Maxwell Frost: “Joe Moakley was a great Member of this body, and I rise in support of this resolution with a heavy heart. Joe's passing…”

“Joe Moakley was a great Member of this body, and I rise in support of this resolution with a heavy heart. Joe's passing has left a very large hole in the fabric of this institution, a hole that will be difficult to mend. Joe Moakley and I were colleagues for 23 years on the Committee on Rules. In that time, I was privileged to serve alongside a man whose heart was pure and who never ever forgot where he came from. Last Friday, I traveled to Boston to Joe's funeral mass. That mass was in reality a celebration of Joe's life and the values he brought to service in this institution on behalf of the people of South Boston, of Massachusetts, and the entire country. Joe was a man who embodied Tip O'Neill's maxim that all politics is local, but Joe was also a man whose ideals transcended borders. Joe believed in the intrinsic decency of all humankind and in the ideal that every man, every woman, and every child in this country and around the world deserves basic human rights and freedoms no matter their station in life or political affiliation. His work to bring justice to the cowardly killers of priests and women and children in El Salvador was truly a noble fight. His courage, his determination and his dedication to doing what is right, no matter the danger, no matter the cost, should be taken to heart by every Member of this body.”