Barbara Mikulski

Barbara Mikulski
United States Senator from Maryland
Incumbent
Assumed office January 3, 1987 Serving with Ben Cardin
Preceded by	Charles Mathias, Jr.
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Maryland's 3rd district
In office January 3, 1977 – January 3, 1987
Preceded by	Paul Sarbanes
Succeeded by	Ben Cardin
Personal details
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	None
Residence(s)	Baltimore, Maryland
Alma mater	Mount Saint Agnes College (B.A.) (M.S.W.)
Profession	Politician

Barbara Ann Mikulski (born July 20, 1936) is the senior United States Senator from Maryland and a member of the Democratic Party. First elected to the Senate in 1986, she is the first woman elected to the Senate from Maryland. She currently ranks 17th in seniority in the Senate, and is the most senior female Senator. She received 1,504,691 votes in her 2004 reelection campaign, the largest number of votes to date for a Senate candidate in Maryland.

Before her election to the Senate, Mikulski was a member of the United States House of Representatives, representing Maryland's 3rd congressional district from 1977 to 1987. She previously served on the Baltimore City Council from 1971 to 1976, and was an unsuccessful candidate for the Senate in 1974. A native of Baltimore, she is a graduate of Mount St. Agnes College and the University of Maryland School of Social Work.

In the Senate, Mikulski is chairwoman of the Health Subcommittee on Retirement and Aging and Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies, and is a member of the Select Committee on Intelligence.

Early life

The great-granddaughter of Polish immigrants who owned a local bakery, Barbara Mikulski is the oldest of three daughters of Christine Eleanor (née Kutz) and William Mikulski. She was born and raised in the Highlandtown neighborhood of East Baltimore. During her high school years at the Institute of Notre Dame, she worked in her parents' grocery store, delivering groceries to seniors in her neighborhood who were unable to leave their homes.

After graduating from Mount Saint Agnes College (now a part of the Loyola College in Maryland), she obtained her masters degree in social work (MSW) from the University of Maryland School of Social Work. She worked as a social worker for Catholic charities and Baltimore's Department of Social Services, helping at-risk children and educating seniors about the Medicare program. Mikulski became an activist social worker when she heard about plans to build a 16-lane highway through Baltimore's Fells Point and Canton neighborhoods. She helped organize communities on both sides of the city and stopped the construction of the road, saving Fells Point and Baltimore's Inner Harbor.

Mikulski received her first national attention in 1970 as a result of a conference at Catholic University regarding “Ethnic Americans” convened by Msgr. Geno Baroni. Her message became one of the major documents of the “ethnic movement”.

America is not a melting pot. It is a sizzling cauldron for the ethnic American who feels that he has been politically courted and legally extorted by both government and private enterprise. The ethnic American is sick of being stereotyped as a racist and dullard by phony white liberals, pseudo black militants and patronizing bureaucrats. He pays the bill for every major government program and gets nothing or little in the way of return. Tricked by the political rhetoric of the illusionary funding for black-oriented social programs, he turns his anger to race — when he himself is the victim of class prejudice.

[He] has worked hard all his life to become a 'good American;' he and his sons have fought on every battlefield — then he is made fun of because he likes the flag. The ethnic American is overtaxed and underserved at every level of government. He does not have fancy lawyers or expensive lobbyists getting him tax breaks on his income. Being a home owner, he shoulders the rising property taxes — the major revenue source for the municipalities in which he lives. Yet he enjoys very little from these unfair and burdensome levies.

... [T]he ethnic American also feels unappreciated for the contribution he makes to society. He resents the way the working class is looked down upon. In many instances he is treated like the machine he operates or the pencil he pushes. He is tired of being treated like an object of production. The public and private institutions have made him frustrated by their lack of response to his needs. At present he feels powerless in his daily dealings with and efforts to change them. Unfortunately, because of old prejudices and new fears, anger is generated against other minority groups rather than those who have power. What is needed is an alliance of white and black, white collar, blue collar and no collar based on mutual need, interdependence and respect, an alliance to develop the strategy for new kinds of community organization and political participation.

Mikulski's activism led to a seat on the Baltimore City Council in 1971.

U.S. Congressional career

Tenure

Mikulski speaking to a patient at a military hospital, 1980.

In 1974 she ran for the U.S. Senate for the first time, but was defeated by the Republican incumbent, Charles Mathias, Jr. It turned out to be the only time that Mikulski ever lost an election.

