Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act

Floor Speech

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Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I am so honored to join so many of my Senate colleagues and people from Maryland and across this country in recognizing and congratulating the amazing woman you just heard from, my good friend from Maryland Senator Barbara Mikulski, who, as you have just heard, has just become the longest serving female Member of Congress in the history of the United States.

This is an achievement that takes courage, it takes passion, and it takes commitment. Those are three attributes all of us who know her so well know she has in abundance. But my good friend, Senator Mikulski, has not just served long, she has served well.

The senior Senator from Maryland, over her 35 years in Congress, has established herself as a trailblazer, as a leader, and as a fighter for the people of her State. It is fitting that this milestone was reached during Women's History Month because Senator Mikulski has given so much of herself in support of other women in Congress. She has guided us, she has shown us how to stand and fight, and she has taken all of us under her wing.

Senator Mikulski realized when she arrived here that there was no rule book for women in Congress. So she took it upon

herself to guide the way. She drew on her own experiences to make the transition easier for all of us.

She organized seminars that you have heard about. She taught us how to work together. She taught us about the legislative process, the rules on the floor, and the many more subtle rules off the floor.

In short, Senator Mikulski showed us the ropes, and she has done it every day I have been here for all the women who have come since she has been here. While she knows it is important and courageous to lead the charge, she also understands the first ones have to be responsible and successful so others can follow. It is because Senator Mikulski has done her job so well that other women have been able to follow in her footsteps.

She is here today as the longest serving woman in Congress, not by accident or by happenstance. She is here because she has earned it, because the people of her State know she is an indispensable champion of their causes, because she does work across party lines, and because she delivers results.

I know many years from now when women have achieved a larger, more representative role in our Nation's Capital, Senator Mikulski will be at the very top of the list of people to thank--the person who not only forged the path but who went back and guided so many of us down it.

I know many of my colleagues are on the floor today to thank Senator Mikulski. But I am here especially to thank her, as one of those women who have followed in her footsteps, for her more than 35 years of service to her State and to her country. Those of us who know her well know she is not even close to being finished.

So, Mr. President, my very best to my very good friend, Senator Mikulski. I wish her very well in her next 35 years.

I yield the floor.

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