side effects from the health care law. the four that we have written out on the prescription pad as we see it as the prescription pad handed out by president obama, number one is fewer choices. number two, we have higher taxes. number three, more government. and four is less innovation. that's what the american people are seeing of the side effects of this health care law, thanks this they don't want. they don't want fewer choices. they want more choices. people don't want higher taxes. they want lower taxes. they don't want more government. they want less government. they don't want less innovation. they want more innovation. that's what the american people ask for. there was a reason to do health care reform because people wanted the care that they need from a doctor they want at a cost they can afford. and i know that's what my colleague from iowa sees when he goes home every weekend and talks to people in his home communities. mr. grassley: could i add one thing at this point?

we don't really know how bad this bill is yet -- or this law is yet, and i'm going to add something to what senator blunt said when you quoted the speaker of the house saying we don't really know what's in this bill. you're going to have to pass it to find out what's in it. that's what had you to say to get a majority vote even of her own party to get it through the house of representatives. but in a sense, she is right. you can read every -- you can understand every letter of this law, but it has 1,693 delegations of authority for the secretary to write regulations, and until they are written, you aren't really going to know what's in it. and you remember the accountable care organization rules that came out. six pages out of 2,700 in the bill dealt with accountable care organizations, but the first regulations that were written were 350 pages long. so we really don't know what -- how bad this legislation is maybe for a few years down the

road, and hopefully we never get that far down the road. mr. barrasso: and my understanding from the accountable care organization component of this is that the very health programs that the accountable care organizations were referred to, the ones that the president held up as the models across the country -- and one was in utah, one was guizinger in pennsylvania, i believe the mayo clinic may have been a third. once all of those pages of regulations came out, the programs that the president says this is the model that we want to follow, they all said we can't comply with these regulations. they are too stringent, they are too confining, they won't work in our program. so if they are not going to work at the kind of places that the president said are doing it well, to me that means they are not going to work anywhere in wyoming and very likely not anywhere in iowa or anywhere in missouri as we go and try to make sure patients can get the care that they need from the doctor that they want at a cost that they can afford. i mean, those are the things. and that's why i continue to

look at this health care law and go home every weekend and talk to people and continue to hear that this bill is bad for patients, bad for providers, the nurses and the doctors who take care of those patients, and bad for taxpayers. when we take a look at -- and senator blunt made a comment about this with medicare, some of the changes, who is going to make these decisions, it looks to me from reading through this law that it's unelected bureaucrats. 15 unelected bureaucrats with this so-called independent payment advisory board. people who will decide what hospitals would get paid for providing various services, so that in small communities, the hospital may say well, we can no longer offer that service. and i have heard my colleagues talk about the specific loss of the availability of hospitals to even stay profitable with some of the cuts, taking $500 billion

away from medicare. again, not to save and strengthen medicare but to start a whole new government program for others. i mean, those are the things that we're dealing with and why at town hall meeting after town hall meeting, people continue to tell me they want this repealed and they want it replaced with patient-centered, patient-centered health care. not government-centered, not insurance-company centered, patient-centered health care. that's what people are asking for, and they get tired of all these broken promises that the president has made. i remember he said he's going to bring down the price of premiums by $2,500 per family per year. what family wouldn't want that because the whole purpose of the health care law initially was to get the cost of health care under control. this didn't do that. if i go to a town hall meeting as i did not too long ago in wyoming and say how many of you under the new health care law are finding that you're paying

more for health insurance. not the 2,500 less a year that the president promised. how many of you are paying more? every hand goes up. and then you ask the question how many of you believe that the quality and the availability of your own care is going to go down as a result of this health care law? every hand goes up. and i know in the show-me state of missouri, that's not what people want. they don't want to pay more and get less. i don't know if my colleagues have been hearing things similar to that at home. mr. blunt: that's exactly what i think we're all hearing. whether you are for this bill or not, my guess is if you're hearing that, if you're asking that question. the president's promised, another promise, that the average family -- if his health care plan went into effect, would have $2,500 less as you just said, doctor, per year. in fact, since he became

president, insurance premiums have risen by $2,213 a year. not a 2,500-dollar cut, but a 2,213-dollar increase. in 2008, the employer-provided insurance, the average family premium was $12,860. last year it was $15,073. these are incredible increases for families that, along with the bad energy policies and other policies put families into a condition that they would hope not to be in and we would hope for them not to be in. so you have got increased cost to families, increased cost to the system. that's the other thing the president said. another broken promise was that this health care bill would control costs. and recently, according to the medicare actuary, the person that calculates these costs, the

estimate was that national health spending would go up at least $311 billion over ten years under this plan. now, that's not cost control. that's $311 billion, almost a third of a trillion dollars in increases, payment reductions to hospitals. you mentioned this board that will make these decisions. i'm not sure that there will be enough people on that board that understand rural hospitals, to understand why it's critical that rural hospitals that are critical care hospitals continue to have different arrangements with the government than others do for the government-provided health care like medicare and medicaid. and if they understand that, there may not be enough people on the board that understand the unique needs of urban hospitals that have a heavily uninsured population. how is this 15-member board going to be better than the 500 members that serve people in washington now trying to look at

specifics and then be accountable? who is this board accountable to? what decision do they make that somebody can challenge in a meaningful way, in a way that they would be really concerned about? so it doesn't control costs, as the president said it would. it doesn't reduce insurance costs as the president said it would. i think it will wind up with maybe even more people uninsured as long as the penalty that you pay is less than the premiums you're going to pay, particularly for young workers who are outside the system today, and the president's plan, you eliminate the advantage that they have for being young and healthy by saying no, you can't really classify groups. where if you go get life insurance, you certainly pay more if you're 75 for life insurance than you do if you're 27, if you have -- you're just going to pay less. and it's the same way today for health insurance as well because it's clear that the likelihood of your using that plan at 26 is

different than it is at 62. so all of these things just don't add up and people are beginning to figure they don't add up and i thought senator grassley made a very good point about even when we passed the bill, you won't know all of the costs of this bill till it actually goes into effect. and i'm very much in support of his view that we never want to let this get so far down the road we know how much it would really cost or all of the rules and regulations you would really have, because it will -- it will head health care in a direction we might not be able to reverse course and get to a health care system that's really focused on patients and health care providers rather than government bureaucrats deciding what's the best health care for everybody. i want my doctor to decide. i want to be part of that discussion. i don't want some government bureaucrat deciding what procedure is the only procedure that's acceptable for me.

mr. barrasso: it's interesting. you go home as i do, very, very often, to talk to many of the small business owners in the state of missouri as i do in wyoming, as senator grassley does in iowa, and one of the promises that the president made is he said four million small businesses may be eligible for tax credits. four million small businesses may be eligible for tax credits. well, turns out that the key word there by the president is "may." may be eligible. even though the fact that the white house has sent out postcards to all these small businesses, the i.r.s. sent over a million dollars in taxpayers' money to send out millions of postcards promoting the tax credit. the treasury department's inspector general recently testified that -- quote -- "the volume of credit claims has been lower than expected." as a matter of fact, only 7% of

the four million firms the administration claimed. why? well, because of the complexity and the whole way the system was set up, the president was able to talk big and deliver very small. and that's why so many people are very, very unhappy with the claims in the health care law because they know these promises have been broken. with regard to the nancy pelosi's famous quote that first you have to pass it before you get to find out what's in it, that's why i come to the floor every week with a doctor's second opinion because it does seem that just about every week we learn some new unintended consequence, something new about the health care law, and another reason why americans are unhappy with it. why it remains as unpopular if not more unpopular today as when it was passed. and why so many people believe that -- that this -- that the supreme court should find this

bill unconstitutional for the reasons that really do have americans at home really in an uproar. very unhappy that the government can come into their homes and mandate that they buy a government-approved product, and pay for it or pay a fine. nothing like this has happened before, and people are frankly offended. we don't know what the supreme court is going to do, but i know what this body ought to do. this body ought to vote to repeal and replace this broken health care law and really get a health care law in place which is what the american people wanted, which is the care they need from the doctor that they want at a price they can afford. and we have not seen that yet but that's why we are here on the second anniversary of the president's health care law to continue to point out the flaws of this and quite interestingly, when you take a look at some of the national

poll numbers for people who have talked to a health care provider, whether that be a nurse, a doctor, a physician assistant, a nurse practitioners, no matter who they are, even less supportive of it than the gin public. the presiding officer: the the presiding officer: the

>> i have a question regarding the law. i apologize, because i didn't see the report became it yesterday. i was traveling down a. as to the actual logs themselves that you got, the case-by-case information, as the committee taken committee decisions about whether or not that considered something that they feel they

can release, or is it considered proprietary? >> that's something that we are still -- that were produce, contain very confidential information, including addresses, personal names. one concern was that we did not want to dissuade people from making foia requests, because that information might be available. i think a lot of the logs are already available online. i know the government attic did an identical request to ours in posted the logs that they received online, which i actually think is very useful. because as a citizen and not congress, their logs should be properly exempted, all the privacy concerns should have been taken care of before they were released.

