Barbara Boxer: “I rise today to pay tribute to my colleagues, Senators Kay Bailey Hutchison and Olympia Snowe. We have served together…”

“I rise today to pay tribute to my colleagues, Senators Kay Bailey Hutchison and Olympia Snowe. We have served together in the Senate for two decades and I will dearly miss their grace and their friendship. I know that whatever the next chapter brings, both Senator Hutchison and Senator Snowe will leave a lasting and important legacy. Both of these Senators are true pioneers. When she first entered Congress, Senator Snowe was the youngest Republican woman ever to serve in the House of Representatives. Senator Hutchison graduated law school in 1967 as one of only 5 women in a class of 445 men. When she arrived in the Senate in 1993, she became the first woman to represent Texas in this Chamber. Throughout her career, Senator Snowe has been a strong advocate for the people of Maine. Whether they were children, families, consumers, or small business owners--the people of Maine knew they had a great champion in Senator Snowe. Senator Snowe always worked across party lines to get things done for the American people. During her time in the House, she worked with Senator Mikulski to lead the fight to end the exclusion of women in health trials at the National Institutes of Health. She worked with Senator Rockefeller to help bring the internet to America's libraries and classrooms. She worked with Senator Ted Kennedy to pass the Genetic Nondiscrimination Act.…”