Barbara Mikulski: “USNS Comfort has been homeported in Baltimore since 1987 and is a crucial tool of America's 'smart power' strategy.”

We are safe, we are secure, and we are undeterred.

I want to recognize her for her leadership in that.

We especially thank Senate Appropriations Chairman Thad Cochran and Vice-Chairwoman Barbara Mikulski for their unwavering support for the NIH.

As the longest serving woman in congressional history, I proudly stand on the shoulders of the suffragists who fought bravely and boldly for generations to secure women's political equality.