but i think that's something that we're still considering, given that many of the agencies have a lot of very private information in those and we don't want to compromise that. >> i think he would be, actually it's somewhat difficult to even find out what the fields of information they track. and so, in fact, having, and maybe that was in the report, a more detailed description of the contents of logs and what a field means. because we have, in fact, had some difficulty in obtaining just descriptive information. >> that's something that we have gone into in the report. there's very wide discrepancy between what agencies are tracking and in what format. but whenever possible we did call out specific agencies, specific logs with the

information. i think we would not be against putting out even more detailed as possibly putting out what was contained in the logs without the information that is in them so you could get more information. one of the problems though is a lot of the spreadsheets have a lot of fields that were just blank. there were some agencies that had separate sections in their excel spreadsheet's to list exemption or whether records were granted, and they were just blank for all of the requests. so i think one front is that if we get that information is very misleading because just because they have an a lot doesn't mean they're putting the data in when they should be. >> good point. any information about empty fields? also very valuable. thank you. >> local researcher. i'd like to ask the question about the response and congress

to perhaps a widely spread public perception. every time i go to a conference about cybersecurity, u.s. government, the whole wikileaks incident is very much on the table. not to focus on one specific thing, the edited video comment that was released by wikileaks, they also released a raw form of that without the comments, and longer. now, reuters, not an expert, but according to what i read in the press has been asking for the information for a couple of years through foia with pentagon. and getting absolutely nowhere. obviously, they were quite interested to see what was in this video when it was released. i think the perception of the public is that they had a right to see that video and doesn't understand what happened to that incident at least as far as you could from the video. but i think in terms of what you been suggesting in terms of trying to get away from this, i

don't think, correct me if i'm wrong, but i don't think under which are described that if the whole thing work author again under the current situation at the pentagon would feel that they needed to release the information to reuters. therefore, i think the public has seen information innocently released which they think should have been released but wouldn't be released under the current regiment of foia, even as you suggest, trying to get it. i realize it's an impossible question because of the issue of national security, but could you just tell me how congress responds to what i think is a widely held public perception? >> anyone? >> i think, i mean, it's difficult to address outside of the particular facts. citing one particular incident. i think there's certainly, i mean, it's an important balance to ensure that we are protecting genuine national security and generally classified information

and that's not compromised. them in the other hand, ensuring that information isn't being improperly withheld. i mean, that's no news to anyone but i think that's just a balance that has to be given. and in return, i think listening to the public in making sure that there are particular incidents. i'm not addressing those facts but there have been cases in the past where because congress has heard from the public that there were concerns about a particular something being withheld, that was actually addressed by congress. i mean, it's a different scenario but you can look at the wall street reform bill and that was done there. that wasn't referring to classified information, but because there was a public outcry about an exemption that was included in bill, my boss at the time, senator leahy work together and passed -- i think congress has to listen to the public but there's just sort of

that weighing. just because something has been improperly released doesn't necessarily mean that it should be. -- shouldn't be properly released economy attempt a situation where there's a current issue with the camp lejeune water contamination information, and information that had been previously released, the department of defense is now saying shouldn't be released. that's very troubling because if it's information that has been released by the government in the past, it certainly raises the question why that information can continue to be released. >> any other comments? >> thank you. i'm just going to go back to the logs for a minute, just to mention, because not only this panel but earlier there's been a little bit of discussion about the foia portal project that is

currently under construction. one important feature of that is tracking that directly brings in every single data point that agencies are required to make in their annual foia reports. and that tracking process would be available to any agency that participated. certainly that would be a good feature in terms of consistency, coherence, and also having data in one place that could be available, not only to congress, to the agencies, to the public, but just would really help, particularly those agencies that right now, in fact, that's one reason commerce was so interested in participating is because they know they don't have the proper tracking ability, you know, in every component of congress.

so i think it's going to be a real helpful feature. >> is there anything congress can do to encourage use of the portal, since it is voluntary? >> i can say the portal certainly came up after hearing, and was testified about that. one thing congress has done, raise and am it's about and express support for the rollout of the portal. senator leahy -- in general technology is an area where he always looked to find one and improve access of information. i think the portal was one example of that so that a summit i think can be initially done out in terms of talking about it, encouraging some of these agencies to go forward with it and then, of course, to see how effective it is. >> i know tegan referred earlier to the government information services and the usefulness of

that office, and more requesters should take advantage. i just want to echo that and also to complement the hard work that miriam is doing. she's a bright star in this world doing fantastic work, and she's helped out the corn in office, senator cornyn's office, with several constituent requests directly and so we just want to thank her for the good work that she is doing. >> tegan, would mr. issa consider recommending to agencies based on the lack of uniformity, lack of completeness of data, a lack of usability of formats, et cetera, that they migrate to the portal before he ask this question again next year? >> well, that's actually one thing that we're looking forward, looking at energy. or having someone from epa, and talk about the details of the foia portal. miriam will also be there to give more information.

but i think it's supposed to be launched in october of this year, and i think if that is successful and that's something we would look into and encourage agencies to participate and. >> yes, sir. >> we heard earlier-on the last know about some of the progress that was made after an additional appropriation made the state assembly for purposes of foia but i'm wondering when you guys talk to the executive branch what a u.n.? are you hearing the promise capacity, that they don't have the funding to get the stuff done? how much is noncompliance, is the capacity have and how much is the culture and secrecy is still pervasive? after all these tax breaks for a bunch of new revenue, can we expect to see compliance or do we really have to actually hit these guys over the head and tell them they've got to start taking this seriously? >> i can do speak to what i've

heard. i think it varies depend on which agency you talk to, and what kind of foia issue they have dealt with the certainly some of the is resources. i was a probably more important than resources, prioritizing professional services in the office but i know there's been a recent effort to try to address that in terms of making those positions more a beautiful in terms of career path for people and to also understand the importance of that particular office. so i think those are some of things. some of it is culture. some of it i think is coulter tries to what that particular agency might be doing to begin, the national security area the our unique issues in terms of secrecy that are different than some agencies have to deal with. to some extent there's also a neat i think probably good for a culture change and a culture shift. to reap prioritize what the president said his number in him with the attorney general said in his, make sure everyone knows that's the approach taken for

foia but i don't know if that's done across the government get. >> another thing that i think we need to focus, not just congress, but everyone in the foia community is a problem with referrals. because a lot of agencies i think are unfairly making progress in reducing the backlog by just referring all the requests to other agencies. i know that's a big problem for the state department. and i think it's also very hard for requesters, because it certainly having been one for several years, you know, it's difficult to be able to track your request if you don't know that it's been close out at the agency that you initially made the request but it is pending in five or six others. and i think that's one thing where, if you're not closing the request, then additional resources are not really helping and georges kind of shutting it off to different agencies. and i think of something when he to look into to see if there's a

way to fix that. i think the foia portal might get help with the and that's something that we're looking into specific concern. >> we have, let's see, reasons for backlogs plays politics, homeland security, right? culture, especially intelligence. resources, data tracking inadequacies. we can keep going, suggested a comprehensive look at an independent commission might be useful. yes, ma'am. [inaudible] i'm very curious that according to your work experience, what the most comment political tours and legal tours your it using to overcome the information from the agency side, thank you.

>> that's a good question. is the question what tools congress is using? >> what political and legal tools that can be used to keep the agencies faithful to administer the law. >> i would say oversight. you know, we have a wonderful system of separation of powers so commercial over so we're able to do a lot of that. and both increasing transparency will have hearings directly to agency officials about what they're doing in terms of providing information to the public and, of course, through the legislative process but i think those are the most important tools. and again in this area as you seem because it's a bipartisan issue, it's a huge tool because you have many members, your very different views on many, many issues who are really very closely aligned to access of government and foia and that is an excellent helpful i think terms of the progress we've made in the last decade on foia

issues. >> other comments? >> i would definitely second the oversight comment, which is the primary purpose of our committee. and i think it is very important, because the law as written, it's a very good law. the problem is in enforcing it. anything oversight is one of the best ways to do that. if you call attention to these issues, then the agency start paying more attention and they know they can't continue to do these. or if there are problems that congress needs to know about that something that we get from interactions, hearings, even with this report. there are a lot of problems that may not be of particular agency's fault, but it's something we need to work on because it's a big problem for the requesters and for government transparency. i think in terms of our hearings, i think it's been very useful, just to get the public

more aware of what rights they have under foia, and certainly the foia community and the pressure that they put on agencies to comply with the law are very useful tools for them. >> on the subject of oversight, obviously there's a difference. it's a government structure in the united states, congressional oversight, balance of power, separation. does facilitate that. but independent oversight could be done by and administration toward commission, some of the kind of and a number of provinces in china have that sort of a council set up to provide assistance and oversight. but also the courts. you asked about legal tools. our previous panel before lunch i think vividly illustrated how the courts come to the aid of requesters when agency simply refuse to follow the law.

