BALTIMORE – U.S. Senator Ben Cardin (D-Md.) released the following statement regarding Senator Barbara A. Mikulski:

“Barbara Mikulski is family. Her retirement from the Senate is more than a loss of a colleague and team captain, but a loss of a close friend and mentor. She’s going to leave an incredible void. I will miss her Baltimore gusto, her strong counsel and her populist insight. It has been a privilege to fight by Barbara Mikulski’s side on behalf of the people of Maryland for the last eight years in the Senate and for 20 years before that while I was in the House of Representatives, trying to fill her shoes in the 3^rd Congressional District. She knows Baltimore and all of Maryland like no one else. She has been a real powerful voice for our state.

“Senator Barb has been breaking barriers in Maryland and nationally since she first sought elected office. The longest serving woman in the history of Congress and the first Democratic woman elected to the Senate in her own right. She has left her indelible mark on our health care system, improving care and benefits for women, children and families. She’s been on the front lines fighting to make gender equity reality, and she’s made sure that every community across our country is safer today because of the potent homeland security programs and fire grants that she has created and championed. She’s got two years left in the Senate and I know that she will use every moment to fight on behalf of working families and helping to spread opportunity to all Marylanders.”