impossible dream.'' And it succeeded because we worked in good faith, 
because we came together, and because we focused on the areas where we 
did agree and not just the ones where we didn't.
  That is what happens around here when the Senate is working the way 
it should. We see colleagues from opposite sides working through 
political differences and coming together on solutions for the American 
people. Perhaps that is one reason why nearly a quarter of a century 
later, Senator Boxer says she is leaving the Senate with a full heart. 
I know she is leaving with the respect of many of her colleagues, too, 
including some she might not have expected when she first came.
  Let me finish with some advice Barbara Mikulski gave to young Barbara 
Boxer as she contemplated her first Senate run. ``If you run,'' Senator 
Mikulski said, ``it will be the toughest thing you will ever do,'' but, 
she added, it will also be ``the best thing you will ever do.'' I think 
this is something we can all relate to regardless of which party we 
belong to and regardless of which State we come from. At the end of the 
day, we all came here to accomplish things for the people we represent, 
even if we have different ideas on how to do them.
  So, thankfully, there should be no disagreement over this next task. 
I ask all Senators to join me in recognizing our colleagues for their 
service and to join me in wishing them good luck as they begin the next 
chapters of their lives.

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