and, of course, we do have also a history of independence of the judiciary and supremacy of the judiciary as a final arbiter on these things. so both of those i think important quite well. you have been standing a long time. >> i'm a writer and researcher, filed my first freedom of information request in 1991. please to say it's not still pending, but to comments. one, and this is just to expand on your point, ms. griggsby, about chairman leahy's point about press releases into about what government does right and foia being about what may be government doesn't do right. i think foia should be expanded to be considered to tell the public more broadly what the government does, in kind of what the government thinks it and i think because many of my requests have been in the national security round, one of

the things that is enlightening about the dodgers that you do receive when you do receive them is that they show the complexity of policy issues and the trade-offs that policymakers, the very hard decisions that policymakers have to consider. speaking with the previous question about china, for example. the various aspects about china policy, whether it's north korea or trade or otherwise. so i think we look at the very positive and the negative, but there's broad public interest, but perhaps not easily quantifiable public benefit in understanding government policy more broadly in the trade-offs to i guess my second comment, as a longtime requester, is one more broadly focused to all of you, and it's to say that what i'm hearing in, which has been an previous panel that we've had here, i'm struck by how much of

what occurs, there's kind of, while there is bipartisan consensus in the congress about the rights of americans to access to information, there seems to be kind of a bipartis bipartisan, a cross administration tendencies within the agencies to ignore the law. and so what strikes me about that is, despite, i mean i think at this for 20 years, the same issues pop up with regard to foia. in particular, the delays. this is been something since tom was working on they'll in the 1970s. and this issue is endemic within the agencies as ms. griggsby says it does very by adt. some agencies that particularly don't do with national security handle things in a much more expeditious way. but i guess what i'm trying to ask you to consider a more broad issue, and i think this

commission might be a way to get at this, but what, how do address this problem? to me it seems a question not only of the professional that initiatives programs within the agencies but, in fact, a senior leadership issue. and the fact that the justice department would represent that they have no records when they are having records as a policy issue, to me says that there's no way the attorney general would approve such a policy, that only in light of the lack of senior leadership issue on this, there's that kind of policy that comes for. so i guess i would like you, from your position in the legislative branch, to speak to the problem of senior leadership on this. and what i think of senior leadership, a government agency heads, departmental heads, and maybe the number two, now we get that kind of focus on foia. thank you. >> thank you for your comments,

and agree with much of what you said. i think in terms of the kind of deep challenges of foia that we see over and over again as you mentioned i think is kind of in all of the above approach but then you covered a couple of things. you covered the concept of something outside the got like the commission we talked earlier being a potential way of addressing that, the role of congress being able to address that and i think you're right about the leadership issue. one thing we have seen in the last few years has been a recommitment from the attorney general and from the president to the presumption of openness to the government and that is very important i think there has to be this kind of push pull dynamic we have both a commitment from your leadership coming down to the folks who handles foia requests, about the need to make sure we're being more open and accessible. and you have the pull from folks like congress and folks outside of come to make sure that that happens but it's not something i think in terms of the culture change that happens overnight, but one thing i found is that

folks who don't necessary deal with foia on a regular basis don't appreciate how foia effects whatever it is they do about access of information, you talked with imported of the public thing, the decision-making process in understanding how complex issues are but no one wants to shorten when a massive but sometimes the reaction is to keep it secret whereas perhaps the public more about the complex at issue even though it may be a mistake that might be a different attitude towards that. i think that's where you can kind of informed decision-makers about how having information and the public world may be helpful to them in terms of making decisions. that is something that goes beyond foia but i think comes from a leadership understanding how public access to information really can't i think make for better policy. so i guess it's an all of the above type thing but i think we certainly have made some progress on that. is much more work to be done but i think in these kind of the problems really go out the concept what i think many people feel that information kind of the enemy in terms of what they may want to do with good

intentions and i think there needs to be a realization again of the value to public today and the visibility of decision-making in terms of how the public receives whatever the policy is. >> that exchange is really i think thought-provoking. we have historically, going back to the '60s, a bipartisan support in congress for freedom of information, open government. england back to the '60s we've had a bipartisan recalcitrant on the part of the executive branch. not only -- that's one of the things to reflect on, the obama administration with the president and attorney general have more than once stated a renewed commitments to foia administration and open government, and other kinds of reports that what, dan wrote an article on the subject and

various groups to come out with analyses. obviously, not thinking as rosy a picture. and what you think about the problems that arise under an administration that is such a publicly stated commitment to changing the culture towards openness, and still the problems happen when the lawsuits are filed. it does suggest even after 40 years is still a long-term problem for the future. matt? >> i will be very brief on this point but i think we will not have succeeded in getting foia, open government to place it needs to be until requesters are treated, quite simply, as customers. and i think they are treated, far too often, as numbers, as nuisances, and as problems. and i think until they are treated as customers, something

senator cornyn says over and over again, we will have these problems persist. >> texas never had a problem about having to worry about agencies following the attorney general's advisory memoranda on the subject because he had the ability to sue their butts if they didn't follow his directive. and senator cornyn, his attorney general actually did that rather vigorously against government agencies and municipalities, a very different structure. yes, ma'am. >> i'm a federal worker, as i know many of the other folks in the audience are, and i think there's a hole in an otherwise -- just to comment on the last comment, and responsive but it seems to me that there is a widespread view that any delay or limitation in foia respond is intentional. and if you talk about a case

where there is a policy docket sitting on the shelf at a specific document has been requested and the agency is refusing to turn it over, that seems true. if it's a case where there's a request for all e-mails from the top three leaders of a department on a very broad topic over the course of the entire tenure of that leader, which is the case that i see over and over again in my work, i delay is not -- is merely prioritization and attempts to fulfill that foia requests while continue to attempt to do the work that the agency is otherwise required to do. i do think that the point that needs to be recognized spent that's a good point. in fact, i will just added to my list, two other factors for agency delete the records management issues, because even if they know where they are, sometimes they don't know what they are. have trouble finding an. and when the expansion request is just very harsh. you have been very patient. yes, ma'am.

>> i'm a student here, and i want sort of forward-looking question for each of you, if you want. and that is, what is the most important for you matter that will be brought before congress through the rest of this year? and how likely do you think it is that foia will be amended? >> great question for us to wrap up on, too. thank you. let's go down starting on the far end, krista, you want to take a little time? >> you can handle this one. by the way, i should say this is such a simple question for staff or anyone in washington, for my dog in fact to answer about what congress is going to do this year. [laughter] >> i would expect that the most important foia issue that will come up is related to the post-miller reaction to whether anything is done or not done. i think in the context of the cybersecurity legislation, being

move, that that's a very prominent issue but as i think that's a very real one that congress will face. as to the likelihood of something being passed, i would say i don't know. >> tegan? >> i agree with krista, that what is likely to. what i really like to see is, and hopefully will be able to do this this year, is to encourage more agencies proactive disclosure, because i think that would help requested a good also help agencies because then you would be getting request for stuff you've already released, having to go through files again, and to your point earlier we definitely recognize that foia is -- foia officers don't often have the resources they need. and i think from a congressional standpoint without legislation, one thing we need to do is to

educate requesters to make the best requests possible. because that can really streamline the process. and i think professional requesters are people do all the time but i did it for three years. they get a format down that works very well, but often if you just a private citizen and are seeking information, you may not have in the right form or worded correctly, and that could cause excessive delays. and something that we're looking to do, especially the citizens guide and with some staff training on transport issues is to make it easier for requesters to make good request come which also makes it easier for the agencies to process. >> i agree with all the comments that have been said but i think it's definitely post milner and probably cybersecurity together or possibly separately but i would just add another caveat in terms of milner, there may be a debate how congress -- recommendations at a hearing from the administration to do some changes to exemption but i

think another area where congress may export is looking at the language that legislative exemptions in foia at the ottawa to make carefully craft that comic gets them in, protection for access to health and safety information. >> let me close with three observations. the first, the point of personal privilege but we talked a lot about oversight and congress, congressional staff. i was not just me, for for which i apologize, but i did want to say, back in the early '70s when i was a young staffer, fully facial hair, hair on my head, it was a wonderful sight to behold, we had oversight hearings and worked on legislation. and one of our witnesses from the great northwest, young su long, a statistician who is in a battle with the internal revenue service, came in and testified.

and was really inspiring for the senate judiciary committee. and i think at the time kind of became my personal views in my own commitment in pursuit of open government in foia. sue, i want to acknowledge and thank you for that. secondly, on the subject of predicting what congress will do, i think we've all suggested that is impossible to do. but i can make one prediction. and that is, it is highly likely that next year during sunshine week, the washington college of law will once again host a program on freedom of information day celebration and collaboration on government secrecy and we will assemble a fantastic panel that may even include some more panelists yet again to discuss what congress did or didn't do in the

intervening time, and with a new plans for the new congress and new administration, whoever that might be, could be. and, finally, i think the interesting discussion sort of teeing up our next panel, which is the hot issues of today on the hill is milner and exemption three. stay tuned. it won't be long before the panel focuses on that subject. thanks to each of you for coming out here, for participating. very educational, very informative, and a lot of fun for me, too. thank you. [applause] >> tom, i want to give a special thanks -- [inaudible] to the best of anyone's recollection from this is the first time that all four corners of capitol hill was represented, house, senate, majority staff, minority staff, to focus on foia matters. and you know the foia matters is

coming up so we hope we've established a new tradition here, speaking of next year, and would extend a standing or a sitting invitation right at this moment to you folks, from each of your vantage points to come back. because nothing is as good as having all four parts by camel, bipartisan on capitol hill represented. thank you very much for that. [applause] >> will take a quick break and then we will set up for the final panel of the day. [inaudible conversations] >> and a few moments ye few moms tribute to democratic senator barbara mikulski who has become the longest-serving woman member of congress. and at 9:30 a.m. eastern will have live coverage of the senate. after an hour of general speeches, members will resume consideration of the small

business capital bill. >> in march 1979, c-span began televising the u.s. house of representatives to households nationwide, and today our content of politics and public affairs, nonfiction books in american history is available on tv, radio and online. >> we sell the american public short. >> say you can have all these things. they know better than that. they don't trust you if you try to flimflam them. say to them, sure, let actions can. that's right. it's more honorable. >> c-span, created by america's cable companies as a public service. >> democratic senator barbara mikulski is now the longest-serving woman in congress. a five term senate veteran was

honored yesterday by her colleagues. this is two hours. mr. cardin: i'm glad we could get that straight. let me first thank all of our colleagues that are here to pay our honor to the senior senator from maryland, senator mikulski. this is march madness in basketball. sweet 16 is starting. we're very proud in maryland of our lady terps. they are in the sweet 16. but i just want you to know we're all getting our fantasy teams and i want senator mikulski on my fantasy team in basketball, because she is a true leader, she understands the importance of working together, and she is a winner. we're proud of her roots in maryland. she has -- she is a great granddaughter of polish immigrants who owned a bakery. she began her public service in high school where she helped deliver groceries to seniors who were locked into their apartments. she helped the homebound seniors

get the food that they needed. she went to the university of maryland school of social work because she wanted to be a social worker. she wanted to help other people. she knew that she was good at that and she could make a difference in people's lives. she worked for catholic charities and dealt with children at risk and helping seniors with medicare. but as you have heard from several of my colleagues already, she really gained her representation by -- reputation by taking on a highway that was scheduled to be built that would have gone through canton and fells point, disrupting a neighborhood in baltimore. this was a 16-lane highway. it was considered to be a done deal. it was going to happen. the powers to-be said we are going to have a highway coming through downtown baltimore. the powers to-be did not know barbara mikulski. that highway never happened. senator mikulski stopped that highway from being built.

