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Mikulski Becomes Longest Serving Woman In Congress

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP/WJZ) -- Maryland Sen. Barbara Mikulski is now the longest-serving woman in the history of Congress.

Saturday marks her 12,858 day of service. But who's counting?

Mikulski, a Democrat, is scheduled to be honored on the Senate floor on Wednesday after serving more than 35 years in the House of Representatives and the Senate.

Mikulski, 75, won a U.S. House seat in 1976. The popular senator was re-elected four times in a heavily Democratic Maryland district.

She was elected to the Senate in 1986, and she was re-elected with big majorities in 1992, 1998, 2004 and 2010.

Mikulski became the longest serving female U.S. senator last year. Now, she's passing the late Rep. Edith Nourse Rogers, who was a Massachusetts Republican, as the longest-serving woman in Congress. Rogers served from 1925 until 1960.

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)

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