[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 12]
[Senate]
[Page 16417]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        TRIBUTE TO BARBARA BOXER

  Ms. MIKULSKI. Mr. President, I rise today to speak about my longtime 
friend and colleague Barbara Boxer, who is retiring from this body 
along with me this year.
  Senator Boxer will be remembered as an inspiration to young women 
across our country. Her career is a textbook of how to get involved in 
public service. Starting at the local level, she came out of the 
antiwar movement and got involved in the environmental movement and 
local causes. Taking lessons from grassroots organizing, she ran for 
the Marin County Board of Supervisors. She lost that first race, but 
she didn't give up. She ran again and won and became the first female 
chair.
  Eventually, she made her way to the U.S. House of Representatives. 
Along the way, she heard a lot of ``no,'' but always turned it into a 
``yes.'' She never quit, never lost faith in herself, and never stopped 
trying.
  When it looked like the accusations of Anita Hill would be swept 
under the rug, I spoke out in the Senate against it, but I was only one 
female voice. Barbara Boxer came to my aid. Even though she was in the 
House, she led a troop of fierce House women running up the steps to 
the Senate to face down the Judiciary Committee and demand they shed 
light on the accusations of sexual harassment. Barbara had the crack 
team of Eleanor Holmes Norton, Pat Schroeder, Louise Slaughter, Nita 
Lowey, Jolene Unsoeld, and Patsy Mink to back her up. They marshalled 
the press and marched right up these steps. They knocked on the door 
and were going to be turned away because they weren't Senators. But 
they pointed to that group of photographers and said, We are going to 
tell them that you turned us away, what do you think will happen then? 
So they were let in and made their case. Those Senators couldn't face 
the calculation and fury of Barbara Boxer and the House women, and 
those hearings were convened. The Anita Hill hearings made an indelible 
mark on this country.
  It really woke America up as to what was going on in the workplaces 
around the country for women and how little representation women really 
got in Congress. Watching that all-male Judiciary Committee tear into 
Professor Hill for daring to accuse her boss of sexual harassment, the 
women of America took action and elected Barbara Boxer, Dianne 
Feinstein, Carol Mosely Braun, and Patty Murray to the U.S. Senate.
  I was thrilled when Barbara came to me thinking about running for the 
Senate. I told her it was the perfect time: she can do more in the 
Senate and be heard in the Senate. I said would be worth the fight to 
get her here with me, even if just to have someone I could see eye-to-
eye with on a daily basis.
  Barbara even started an exercise program in the House when we were 
there together. She showed up in colorful leotards, and Geraldine 
Ferraro came looking like a photo op for Vanity Fair, and Olympia Snowe 
wore this gorgeous outfit. I show up, chunky yet funky, and the 
instructor is yelling, ``Go for the burn! Put your hands on your waist 
and bend, bend, bend!'' And I turned to Barbara and said, ``If I had a 
waist, I wouldn't be here.'' Well, those exercise classes may not have 
lasted long for me, but her energy just couldn't be beat.
  Her zip and zest is pure California sunshine, and Californians have 
more sunshine in their spirit because of her work. Her energy has 
brought light to California and light to the sometimes dreary Capitol 
hallways.
  I am going to miss my good friend and irreplaceable political 
partner. Democrats have had a lot of tough fights over the last 25 
years, and the two Barbaras have always been there, side by side. We 
voted against the war in Iraq, both believing it was a mistake. We were 
in the minority, but both of us still believe it was one of the best 
votes we have ever taken as Senators. We stood up for what we believed 
in and what we thought was right--which is exactly what our 
constituents sent us here to do.
  Barbara Boxer has been there for our children, leading the way for 
after school programs and making sure they are kept safe. She has 
fought against wasteful spending in the Pentagon--the $400 hammer and 
the $7,000 coffee pot. She has defended women's right to choose and 
protected women against domestic violence. She has held the feet of 
polluters to the fire as the champion of clean air, clean water, and 
our natural resources. It is too hard to pinpoint just one thing the 
Senate will miss about her: her political prowess, her dedication and 
determination, her undying loyalty and friendship. All of those and 
more will be missed.
  As we end this session of Congress and our careers in the Senate, I 
wish Barbara and her husband, Stewart, many happy days ahead as they 
start writing this new chapter in their lives. Even if we are on 
opposite sides of the country, I know I will always have a friend in 
California.

                          ____________________