John Tierney: “I want to thank him for putting together this time and for all he did in the last couple of weeks, as well as throughout…”

“I want to thank him for putting together this time and for all he did in the last couple of weeks, as well as throughout Joe's latter years of his life and being that kind of friend and doing us all the honor of befriending him in that way. I think the public would be well served to remember that Joe Moakley gave people an idea of what people down here strive to be, and that is a person who really wants to do the people's business and wants to do it in a civilized fashion, and he did that every day of his life. I want to also mention the staff of Joe at home in his district offices, as well as here in his Washington office and on the staff of the Committee on Rules. I know how lucky he was to have such tremendous staff, and I trust they already know and have shown us how much they know they were lucky to have had a mentor and a friend that they could love and work with.”