[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 177 (Thursday, December 8, 2016)]
[House]
[Page H7553]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1445
                   HONORING SENATOR BARBARA MIKULSKI

  (Mr. HOYER asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I rise in tribute to someone whom I have 
known and called a friend for many, many years--over three decades, 
perhaps four--Barbara Mikulski--the tallest short person I have ever 
met. She fills a room. Everybody knows when Barbara Mikulski is in the 
Chamber or in the room or in the auditorium.
  Barbara Mikulski, as you have heard, will retire at the end of this 
Congress after having served Maryland in the House and Senate since 
1977. I had the opportunity to serve with her in this House for some 6 
years.
  For 40 years, she has been a voice for the people of our State, not 
just a voice for all people, but, in particular, for those people whose 
voices needed amplifying: the poor, the sick, the overworked, the 
underpaid, the Baltimore dockworkers worried for their jobs, the women 
earning less than their male colleagues for the same work, the children 
in foster care or in homeless shelters. All of them have come to see 
Barbara Mikulski as their champion.
  In many ways, she began her career as a social worker and brought 
that work to Congress. She returns as one of the most successful social 
workers in history. She has worked hard to clean up the Chesapeake Bay, 
to support America's first responders, and to broaden our exploration 
of space and science. What a giant she has been for NASA. She has 
helped seniors afford health care and keep America's promise to its 
veterans. She passed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, introduced the 
Paycheck Fairness Act to end the wage gap once and for all, and has 
fought continuously to raise the minimum wage.
  Senator Mikulski blazed the trail as the longest-serving woman in the 
history of Congress; was the first woman to be elected without a 
relative as a predecessor; and was the first woman and first Marylander 
to chair the Appropriations Committee. She has left an indelible mark 
on millions across Maryland and across America.
  I have been proud to serve alongside her and I will miss her in the 
Capitol as I know so many others will as well. My colleagues and I 
rise. We will lament the loss of Senator Mikulski as our colleague in 
the Congress, but we will be so proud that we have been able to call 
her colleague and friend.

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