Senator Paul Sarbanes really was a big help to me. He was so well known and so well respected, and he said, "Give her a chance here." And he showed me the ways of power and the corridors of power, [as did] Bob Byrd. [They] helped with [my] committee assignments.

I am emphatically against the privatization of Social Security. It is going to hurt millions of American women, American families and ultimately the whole country

I would say that in some ways George Mitchell is kind of an old fashioned guy, in terms of these basic values, but he was a very modern person, encouraging, he was not only accepting but he was actually encouraging.

I think Paul Sarbanes and his wife Christine socialized with them [George and Heather Mitchell] more than I did, but we all hung out, or we saw each other in groups.

The family is not only a living arrangement. It has always been a symbol of survival.

I'm so proud of Maryland's firefighters, risking their lives to protect others, but we need to protect our protectors with the best equipment training and resources

In my very first term there was an issue that brought us [George Mitchell, Ted Kennedy, Chris Dodd] together in a very deep, emotional, and personal level.It was called 'spousal impoverishment' and it meant that for one person [to go into] a nursing home, the family [ ], could go near bankruptcy, and then they'd end up with a lien on the family farm or the home. And so I wanted to change that.