she they ever went on to serve in the baltimore city council with great distinction, and in 1976, she was elected to the congress from the third congressional district, a seat that was vacated by our esteemed colleague, paul sarbanes, who then came into the united states senate, and barbara mikulski followed in the great tradition of senator paul sarbanes. in 1986, when senator mack mat a.c.c.'s seat became vacant, senator barbara mikulski was elected to the united states senate. she has many firsts. first female democrat to be elected in her own right to the united states senate. at the time she was elected to the senate, she was only one of two female senators. today we have 17 female senators in the united states senate, in large part because of senator barbara mikulski. i know you will hear the presiding officer was part of that expansion. you hear how senator mikulski was not only a role model and an

inspiration but an incredible help to get more women elected to the united states senate. last year, we joined in this body to celebrate senator mikulski becoming the longest serving woman in the history of the united states senate, surpassing margaret chase smith from the state of maine, and then on this past saturday on st. patrick's day, she became the longest serving woman in the history of the united states congress, replacing edith norris rogers from massachusetts, who served, as the majority leader pointed out, from 1925-1960. marylanders understand longevity records. we're very proud of our cal ripken and the record that he held in baseball. senator mikulski, like cal ripken's legacy, is what she has done in office to make a difference, not the length of her service. she is a fierce and effective

advocate for so many causes. we have heard about her accomplishments in education and health care which she has done to advance sensible health care to improve quality for the people of this country. that was her mission in the affordable care act, to make sure that we had the delivery systems in place that would deliver quality health care. senator mikulski's leadership was critical in that regard. she has been a leader on women's health care issues, and i will never forget her -- her reminder to all of us in the caucus don't forget women's health care issues when you bring that bill to the floor, and we didn't. we put that in under senator mikulski's leadership. we talked about breast cancer and cervical cancer screenings. senator mikulski has been in the leadership on all those issues. we in maryland are proud to be where the national institute of

health is headquartered. its growth in large measure has been the result of senator barbara mikulski. we are proud of hope 6 and housing. senator mikulski has been in the forefront of that program, making it possible for many people in our community to have decent, affordable and safe housing. the space program. senator mikulski has been critically important to america's space program. i've been with her many times at goddard seend firsthand the results -- seen firsthand the results of her advocacy. the hubble space telescope is another legacy senator mikulski can be rightly proud of. we in maryland are also produced to house n.s.a. the national security agency with its new mission, the cyber command located in maryland. as senator feinstein pointed out, senator milks has been a real lead are on national security issues. we can't issue press releases,

she works behind closed doors to keep us safe but we all know she is one of the key leaders in this nation on national security issues. we know about pay equity and the lilly ledbetter law, the first bill signed by president obama. it was senator mikulski's leadership that got that bill to the president's desk. recognizing that we are still not where we need to be on gender pay equity in america. in our region, the chesapeake bay is center to our way of life and our economy. senator mikulski's been one of the real champions on water quality and the chesapeake bay. she understands the respect for state and local government that we have to work together as a team. i know the governor of maryland, governor o'malley, would agree with me, that there is no better friend to the people of maryland working with the state than senator bar a bra mutle -- barbara with mikulski

mikulski getting the federal government on the same page as the state and local governments to get things donor the people of maryland. she's been able to do it all across the nation. "the baltimore sun" put it best when it said there is nobody more willing to take on big business, big government or anyone when it's time to look out for the interests of her constituents." and i think all of us would agree on that. on a personal note i want to thank senator mikulski for her friendship. i want to thank her for being my buddy and my advicor. with -- advisor. whether she is with presidents or kings or the patrons at jim eye's restaurant in fells point you get the same common sense, the same down-to-earth person, you get senator barb. we are so proud of her. thank you, senator barb for what you have done to make this nation a better place to live. thank you for being such a role

model for young people, especially young women to get involved to make a difference. thank you on behalf of my two granddaughters. their future is much brighter, their opportunities are much greater because of you, senator barb. congratulations. your colleagues here want to express our love and respect and admiration for your incredible service. a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from california. mrs. boxer: mr. president, what an incredible milestone senator mikulski has reached. and the words of her colleagues and the love that they feel for her is coming through. and it is a wonderful thing for me to be part of this tribute. i don't know how many senators would have the governor of their state here when they're honored, and the former distinguished incredible senator paul sarbanes is here. that in itself, senator mikulski, is testimony to your status among all of us.

and so many of us are here in the senate because barbara mikulski knocked down the barriers one by one. the first democratic woman ever elected to the senate in her own right. the first woman to serve in both chambers. the longest serving woman in the senate. and now she has made history once again. this past saturday after 12,858 distinguished days of service, no other woman in history has served in congress longer than senator mikulski. ever. now, some trailblazers make history and they're content to stand proudly alone. i did it. but not senator mikulski. she always made clear she was honored to be the first democratic woman but she never wanted to be the last. i'll never forget her saying -- quote -- "some women stare out the window waiting for prince charming. i stare out the window waiting

for more women senators." well, 17 women, republicans and democrats, now serve in the united states senate, and i know all of us have stories to tell about how senator mikulski helped us along the way. reaching out to mentor us, encourage us, lead us, organizing regular meetings, filled with folders and pens and pencils, and organizing dinners. she and senator hutchison teamed up and we're so fortunate to have them working together, we get together now and then among just in the heat of debate we sit down and break bread together. you know, when i considered running for the senate in 199 , senator mikulski -- 1992, senator mikulski was the very first person i went to see. after my husband. i was conflicted. i had a good house seat, i was told i could hold it for as long as i wanted and up wasn't sure if i should give it up for the

senate. i was considered a longshot. senator mikulski told me the following: if you run and i want you to run, she said, it will be the toughest thing you will ever do and the best thing you will ever do, and she was right. you know, those of us of a certain age have probably seen the play or the movie "a man for all seasons." well, today we celebrate a woman who is truly a senator for all seasons. some members have passion, others have policy skills, some are brilliant negotiators, others great advocates for the least among us. some are very serious students of history, and others are flat-out hilarious. but i don't think our country has ever seen so many incredible traits combined into one senator. whatever the issue, she'll address it. war the problem, she'll solve it. whatever the wrong, she'll fix it. whatever the need, she'll meet

it. whenever and wherever people without a voice need a champion with a keen mind, a sharp wit, and an unparalleled ability to speak from the heart and get things done, barbara mikulski is there. and a lot of us have been there with her and we've watched her and we love it and we marvel at her. she does it with a sense of humor that's unparalleled. anyone who has ever lived to -- listened to a speech are from with senator mikulski has heard her utter these inquestionable quips which i finally -- fondly call mikulskiisms. she's called us women into battle by asking us to go eerg to eerg with our opponents. she has -- earring to earring with our opponents. she has challenged to us suit up, put our lipstick on and fight. she's said often that women don't want to talk about gender but an agenda that helps america's families. when asked by "glamour" magazine

how she felt about being the woman of the year along with singer madonna, senator mikulski reapplied -- quote --"she's got her assets and i've got mine and we both make the best of what god has given us." when asked about the difference perspective women bring, she often says women, we're not so much about macroissues but rather the macaroni and cheese issues. who else could say that better? when discussing the challenges women face in politics with a group of female parliamentarians from around the world, this is what barbara mikulski explained to them. they asked about what is it like to be a woman and is it tough? she said let's put it this way. in an election, if you're married, you're neglecting him. if you're single, you couldn't get him. if you're divorced, you

couldn't keep him. and if you're widowed, you killed him. and then there was one of my favorite mikulski moments. this is a treasured moment. the women of the house still hadn't managed to integrate the house gym. so we were relegated to this tiny room with old fashionedhooded air dryers and hardly any room to move but there were very few of us and we decided to make the most of it by having an aerobics class. of course coming from california, i organized it. well, in came geraldine ferraro ferraro, olympia snowe, and barbara mikulski and me. our instructor asked us to stretch our arms way up and we do. groans. put your hands on your hips. more groans. now she says bend from the waist. suddenly a voice bellows from the back of the room, if i had a waist, i wouldn't be here.

we all turned around to see senator mikulski and we just cracked up. needless to say, that was the end of the aerobics class. look, as funny as she can be, i can't think of anyone more resilient than barbara mikulski. i remember when she was mugged a few years back one evening outside her home in baltimore. a man pushed her to the ground and grabbed her purse. it was terrifying -- for the mugger. he had no idea who he was dealing with. at 4'11" senator mikulski fought back and defended herself just like she defends the people she represents. just like she defends women and families. just like she defends equal pay and equal rights and civil rights, and the health care of our citizens and the dignity of our seniors. the truth is, mr. president, the senate used to be a very

lonely place for women, but senator mikulski changed that. from the day she was first sworn in, she has carried the challenges, the hopes, and the dreams of millions of women with her. barbara mikulski has inspired generations of young women everywhere. she's given them the confidence that they can do it, too. because even as we celebrate this incredible milestone, i know that senator mikulski's greatest hope is that a young girl growing up today will be inspired to follow in her footsteps and one day to break her record. and when that happens, it will be because barbara mikulski, our dean, our cherished leader, our senator for all seasons, opened the doors of the senate wide enough to let the women of america walk in. thank you so much, mr. president. thank you, barbara mutle. -- mikulski.