In 1976, she won the Democratic nomination for the 3rd Congressional District of Maryland after the incumbent, Paul Sarbanes, made a successful run for the Senate. She was easily elected in November, winning 76 percent of the vote. She was re-elected four more times, never facing substantive opposition in the heavily Democratic district.

In 1986 Mathias announced his retirement from politics. At the time of this announcement, it was expected that then-Governor Harry Hughes would run for the seat being vacated by retiring Senator Mathias. However, Hughes became caught up in the aftermath of the Maryland savings and loan crisis. He lost popularity with voters, opening the door for Mikulski's bid for the Senate. During the campaign, her opponent, Linda Chavez, made comments that Mikulski's supporters interpreted as an attempt to draw attention to the issue of Mikulski's sexual orientation. Mikulski never directly responded to the issue and eventually won the race with 61 percent of the vote. She was the first female Democrat elected to the U.S. Senate in her own right (not appointed or filling a seat of a deceased husband). Mikulski is one of 11 senators to vote against both the 1991 and 2002 resolutions authorizing the use of force in Iraq.

Mikulski, popularly known as "Senator Barb," was re-elected with large majorities in 1992, 1998 and 2004. Should she win reelection in 2010, she will surpass Margaret Chase Smith as the longest-serving female senator.

Senator Mikulski joins Senator Kit Bond and actor David Hyde Pierce in promoting awareness of Alzheimer's disease.

Mikulski speaks during the second day of the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado.

Mikulski has opposed predatory lending, and has had been an outspoken opponent against Fairbanks Capital, alleged to have illegally foreclosed on over 100 homes in Maryland. She is also a strong supporter of NASA and expanding space exploration.

Mikulski voted in favor of the FISA bill, which granted immunity to the telecom companies who cooperated with the warrantless wiretapping of U.S. citizens.

In 2007, Mikulski endorsed her colleague, Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) for President of the United States, praising her as a leader and citing her desire to break the "glass ceiling" by electing the first woman president.

On October 1, 2008, Mikulski voted in favor of HR1424, the Senate version of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, providing a $700 billion bail out to the United States financial market.

In September 2009, it was revealed in a "tell all" book that during the 2000 presidential election, President Bill Clinton suggested Mikulski as a running mate for Al Gore, who instead chose her colleague Joe Lieberman.

Committees

As of April 2009, Mikulski serves on the following Senate committees:

• Committee on Appropriations
  • Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies (Chairwoman)
  • Subcommittee on Defense
  • Subcommittee on Homeland Security
  • Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies
  • Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs.
  • Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies.
• Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
  • Subcommittee on Employment and Workplace Safety
  • Subcommittee on Retirement and Aging (Chairwoman)
• Select Committee on Intelligence.

Election history

See also: United States Senate election in Maryland, 2010

Year	Office	Election		Subject	Party	Votes	%		Opponent	Party	Votes	%
1974	MD Senator, Class 3	General		Charles Mathias	Republican				Barbara Mikulski	Democratic
1976	Congress, MD 3rd district	General		Barbara Mikulski	Democratic	143,461	74.59%		Samuel Culotta	Republican	36,447	25.41%
1978	Congress, MD 3rd district	General		Barbara Mikulski	Democratic	91,189	100%		Unopposed
1980	Congress, MD 3rd district	General		Barbara Mikulski	Democratic	134,367	76.13%		Russell Schaffer	Republican	32,074	23.87%
1982	Congress, MD 3rd district	General		Barbara Mikulski	Democratic	110,042	74.2%		Robert Scherr	Republican	38,259	25.8%
1984	Congress, MD 3rd district	General		Barbara Mikulski	Democratic	133,189	68.21%		Ross Pierpont	Republican	59,493	30.47%
1986	MD Senator, Class 3	General		Barbara Mikulski	Democratic	675,225	60.69%		Linda Chavez	Republican	437,411	39.31%
1992	MD Senator, Class 3	General		Barbara Mikulski	Democratic	1,307,610	71%		Alan Keyes	Republican	533,688	28.98%
1998	MD Senator, Class 3	General		Barbara Mikulski	Democratic	1,062,810	70.5%		Ross Pierpont	Republican	444,637	29.5%
2004	MD Senator, Class 3	General		Barbara Mikulski	Democratic	1,504,691	64.77%		E. J. Pipkin	Republican	783,055	33.71%

External links

• Senator Barbara Mikulski official U.S. Senate website
• Barbara Mikulski for U.S. Senate official campaign website

• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Financial information (federal office) at the Federal Election Commission
• Profile at Vote Smart