On the recordMarch 27, 2012
Mr. President, I join my colleagues in honoring the service of the Senator from Maryland, Barbara Mikulski, on becoming the longest-serving woman in the history of Congress. She is an inspiration, a mentor, and a friend, and I congratulate her on achieving this historic milestone. The story of Barbara Mikulski is the story of the American Dream. The daughter of a grocer in Baltimore, she learned what it meant to do a hard day's work. She got good grades, went to college, and eventually got her Master's Degree in Social Work. When she was in her 20's, she got involved in a fight to stop a highway proposal that would have cut through a working-class neighborhood. She stopped that highway and saved the homes of the families who lived there. Those families saw something that day that all of us would recognize today: a woman of passion, hard work, and determination. Throughout her years of service, she has reflected these values day in and day out as she has fought for America's working families. She understands that our country needs to make things and grow things if we are going to have a middle class and an American Dream. She understands the dignity of work, and how important that is to families who want to create a better future for their children, just as Barbara's family did for her. And in her many years of leadership and service, she has been fighting every day to create a better future for every little girl and boy in Maryland.…
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