the presiding officer: the senator from texas. mrs. hutchison: mr. president, i'm pleased to stand and add my experiences with and admiration for senator barbara mikulski. it is fitting that she is now the longest serving woman in the united states congress. when i first got here, i was elected first in 1993, barbara mikulski as the dean of women in the senate had a workshop the previous year for the newly elected democratic women senators. when i arrived in 1993, she expanded it to include all new women senators. and her sort of opening comment was civility starts with us. and surely, she has carried through as the dean of the women of the senate to assure that all

the new women get their bearings in the senate, they get the advice of the ones who have been here before, and it's been a huge help. and really a fun opportunity for us to get to know each other on a personal level as we have our women senators dinners. from this came a book that senator mikulski and i worked on together, and it really was the genesis of the book, which became nine and counting, the nine women senators that were here in the year 2000, it came from a meeting called by senator mikulski to meet with the women of northern ireland. along with the women of ireland, when there was so much strife in that country. and barbara mikulski called all

of the women senators together, our nine, to give encouragement and advice to the women who were trying to bring the people of ireland and northern ireland together so that there could be a peaceful conclusion to the conflicts in northern ireland. and from that as we were sharing our stories to show the women of northern ireland how -- how much they could do from our experiences and our overcoming of obstacles, barbara ul mikulski and i sat down and said, you know, i think we have a book here. if each of the nine women senators could write a chapter about our obstacles and our beginnings in politics and help encourage other young women and girls to aspire to and be able to succeed in politics, then we

ought to do it. so we worked with a publisher and we got together, we decided kind of how we would lay it out, and we then decided as a group that we would give all of the proceeds to the girl scouts of america because almost all of us had been a girl scout at one point. and so from that, we put a book out that is still being sold called "nine and counting." it sold here in the senate bookshop, and it has given a lot of money to the girl scouts of america, to a leadership fund so that they can continue to create girls who will be leaders in our country. but that started with a meeting that barbara put together for those of us who could maybe give advice and help to these women of northern ireland. when i came in to the united

states senate in 1993, the first thing that i really wanted to do was give equal treatment to women who work at home in their ability to save for retirement as those who work outside the home. and i had had the experience as a single working woman of putting aside some for my ira, and then when i married my husband, ray, i found out i could only put aside $250 in an ira. and i said, wait a minute, why would someone working inside the home, a woman who probably is going to need retirement security more than any of us, not be able to save for her own retirement security if she's a married woman? and so, i authored the homemaker

ira, and i wanted, of course, to have a democrat lead because we had a democrat congress. we had a democratic congress and a democratic house and senate. and so i asked senator mikulski, and she said absolutely she would sign on, as she always does when it's something that's going to benefit women. and so, it became the hutchison-mikulski bill. i asked barbara, though, i said, you know, i really want this bill to pass. i don't care if my name is first. i'd love to put your name first if you think that will help us get it through. she said, absolutely not. i wouldn't take your name off that bill for anything, because it was your idea. i said, oh, my gosh, there aren't very many people in this body who would make that gesture and also put her weight behind the passage of the bill. and of all the things that i've

done, that we've done together, barbara, of all the things, that is going to affect the most people in our country, because now we have the homemaker ira that passed in 1996, that allows women, whether they are married and working at home or outside the home and single or married, they will be able to set aside the same amount. and fortunately that amount has grown. so it's now not $2,000, but it can be $2,500 or $3,000 or $5,000, depending upon your age. it was a wonderful thing that we were able to do together. senator mikulski and i worked on behalf of afghan women. when we started hearing the atrocities that were happening to the women of afghanistan that were brought back by great women's organizations like vital

voices, that told the stories of the not only unequal treatment of women in afghanistan, but inhuman treatment of women in afghanistan. senator mikulski and i and senator clinton introduced the afghan women and children relief act, which was signed into law in december of 2001, which authorized funding for women in afghanistan and afghan refugee women, political participation was supported for afghan woman, and we followed up with appropriations. and i have to say that our presidents, our republican presidents -- president bush -- our democratic president -- president obama -- we have always said that american money will go into afghanistan or iraq or anywhere else to support equally the education of girls

and boys, that we would support women where they are not being treated as equals on a human rights basis. so our presidents have stood up and, of course, our bipartisanship in congress has also been the right thing to do. and senator mikulski, again, a leader in that area. i cannot think of a stronger supporter in this united states senate than barbara mikulski on the area of nasa. i want to say senator bill nelson also has been such a strong supporter. senator lamar alexander. senator mikulski and i now are the, she is the chairman and i am the ranking republican on the committee that is appropriating for nasa. i am also such a -- so fortunate to have a chairman in jay

rockefeller on the authorizing committee and the oversight committee for nasa. he too has been such a strong leader in assuring that we continue america's preeminence in space. senator mikulski, when the rubber hits the road in appropriations, has been there to say we're going to have the science and the hubbell telescope, which has given us so much information, and the james webb telescope. and now, of course, we have the human space flight issues. and barbara mikulski has been right there saying of course we're going to utilize the international space station. of course we're going to keep america's priorities in space because it has done so much for our economy and our jobs and our technology and our health care improvements, but it has also bn

a national security issue that barbara mikulski recognizes first and foremost. now i can't match a lot of the stories about barbara mikulski and her personality, but i can tell you that i took barbara mikulski to tour the johnson space center in 2001, and we did a wonderful event at baylor college of medicine to talk about the research that's being done and the biomedical sciences on the space station. i thought, well, you know, i'm going to bring barbara in when we can show her a little bit of texas, because we know texas has a lot of personality, and sometimes we are thought to have a little too much fun. but, boy, i'll tell you what, barbara is one of us. i brought her into the houston rodeo. during the month of the houston rodeo, everybody is go texan,

and everybody dresses texan, which means cowboy. and we have a great time. so i took barbara mikulski into the steer auction where just this past saturday a steer was sold for $460,000. the grand champion steer, i might say. and all of that money goes for scholarships for our young people to go to college. barbara mikulski comes in to the steer auction, and she looks around. there are 2,000 people at the breakfast before all these people are going to go and bid on the steer so that we can have the scholarships. and we're all dressed appropriately, texan, of course. and she reached over to my ear, and she whispered, now, kay, if we were here on monday morning and we went to a chamber of commerce meeting, would these people look like this?

well, i love to tell that story in houston because it gets huge laughs. she won over everybody in houston. they adored her from the beginning. she put on her cowboy hat and she rode in the grand entry on a buck board, and she became an honorary texan in our hearts. so, barbara mikulski knows how to win them over wherever she goes in the world, i assure you. let me just mention one of my early experiences, and that was when i first came in to the united states senate, there was an effort to have health care reform, and a program was put forward. and this particular program had some things that were good. but one of the things in it was that no insurance coverage would

be required for women to have mammographies if they were 40 or below. i'm going to tell you something, the biggest eruption in the united states senate was barbara mikulski saying are you kidding? i will not let this go by me in the united states senate. we are not going to say that a woman who is 40 or under is not going to be eligible for insurance coverage or a mammogram. not going to happen. and barbara mikulski took the lead, and i'm going to tell you the first thing that came out of that plan was that provision. and it will never be in a plan as long as barbara mikulski is in the united states senate. so i'm just going to tell anybody who is looking at health care reform, take a little advice. don't mess with barbara

mikulski, because we're going to have mammograms. and not only that, barbara mikulski came forward in the next month and passed unanimously in this senate a mammogram standards bill, because she learned in this process that there were varying degrees of standards of mammograms, mammography. and she was going to make sure that there were standards that every clinic would have, that every piece of equipment would have. and she led the effort, and it's law today. i will just end with yet another accomplishment, and that is single-sex education in public schools. i started -- i didn't start. actually senator jack danforth of missouri started saying, look at the issue and saying we need to allow our public schools to

offer single-sex education, meaning girl schools and boy schools, because so many of us have seen that you have to adapt education for the needs of each individual child to the best of our ability. and we know that there are so many wonderful private schools for boys, private schools for girls. but you could hardly have a public school that would be single-sex in this country in the 1990's. so jack danforth started. and when he left the senate, i picked this up. and i thought -- and the more i looked at it, the more i saw that the benefits to boys and to girls, particularly in the middle and high school grades, were palpable. the benefits were palpable.

and so, senator clinton and i and barbara mikulski, susan collins, the three of them had gone to girls schools. i hadn't. but they knew the benefits firsthand of single-sex education. barbara was a product of single-sex education going to a parochial school. and we had to fight, the first time i introduced the amendment was 1998. but it was 2001 when the four of us came together, and we actually got that bill passed through an amendment, and that amendment then not only made public single-sex education an option and legal, it also made it eligible for federal funding grants, just like all of our public schools are. so i just want to say that it has been one of the joys of my time in the united states senate. to work with senator barbara

mikulski. and i think that the impact of this 4'11" mighty might is the impact of ten times. she has made an impact on congress and an impact on america, because she is relentless, she is reasonable, she understands an issue, and she understands the importance of listening as well as talking. she is effective. she is totally respected. if there is anyone in the united states senate that doesn't like her, respect her, and work well with her, i haven't met them. and when you're the longest-serving woman in in the congress, you've been with a lot of people. but she is unanimously so well regarded, i have never met an

enemy of hers. i'll just close by saying the people who know her best love her most. and i can't think of a finer thing to say about any person. thank you, mr. president. and i yield the floor. mr. kerry: mr. president? the presiding officer: the snoer from massachusetts. mr. kerry: mr. president, first of all, i want to say what a pleasure it is to welcome senator sarbanes back here. i had the pleasure of cutting beside -- of sitting beside him on the foreign relations committee. we miss his judgment and wisdom here. we could use it these days, and it is great to see him back here. i also want to welcome governor o'malley here. i can't think of a time when people have stood up to laud a fellow senator that the gone of- that the goafn of their state i- that the governor of their state is sitting here and listening.

