Prominent Poles
Barbara Ann Mikulski, Polish-American senior United States Senator from Maryland and a member of the Democratic Party, serving since 1987. Mikulski, who served in the United States House of Representatives from 1977 to 1987, is the longest-serving woman in the history of the United States Congress.
Born: July 20, 1936, Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A.
Early days. Mikulski was born and raised in the Highlandtown neighborhood of East Baltimore, the eldest of the three daughters of Christine Eleanor (née Kutz) and William Mikulski. Her parents both of Polish descent, owned a grocery store. Her immigrant great-grandparents had owned a bakery in Baltimore. During her high school years at the Institute of Notre Dame, she worked in her parents' store, delivering groceries to elderly neighbors who were unable to leave their homes. After graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from Mount Saint Agnes College in 1958, she obtained her master's degree in social work (MSW) from the University of Maryland School of Social Work in 1965.
Mikulski’s important remarks at the 1970 Catholic University of America conference. “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.”
Career. Originally a social worker and community organizer, she was elected to the Baltimore City Council in 1971 after delivering a highly publicized address on the "ethnic movement" in America (see above). In 1973 she was appointed to chair the Democratic Party Commission on New Delegate Selection and Party Structure. She was instrumental in solidifying democratizing reforms to the national delegate selection process. She was elected to the federal House of Representatives in 1976. During1986 elections she was the Democratic candidate opposing Lidia Chavez the Republican nominee for the Senate. Chavez was accused of making Mikulski's sexual orientation a central issue of the political campaign. Chavez attacked Mikulski's former aide Teresa Brennan as "anti-male" and a "radical feminist", implying that Brennan and Mikulski were radical lesbians and that "fascist feminism" was Mikulski's political philosophy. Mikulski defeated Chavez with 61% of the vote. She became the first female Democrat elected to the U.S. Senate in her own right (not appointed or filling a seat of a deceased husband). She also served alongside Paul Sarbanes, the man she'd succeeded in the House. Mikulski, popularly known as "Senator Barb", was re-elected with large majorities in 1992, 1998, 2004, and 2010. During the 2000 presidential election, President Bill Clinton suggested Mikulski as a running mate for Al Gore, who instead chose her colleague Joe Lieberman. 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. Having won re-election in 2010, she has surpassed Margaret Chase Smith as the longest-serving female senator. ABC News named Mikulski its Person of the Week for that milestone. On March 17, 2012, she became the longest-serving female member of Congress in the history of the United States, surpassing the previous record-holder, Rep. Edith Nourse Rogers of Massachusetts. From the death of Senator Daniel Inouye in December 2012 until 2015, Mikulski chaired the Senate Appropriations Committee, the first woman and first Marylander to hold the position. She is now the ranking minority member. She also serves on the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee and the Select Committee on Intelligence. After five terms in office, on March 2, 2015, Mikulski announced that she would retire at the end of the 114th Congress in 2017.
Legislation. In June 3, 2013, Mikulski introduced the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 2013 which passed in the Senate. Mikulski argued that "this bill ensures that all children get the care they need and deserve." On April 1, 2014, Mikulski introduced the Paycheck Fairness Act. a measure that aims to strengthen the Fair Labor Standards Act's protections against pay inequalities based on gender. Mikulski said that "it brings tears to my eyes to know women are working so hard and being paid less" and that "it makes me emotional when I hear that... I get angry, I get outraged and I get volcanic."
Committee assignments. Mikulski serves on the following Senate committees (standing committees in bold): Committee on Appropriations (Ranking Member); Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies (Ranking Member); Subcommittee on Defense; Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies; Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs; Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies; As Ranking Member of the full committee, Mikulski may serve as an ex officio member of any subcommittee of which she is not a full member; Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions; Subcommittee on Children and Families; Subcommittee on Primary Health and Aging; Select Committee on Intelligence.
Political positions. Mikulski was one of 11 senators to vote against the 1991 and 2002 resolutions authorizing the use of force in Iraq. Mikulski has opposed predatory lending, and has had been an outspoken opponent of Fairbanks Capital, alleged to have illegally foreclosed on over 100 homes in Maryland. On October 1, 2008, Mikulski voted in favor of HR1424, the Senate version of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, which provided a $700 billion bailout to the United States financial market. In October 2013, Mikulski sponsored a bill honoring naturopathic medicine. Mikulski has been voted the "meanest senator" in Washingtonian's survey of congressional staffers.
Awards and honors. 1979: Mikulski’s name and picture appeared on one of the Supersisters trading cards; 2012: The NASA-funded Space Telescope Science Institute named one of the world’s largest astronomy databases after Mikulski (Barbara A. Mikulski Archive for Space Telescopes MAST), as she was a long time champion of the Hubble and James Webb space telescopes; NASA discovered an exploding star, and they named it "Supernova Mikulski" in her honor; 2013: the President of Poland Bronisław Komorowski honored Mikulski with a Commander's Cross with Star of the Order of Polonia Restituta for "outstanding achievements in the development of Polish-American cooperation and activity for Poles living in the United States".
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Publlshed on 9/8/15
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