Maryland Senator Barbara Mikulski

Paving the path for women in politics
With the focus on Maryland this issue, ABJ puts the spotlight on the state’s very own first female senator Barbara Mikulski.

What a difference a woman makes

Maryland’s first female senator Barbara Mikulski is one of nine women of the United States Senate thought to have changed the face of politics. After all, they demonstrate how ordi­nary women can overcome barriers and achieve extraordinary goals.

Born into a family where achieving the great American dream wasn’t just left up to the imagi­nation but sought out day in and day out, Demo­cratic Senator Mikulski shares her stories and reflections with refreshing candor, insight and humor in a co-authored book entitled, Nine and Counting: The Women of the Senate (HarperCol­lins, 2005).

The great-granddaughter of Polish im­migrants who owned a local bakery, Barbara Mikulski is the oldest of three daughters of Christine Kutz and William Mikulski. She was born and raised in historic and ethnically di­verse East Baltimore. In her memoir, Mikulski describes her childhood fondly as her parents encouraged her and sisters to go after their dreams with gusto. And go with gusto did she ever. Admittedly, however, she didn’t always dream about becoming a politician.

Although she rebelled against school authori­ties initially, Mikulski was also deeply inspired by the school nuns whom she considered role mod­els. She admired the “well-educated women of remarkable strength, whose influence was rein­forced and demonstrated every day.” After gradu­ating from Mount Saint Agnes College (now a part of the Loyola College in Maryland), she obtained her masters degree in social work from the Uni­versity of Maryland School of Social Work.

Cutting her teeth through social activism

As a social worker, she helped at-risk children and educated seniors about the Medicare pro­gram. Influenced by the social movements that came to dominate and define the sixties, par­ticularly the war against poverty and the civil rights movement, Mikulski’s special brand of activism—a fiery devotion equally matched by a concrete tactical savvy—made her a tremen­dously effective social worker. “I will always stand up and fight to make sure there is no discrimina­tion of any kind, anywhere in the United States of America. We must say no to hate crimes, racial profiling, racial redlining and racial sidelining,” Mikulski said in a statement.

By 1968, however, Mikulski looked beyond the neighborhood to take action for the better­ment of her community. 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 first received 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.”

In 1974, she ran for the U.S. Senate for the first time, but was defeated by the Republican incumbent, Charles Mathias, Jr. in 1976. Howev­er, she won the Democratic nomination and was elected and re-elected four times over, barely scuffed by the opposition.

Policy initiatives

Mikulski has taken a strong stance against pred­atory lending, even going so far as to take per­sonal action against Fairbanks Capital, which is claimed to have illegally foreclosed on over 100 homes in Maryland. She is also a strong sup­porter of NASA and expanding space exploration. Her support was criticized, however, by some dissidents and concerned citizens. Nevertheless, 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, 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. Interestingly enough, last September, 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.

These days, the Senator is continuing to promote the need for equality when it comes to women’s health. Mikulski fought to have women included in clinical trials and medical research at the National Institutes of Health. She wrote the law requiring federal standards for mammo­grams and fought for uninsured women to get screenings and treatment for breast and cervical cancer. “I came to Congress to change and save lives. I will continue to fight for women to have ac­cess to the information they need and the health care they deserve,” said Senator Mikulski in a statement. AB

http://mikulski.senate.gov/

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