this is echo the remarkable affection that everybody has for barbara mikulski and particularly the high regard in which she is held. this is a very special celebration. the longest-serving woman in the history of the united states congress, 12,862 days today and counting, and in that time, i recall when i first came here, there was one woman serving -- nancy kassebaum. and it's fair to say that barbara mikulski has been one of the pivotal forces in creating here, assembling what i would call a true band of sisters, the women with whom she has served in the senate, each of whom makes extraordinary contributions to this institution. we've heard from other colleagues that her clea careers

just filled with milestones, and it is. the first democratic woman to serve in both houses of congress, the first democratic woman elected to leadership, the first woman elected to statewide office in maryland. these are just a few. when she came to the senate in 1986, after tenge years i ten ye house of representatives, women were still, in her words, request bit of a novelty in the senate." and indeed then it was only barbara and senator nancy kassebaum. but now barbara says, and i quote, "we're not viewed as novelties. we're not viewed as celebrities. we're viewed as u.s. senators." and one of the reasons for that is that barbara mikulski has demonstrate add seriousness of porpurpose, an ability to legise and bring people together that has really defined her role as the dean of the women in the

senate. some of the women in the senate, some of her colleagues call her "dean," and others call her "coach barb." but no matter what they call her, she has brought them together in this bipartisan sisterhood. she holds workshops, serves as a mentor to all newcomers, organizes monthly dinners. the dinners are what some of them have called a "zone a civility." which is something that the senate could use a little more of these days and again it is barbara mikulski's ability exampl--example that helps point direction. i would say to you that barbara mikulski's career has never been defined by or -- it's not really about gender. it's about the agenda. i've had the privilege of working with her enough on different issue issues, being we

calls one of her gallahads. i've seen this laser focus on what's right, on her conscience, on her gut, on her sense of what the people of maryland want and what she thinks is her duty as a united states senator. that's why i wanted her on the speaker's platform in 2004 in boston at the convention, and she delivered just the right message in her forceful and commanding way. she stood up there and she declared, "when women seek power, we don't seek it for ourselves; we seek it to make a difference in the lives of other people." and there's no arguing, as we've heard from a umin of colleagues -- and we've heard from a number of colleagues, about what an extraordinary difference barbara has made in the lives of other people, not just marylanders but all americans. she's been an extraordinary advocate for the goddard space center, for the wallop's space

facility, for the johns hopkins center, the chesapeake bay cleanup efforts. for decades she proudly worked beside my colleague of 26 years, ted kennedy. she loved ted kennedy and ted kennedy loved her, and together on the health committee they worked to make universal health care a reality. and her role when stho senator kennedy was sick was an extraordinary role of picking up that baton and helping to bring it across the finish line. along the way she became a leader on women's health, fighting for equality and health research and making sure that women get the quality of care that they deserve. she was one of the chief sponsors of the medicaid financing of mammograms and pap smears. and i will never forget personally how barbara reactorred whe--reacted when tht would not include women in the trials of aaspirin because their

hormones present tomb biological vaicialsz. barbara fired back, my hormones rage because of comments like that. her proudest accomplishment she says is the spousal ant antiimprovement act which helps to keep seniors from going bankrupt while paying for a spouse's nursing home care. but throughout her career barbara mikulski has fought to strengthen the safety net for seniors, for children, for anyone who needed somebody to stand up for them or push open the door for them. that fight started in east baltimore, where her polish immigrant grandparents ran a bakery and her father a grocery store, and she says she often watched her father opening the doors of his grocery store for local steelworkers so they could buy their lunches before the morning shift. she dpo got it in her head at tt time that she' she'd rather be

opening doors for others on the inside. she got a job as a social worker helping at-risk children and educating seniors about medicare. she got involved in politics by organizing community groups to stop a highway from going through the highlandtown neighborhood where she grew up. let me tell you, mr. president, nobody had ever seen anything like her. at one rally she jumped up at a table and scried, "the british couldn't take fells point. the termites couldn't take fells point. and, god damn if we'll let the state roads commission take fells point." and as they say on espn, the crowd went nuts and the roads commission never knew what hit them and i assure everybody that was a nonprofane use of our lord's name. again, no surprise, that led to her election to the city council and i think that explains a lot

about just how good a politician she is, how well she knows the street. i think every were unof her colleagues, all of -- i think every one of her colleagues, are in awe of her ability to focus in on the street emotion, on the simple policive an argument -- on the simplicity of an argument, and to be able to sum it up in a razor-like comment. whether it is as camden yards, fells point, the eastern shoarks the washington suburbs or out along the mason-dixon line, barbara understands her constituents concerns, shares their aspirations and sums up their hopes and dreams in a few short sentences that nobody else can parallel. mr. president, if anyone expected bar br mikulski to accept being just a novelty or celebrity in congress, they had

no understanding of her deep roots as an immigrant, urban american and the values she learned about hard work in her family. if anyone be expects her to slow down just because she's now the longest-serving woman in the history of congress, they don't know her. a couple years ago barbara and i talked about how similar maryland and mass are in certain ways, especially the rural and fishing histories which we actually both have. she told me she wasn't much of a fisherman but she liked to hunt. the only problem was, she cited the resoil of the rifle give than she stands 4 pouf 11" ." well, it is clear from the record, clear from the comments of all of her colleagues, clear from this extraordinary longest-serving record in the congress and all that she has accomplished that she stands as one of of the tallest united states senators and packs a

punch way beyond her 4 '11". we're proud to have her as a colleague and are in awe of her ability to galvanize action, which is what this institution should be all about. i yield the floor. ms. mikulski: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from maryland. ms. mikulski: mr. president, i know -- first of all, let me say i'm enormously touched and gratitude about the warm words that my colleagues have spoken on both sides of the aisle. and i'm particularly moved by the fact of the men of maryland who are here today, the wonderful word of senator cardin, my colleague, and also here today governor o'malley and my -- when i came to the senate my senior colleague, paul

sarbanes. governor o'malley and senator sarbanes are over here, but they certainly -- they're on the bench, but these men are certainly not back benchers. and i must say about the governor and senator sarbanes, senator s.a.r cardin, they prove adage that men of quality will always support women who seek equality. i've enjoyed their support, their wise counsel, and their collegial ifortses icollegial ef the people of maryland. it is an honor to be here passing this significant benchmark where i have become the longesthe longest-serving we history of the congress. it is a great honor for me to be able to pass into the history books with an esteemed person like senator margaret chase

smith, and we spoke about that in january 2011 when i was sworn in. there were tributes that day and wonderful word words coming from women senator. and today actually over the weekend i surpassed the record of edith morse rogers who was the longest-serving woman in the house. both of those women came from new england. they were both hearty, resilient and fiercely independent. i, a, as i read their histories, so admired them. they were known for devotion to constituent service and unabashed sense of patriotism, and kind of telling it like it is. i hope that as i join them in the history books that i can only continue with the same spirit of devotion to duty and that fierce independence and patriotism.

mr. president, i didn't start out wanting to be an historic figure. you don't say, oh, what do you want to be when you grow up? i want to be an historic figure. when i was growing up, it was about service. for me, its not how long i serve. it's not about history. you know, for me history books were jane adams and abigail adams and powdered wigs and i just welcome a day when i even have time to powder my know, let alone powder my wig. the fact is that when i wanted to grow up i wanted to be of service. i learned that in my home, in my family, in my community, and with the wonderful nuns who taught me. my colleagues have talked about my wonderful mother and father. i had a terrific mother and father. and i'm so happy today that my two sisters and my fantastic brother in laws are joining me here today. i only wish my mother and father could be here with me because

they worked so hard to see that my cities ters sisters and i han education, at significant sacrifice to them. but they were really wonderful people and you saw them in the life of business. every day my father would open his grocery store and say, good morning. can i help you? and when he did, he wanted to make sure that his customers got a fair deal. he opened his grocery store during the new deal because he believed in roosevelt, as my father said, "i knew roosevelt believed in me." then i had the benefit of the wonderful catholic nuns who educated me. i had the benefit of going to a school called the institute of notre dame and then mount saint ago necessary college, the sister of notre dame and the sisters of mercy. these women who had concentrated her life to the message of christianity and the message of jesus christ wanted to make sure

that women in america could learn and be part of our society. they didn't only teach us our three r's. they taught us about leadership and service, but they also taught us about other values. the values of love your neighbor, care for the sick, worry about the poor, be hungry and thirst after justice. when i was at the institute of ne tremendous dame, the school that nancy pelosi went as well, there was something called the christopher logan after saint christopher. it said it was better to light one little candle than to curse the darkness. that's what i wanted to do. i wanted to be a social worker. i even thought about being a doctor. one time i even thought about being a catholic nun, but that vow of obedience kind of slowed me down a little bit. because, mr. president, in this country wonderful things happen. when my great-grandmother came to this country, she had little money in her pocket, but a big

dream in her heart that she could be part of the american dream, that she could own a home in her own name, in her own right, that she could have a job and so could the people in her own family. and that based on merit and hard work, you could be something. well, in three generations, i've become a united states senator. only in america the story of my family could have occurred. modest beginnings, hard work, effort, neighbor helping neighbor. and as much has been said about my fight for the highway, i was really thinking about getting a doctorate, a doctorate in public health at johns hopkins. but they were going to run that highway through the neighborhood, the older ethnic neighborhood, african-american neighborhoods. we were viewed in some of those neighborhoods as the other side of the tracks. i wanted to fight to keep those neighborhoods on track. so i took on city hall, and i did fight them.

