Orrin Hatch: “I came here to talk on another matter, but I wish to take a few minutes to talk about my friend Barbara Mikulski. We…”

“I came here to talk on another matter, but I wish to take a few minutes to talk about my friend Barbara Mikulski. We have served a long time together. When she came to this body, I think I may have been chairman of what was then called the Labor and Human Resources Committee, now the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. From the day she got on that committee, she made a difference in every way, not just for women but for every single American in this country. I have a tremendous amount of profound respect for Senator Mikulski and what she has been able to accomplish. Let me mention one thing. Back in the early 1990s, she and I worked together on what was called the FDA Revitalization Act. That act was a very important one, because we had the FDA spread out all over the Greater Washington, DC, area, probably 30, 35 different offices, some of which were in converted chicken coops. It was ridiculous to have these top scientists in anything but a centralized location with top computerization and all of the other scientific instruments they need to do this work for the American people. I have to say that Barbara Mikulski played a pivotal role in helping to develop that tremendous facility.…”