On the recordJanuary 5, 2011
I am very pleased to rise with colleagues on both sides of the aisle to pay tribute to somebody who is much more than a colleague--someone who is also a mentor and a great friend, the Senator from Maryland, Barbara Mikulski. Today, as we all know, she became the longest serving woman Member of the Senate in the history of our Nation. I have a 3-year-old granddaughter Lilly who will be able to read now in the history books about not only her grandmother but the woman who holds this record, Senator Barbara Mikulski, and all she has done and all she means to each of us, particularly as a role model for my granddaughter and other young children, other young women who will be coming after all of us. She is here today because she is bold and fearless and determined, as we all know. In 1986, when she first ran for the Senate, she looked for inspiration from her own great-grandmother who came to the United States from Poland with no money and no job. But her great-grandmother knew the importance of hard work and she built a life for her family here, a new beginning, and in so doing opened the door for future generations.
