The New York Times – When Senator Barbara A. Mikulski was sworn into the Senate in 1987, there was no “dean of women” to mentor female lawmakers. One of two women in the Senate at the time, Ms. Mikulski wasn’t even allowed in the Senate gym, Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said Wednesday.

The Senate has come pretty far, with 17 women now serving, Mr. McConnell, the minority leader, said.

Praising her as a trail-blazer, lawmakers took to the Senate floor Wednesday to honor Ms. Mikulski, Democrat of Maryland, as the longest-serving woman in Congressional history.

On Saturday she surpassed the previous record holder, Representative Edith Nourse Rogers, a Massachusetts Republican who served until her death in 1960. Ms. Mikulski, 75, has been in Congress for 35 years, 10 in the House and 25 in the Senate.

“Senator Barb,” as many other senators call her, became the longest-serving woman in Senate history last year when she was sworn in to a fifth term.

Reflecting on her more than 12,800 days in Congress, Ms. Mikulski on Wednesday emphasized that what has always mattered most is her constituents.

“For me it’s not how long I’ve served but how well I’ve served,” Ms. Mikulski said. to a standing ovation from her colleagues

Raised in Baltimore as the daughter of a grocer, Ms. Mikulski was a social worker before she was elected to the House of Representatives in 1976 and then the Senate in 1986. Like Mrs. Rogers, who helped draft the G.I. Bill of Rights, Ms. Mikulski has been a champion of members of the armed services, as well as women — especially on health care issues — and the elderly.

Senator Richard J. Durbin of Illinois, the No. 2 Democrat in the Senate, saluted Ms. Mikulski’s 41 years in public service. He hailed her work on the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, the first legislation President Obama signed into law, recalling the moment when the president handed Ms. Mikulski the first pen.

“She has this insight based on her life experience and her ability to try to peel through the layers of the political onion and get to the heart of the issue,” he said.

Offering their tributes, her colleagues described the 4-foot, 11-inch senator as a tough, determined advocate for her constituents — with the emphasis on tough. Senator Barbara Boxer, Democrat of California, told of the time Ms. Mikulski was robbed in Baltimore.

“It was terrifying — for the mugger,” Ms. Boxer said.

Representative Steny H. Hoyer, a fellow Maryland Democrat, said in a statementSaturday, “Senator Mikulski’s continued achievements serve as a reminder to all of us of why it is especially important that we continue standing up in defense of the equal role of women in our politics and society.”.

Though Ms. Mikulski earned the “longest-serving” distinction as a woman, many of her colleagues noted that her achievements were noteworthy on their own.

“Her career has never really been about gender,” Senator John Kerry, Democrat of Massachusetts, said. “It’s about the agenda.”

Representative Nancy Pelosi of California, the House minority leader, was to host a Women’s History Month reception in Ms. Mikulski’s honor on Wednesday evening.