and in this country, what happened. in another country they would have taken a protester like me and put me in jail. instead in the united states of america, they sent me to the city council. i worked hard there, and five years later when senator paul sarbanes, who was a congressman, ran for the senate, i ran for his house seat. and i got the job. when i arrived in the house in 1976, only 19 women were serving. 14 democrats and 5 republicans. only five women of color. in 2012 there are 74 women in the house, 50 democrats, 24 republicans, 26 women of color. and here in the senate there are now 17 women serving: 12 democrats, 5 republicans. today we saw here visiting us was senator carol moseley-braun,

a woman of color who served well while she was here. those were the numbers and those were the statistics. and though i joined this long number of first, for me it's not how long i served but how well i served. when i came to the congress, i became a member of the fabulous third congressional district. my job was to represent a blue-collar community that was in economic transition. what did we do? we were a community that built things here so we could ship them over there. we built cars. we built ships. we made steel. we knew that if a country didn't make something and build something, it couldn't make something of itself. i fought for those blue-collar people. i fought to keep those jobs in manufacturing. we fought for the poor of baltimore, its dredging, so we could bring in the big ships so that we could have exports. we worked again for those people

in those manufacturing areas while we saw jobs go overseas. and then we worked very hard for cities to make sure that our cities were safe, that we had great schools and that they had a chance of making it. i fought hard for health care. one of my greatest pieces of legislation was the spousal impoverishment act, that if one spouse went into a nursing home, the other spouse wouldn't have to spend down their life's savings so that they would lose their home. aarp tells me my legislation of so many years ago that stands today have kept one million people -- one million people -- from losing their home or their family farm. those were the battles then. those were the battles when i changed my address when i came to the united states senate. though i changed my address, the battles are still the same: jobs, social justice, opportunity based on hard work,

peace in the world, and continue to fight for this. but for me, it's not only about issues. issues are so abtract. issues can be so bloodless when we talk about it. for me, issues are about people, the people i represented in my own hometown, the people i represent in my state, and the people i know who live in the united states of america. my favorite thing is being out there talking to the people, going into diners, going table to table listening to their stories, holding round tables with parents with children with special needs, meeting with scientists who have discoveries that they think will lead to new ideas and new products that will be new jobs. universities that train our workforce. for me, it's about the people. so as i pass this important benchmark, which i'm so honored to do, i want people to know i still am that young girl that watched her father open that up

grocery store every day and say "good morning, can i help you." i'm still that young girl that went to the institute of notre dame at mount saint agnes college that said i'm going to light one little candle. i don't want to curse the darkness. i'm going to continue to fight for a stronger economy, a safer america, the people of maryland. and in conclusion i just want to say thanks. i want to thank the dear lord for giving me the chance to be born in the greatest country in the world, to be able to work hard and serve in one of the greatest institutions in the united states of america. but nobody gets to be a me without a whole lot of thee. i want to thank my family. i want to thank the religious women that educated me. i want to thank all of my staff that worked so hard to help me do a good job. and i want to thank the countless volunteers who believed in me and worked for my election when nobody else did.

and most of all, i want to thank the people of the third congressional district in the state of maryland who are saying barb, we're going to give you your shot. don't ever forget this. don't ever forget us. and i want them to know though i've now served in the senate 12,892 days, i will never forget them, and every morning i'm saying in my heart, good morning, can i help you? mr. president, i yield the floor. [applause] mrs. murray: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from washington. mrs. murray: mr. president, i am so honored to join with so many of my senate colleagues and people from maryland and across this country in recognizing and

congratulating the amazing woman that 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. you know, this is really an achievement that takes courage, takes passion, and it takes commitment. those are three things that all of us who know her so well know she has in abundance. mr. president, my good she taugs

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 that i have been he here for all the women that have come since she's been here. because while she knows it's important and courageous to lead the charge, she also understands the first ones have to be responsible and successful so others can follow. mr. president, it's because senator mikulski has done her job so well that other women have been able to follow her in

her footsteps. so she is here today as the longest-serving woman in congress not by accident or by happenstance. she's 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. mr. president, 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. so, mr. president, i know many of my colleagues are here on the floor today to thank senator mikulski, but i'm here especially to thank her as one of those women who has followed her in her footsteps for her more than 35 years of service to

her state and to her country and 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. and i wish her very well in her next 35 years. thank you, mr. president. i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the senator from new york. mr. schumer: you know, i too want to speak of my dear friend, barbara mikulski, who is just precious. she is precious to her family. she is precious to the people of the third congressional district that she represented for ten years. she is precious to the people of maryland, precious to the people of the united states, and precious to those of us who have the privilege of serving with her in this body. she's been affectionately known

as a few things here: the dean of women, the breaker of the ceiling, as patty murray just said, setting the stage, setting the rule book, writing the rule book for women in the senate. there will be, mr. president, 51 women in the senate one day. there will be. and it will come much more quickly because barbara mikulski was really the first. there is no question about that. the senate will be a better place for it in so many different ways. she's also not only known as the dean of women, we love her. she's known as barb. and i love calling her up on the phone late at night and having her say, "this is barb. please call me. make sure you say the words. leave the phone number twice. and of course when barb says something, we all do it. so i always leave the phone number twice. now, one of the -- i admire so much about her, but one of the things at the top of the list is

who she -- she's the real deal. she knows where she came from. she has never forgotten where she came from. and as i have told her personally, she has that internal gyroscope of who she is, what she should do, how she should do it, that guides her almost instinctively. and it's probably the most precious thing a politician can have. and not very many people really have it. but hers is about the best i have ever witnessed. it started from her upbringing and her faith, wh she mentioned -- which she mentioned. we've talked about willie. she mentioned willie. but you never forget how she reminds us, because it's with her. you can see it in her actions every day how when people would come in to the store that willie had, the grocery store in east baltimore, when they lost their job or someone was very sick, willie would say, take the

groceries and pay me later. it reminded me of my grandfather jake. we've talked about this. he was an exterminator. not quite the same as willie and not providing the same services. but he would tell people if you have roaches and rats in your house and you can't pay, i'll still exterminate. pay me when you have money. so i understood that instinctively. i'd love willie to have met my grandpa jack because i'm sure they were kindred souls in a lot of ways. the guidance of willie and barb's mom, you can see it every day in the way she acts. and i just want to say another thing about barb. she got in to public service as a community activist. there was a highway that was going to tear up an important and historic part of her community, and she got involved. and, you know, being schooled by her and many of my colleagues, many women felt, oh, they would

be excluded from politics if they went into politics directly. but when you're a community activist and you take a leave because something is borrowing you about your home or your neighborhood, politics just followed sort of naturally. it's a little bit like patty murray's story as well. these days because of what barb has done, i think my daughters can aspire -- i don't know if they do, but can aspire to go into political life directly. but in those days, it was much harder. but there she was. she led this fight. she went on to the city council, of course the third c.d. in maryland and now to this august chamber. she has done so much. it has been cataloged by all my colleagues. medical research. there are probably millions of people alive today because of the 35 years that she has pushed to make that happen. they don't know who they are.

they're there. they're living happy and healthy because of barb mikulski. how about veterans and health care needs? again, literally tens of thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands of our veterans are living much better lives because they were able to get the health care that mikulski spearheaded, particularly in the earlier days when this was not a popular cause. and the list goes on and on and on. she has done so, so much, and in our chamber, she is beloved, beloved. people are sometimes afraid of her when she gets mad. people want her approval. but most of all, i think what most of us seek is her advice, because after so many years in politics, she has that gift to understand what the average

person needs and to talk directly to them. she doesn't talk through her colleagues or doesn't talk through the media or doesn't talk through some community leader or other politician. she is still talking to that family sitting in east baltimore or hagerstown or in annapolis. she almost has them in front of her eyes wherever she goes, and that's why she is so -- her speeches is so effective. she doesn't try to polish them. that's not her. she speaks from the heart directly to the people, and she cares so much about them that it comes through. it's an amazing trait. one of the things i most admire about people in political life is people who never forget where they came from, mr. speaker. she is one of the most powerful people. not just women. one of the most powerful people in america.

