On the recordJanuary 5, 2011
I am honored to join my colleagues in honoring my mentor and dear friend, Senator Barbara Mikulski, on becoming the longest serving woman in the history of the Senate. For more than 24 trailblazing years, Senator Mikulski has been one of the Senate's fiercest advocates for women, families, and for the people of Maryland who have now elected her to the Senate for five consecutive terms. Before she arrived in Washington in 1977 as the Representative from the Third District of Maryland, Senator Mikulski already had a distinguished career in public service, working in Baltimore as a social worker, then a community activist, and as a city council member. When she was first sworn in as a Member of the House of Representatives, she was one of just 18 female Members. When she entered the Senate 10 years later as the first Democratic woman Senator elected in her own right, she was one of just two women in this upper Chamber. But while those numbers have intimidated most, they only motivated and emboldened Senator Mikulski. She soon impressed her colleagues, as she continues to do today, with her work ethic, determination, keen understanding of issues, humor, and her commitment to her constituents. She has broken many barriers in her career. She was the first woman ever elected statewide in Maryland, the first to chair an appropriations subcommittee, and the first woman to serve in the Democratic leadership.