persons. maybe i'm saying that wrong. but she wouldn't be mad at that. and yet, she is the real -- she is just too -- i didn't know barb mikulski when she was a community activist in east baltimore, but my guess is she is exactly the same today. all the power and the accomplishments and the praise all deserved have not changed her a whit. that to me says an amazing thing about an individual. so, barb, i know my colleagues are waiting, but we love you, we cherish you, and as patty murray said, i will put it my own way, i am sure with barbara mikulski, knowing her as well as i do, the best is yet to come. madam president, i yield the floor. mr. whitehouse: madam president. the presiding officer: the

senator from rhode island is recognized. mr. whitehouse: madam president, i'd like to join my colleagues in a tribute to senator mikulski. i see my distinguished friend, senator cochran, on the floor, and i want to know if he would like -- very good then. i'm delighted to join my colleagues in joining in this tribute to our -- perhaps our favorite colleague, barbara mikulski, on her becoming the longest serving woman in congressional history. her work in these halls has made our country stronger, and in a place where partisan rancor too often rules the day, she has established a legacy of service to her constituents and to all of us in this body that stands as an example to every one of us. her political career began in the late 1960's when she launched a campaign to stop the construction of a highway over historic neighborhoods she wanted to protect in baltimore. she won that battle and went on to run for the baltimore city

council in 1971. more than 40 years later and following a successful stint in the u.s. house of representatives, barbara mikulski continues to blaze an impressive trail. during her 27 years in the senate, she became the first woman to sit on the senate appropriations committee, the first woman to chair an appropriations subcommittee and the first democratic woman elected to senate leadership. last year, we celebrated barbara as she became the longest serving female senator, and now she has crossed yet another milestone, passing congresswoman edith norris rogers of massachusetts, having served in the united states congress longer than any woman in history. of course, we don't just celebrate the quantity of barbara's service but its quality. no one is better at drilling down to the heart of an issue and expressing it in punchy,

unforgettable terms. no one cheers us up more than barbara when she tells us to stand tall, square our shoulders, put on our lipstick and rise to the occasion. we don't all put on lipstick, but we all get the message. no one better combines the idealism of public with the owe active abilities of government. she told me once with a twinkle in her eye, i'm a reformer but i'm a bit of a wart healer, too. practically and passion combined is what makes politics successful, and no one does this better than barbara. when she was first elected to the house in 1977, she was one of 21 women in congress, 18 in the house and only three in the senate. today, there are 93 women serving, including 17 senators. and barbara has earned the distinction of dean of the senate women. but she never, never forgot her roots as a champion for those who need a voice in this building. in her years in the senate,

barbara mikulski's dedication to her constituents and women's rights has been clear. from becoming a champion of women's health issues to organizing training seminars for women of both parties elected to the senate to sponsoring and pushing through with a force that we all remember, the lilly ledbetter fair pay act of 2009. during my much shorter tenure as a united states senator, i have had the great privilege and pleasure to work with barbara to pass landmark health care reform legislation out of the health committee. i have also served with her on the intelligence committee and worked closely with her on the senate intelligence committee's cyber task force to evaluate cyber threats and issue recommendations to the full committee. i have taken from those experiences great affection and respect for senator barbara mikulski. these are issues that are complex and complicated, difficult and object truce

and -- and obstruce and she brought to them the verve and vigor to them and those are her hallmarks -- vevre, vigor and vision. i know those of us in this chamber are proud to call senator barb our colleague and friend as she makes history again. her hard work and collegial spirit have enriched this senate, and i wish her all the best in the accomplishments ahead. on behalf of all rhode islanders, senator mikulski, i congratulate you for this milestone in your history, the senate's history and our nation's history. i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the senator from georgia is recognized. mr. isakson: i consider it an honor and privilege to rise for a moment to pay tribute to senator mikulski from the state of maryland. in so doing, i think it's only appropriate that i quote from a speech made on november 22, 1922 by the first woman ever to serve in the united states senate.

rebecca latimer felton was the first senator in the senate to be a woman. she was appointed for one day. governor brown had run against walter george of the united states senate. walter george won. because of miss felton's unending help to him in his race, he asked the governor if he would appoint her for a day to his seat before he took it and was sworn in. she came to washington, d.c., to serve for one day and she made one speech. in that speech, she had a paragraph that to me exemplifies barbara mikulski. she said and i quote -- "let me say, mr. president, that when the women of the country come and sit with you, although there may be very few in the next few years, i pledge to you that you will get ability, you will get integrity of purpose, you will get exalted patriotism, and you will get unstinted usefulness." that was rebecca felton in 1922. today in nor of 2012, we honor a senator who has lived up to every one of those promises miss

felton made almost 100 years ago. i have had the privilege to serve on the help committee with the senator, worked very closely on the alzheimer's legislation which she has been such a leader on, worked with her on many other projects, including one i am happy to remember -- remind her about. that was a confirmation of wendy sherman just a few months ago when together on the floor of the senate we worked together to see that she was appointed and named and confirmed under secretary of state for the united states of america serving under hillary clinton. and in that night when we worked on getting that u.c. done, and it wasn't easy, i saw the tenacity, i saw the grace, i saw the patriotism and i saw the integrity of barbara mikulski. it is an honor for me to rise today and commend her on a great individual achievement but not just for herself but for all the women who had gone before her and all the women who will come later on and for my five granddaughters and my daughter. she has lived a life in the united states senate exemplary of the contribution all women can make to our society. i commend her on her service, her compassion, her integrity

and all that she has done for the state of maryland, the united states of america and peace on this earth. so, barbara, congratulations to you on a great achievement. it's an honor for me to be here. if i could ask unanimous consent, i want to make one other recognition if i can and ask that it be separated in the journal. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. isakson: this past weekend, georgia lost a great, great citizen. furman bisher died on saturday afternoon of a tragic heart attack. he was the premier sportswriter in the united states of america. covered every super bowl, every masters, was at every heavyweight fight. from the time he started typing on his manual typewriter until the day he died, he typed on that same manual typewriter that was over 65 years old. he was a brilliant writer, a compassionate individual, a great friend and someone i looked up to very much. he was a pace setter. he actually got the only interview of shoeless joe

jackson ever done by a reporter. he did it because of his countrying ability to be in the right place at the right time. i pay tribute to his life and all his accomplishments in terms of the writing of sports in our state and around the world. to his family and loved ones, i extend my sympathy on behalf of not just myself but all the citizens of georgia. and i yield back. the presiding officer: the senator from delaware is recognized. mr. coons: madam president, i am honored to follow my good friend and colleague from the state of georgia in recognizing the contributions of senator mikulski, now the longest serving woman in the history of the united states congress. today we have been joined by many great marylanders. we have had governor o'malley and senator cardin and former senator sarbanes, and senator mikulski's own family, her sisters and brother-in-law in the gallery. i am also pleased that we have got two of her favorite constituents, my father and my brother, watching us today as well. they live in annapolis and they have known what i have known

since childhood when i lived in the suburbs of baltimore, that senator mikulski is a remarkable, a tireless, a passionate and an effective senator. reference has been made to her start as a community organizer, someone who saved fells point from a 16-lane superhighway, someone who wasn't afraid to get into the gritty issues of a local community and standing up for folks who didn't have anyone to fight for them. we have also heard about her early years as a social worker, helping folks in need understand the programs available to them and then fight for the programs that should have been available to them. and it's no surprise to any of us that the district she first represented in the house of representatives, the third, was known as the steel district where lots of men and women worked in the baltimore -- excuse me, in the bethlehem steel plant, and it's no surprise that she has earned a reputation here in the senate as a woman of steel who fights for manufacturers, who fights for federal workers, who fights for western maryland, who fights for

poultry on the peninsula on the eastern shore of maryland, who fights for her constituents day in and day out. it is indeed just that in this women's history month we would be recognizing senator barbara mikulski who has stood up for maryland each and every day. and although like me she comes up a little short every time she stands, she stands incredibly tall in the company of senators throughout american history. she is someone whose passion for people whose determination to continue in the tradition of her father, that fair deal grocer who asks every day that simple question how can i help and then gets busy answering it. she is a role model for me, for all of us, for my daughter, for my family, for our community. she is the only senator who i have heard say to me fiercely before going on a vote on the floor to the barricades, and the only person who could say that and mean it. for a lifetime, she has been at

the barricades of justice, she has been at the barricades of service, she has been at the barricades of making a difference, and for that, we are all grateful. madam president, i yield the floor. the presiding officer: thank you. the senator from alaska is recognized. ms. murkowski: thank you, madam president. i, too, stand today to pay recognition to a friend, a colleague, and truly a woman who brings a smile to my face because for as many years as she has served her state of maryland, for as many years as she as served in the halls of congress, she has the enthusiasm, the spontaneity, the excitement when she approaches an issue as a brand-new rookie freshman coming

into -- into this body. and that's really quite remarkable. because around here, we can get kind of dragged down by the day-to-day, the politics, the partisan nature, the conflicts that are inherent in this process. but senator barbara mikulski is one who i think embraces life and embraces the responsibilities that are put before her and that that she has an opportunity to represent to her constituents, she embraces them with a enthusiasm that should be a reminder to us all of why we are here, to serve. i've got so many different stories and quips and quotes about senator mikulski whose name sounds somewhat familiar to mine, senator murkowski, and every now and again we have an opportunity to share the same stage, same podium, and the -- the individual who is

introducing us will trip on his or her tongue and refer to us wrongly. and there was one occasion where we were being recognized by the national geographic society. and she pointed out to the individual who was making the introduction that, she's the vertical one, and i am the not so vert cal one. -- vertical one. just a recognition again that regardless of the situation, barbara mikulski has a good comeback, a quick quip. she is a quipmeister if there ever was one. and it speaks to her enthusiasm and the passion that she brings to the job that she has in front of her. with a name like murkowski or mikulski, you clearly have a polish heritage that you look to with pride. she reminds me of mine because she is perhaps a little more

connected to those polish roots, but again, a sense of pride with who she is and where she has come from and what her family has -- has done in proceeding her that allows her to go on and do so much for so many. we have had the opportunity to work together on issues that coming from different parts of the country truly different ends of the country, you wouldn't think that we would have as much commonality on some of the issues. as the chairman on the commerce, justice, science appropriations committee, we have worked closely on issues that relate to our fisheries and enformats, to -- enforcements, the coastal issues. she's always reminding me we have to take care of our fishermen out there, make sure that our families that rely on our waters are appropriately cared for. we've worked together on women's

health issues. we were just recently at the sister-to-sister event, and i do feel a kinship, a relationship with this polish sister here as we talk about those issues that are so important to -- to women's health. we've shared the same concerns about how we do more for our first responders, for our service members, for our veterans. just this past week as senator mikulski -- i almost did it myself, almost called her murkowski -- as she was chairing a committee, and i brought up the issue as it related to late senator ted stevens and the department of justice investigation that failed so advise rabbably and -- miserably and we are now pursuing through different avenues to make sure that nobody should have to go through what senator