Frates 'flourished,' Moulton says in House floor speech

SALEM — Congressman Seth Moulton paid tribute Tuesday on the floor of the House of Representatives to Pete Frates, the Beverly man whose struggle with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) helped popularize the Ice Bucket Challenge.

Since being diagnosed in March 2012, Frates and his supporters raised millions for research for a cure to ALS, the disease that took his life at age 34 on Dec. 9.

The Salem Democrat drew inspiration for the House tribute from the words of another Pete, the late Rev. Professor Peter J. Gomes, Moulton's minister and mentor at Harvard's Memorial Church when Mouton was an undergraduate at the university in Cambridge.

"I’m reminded of something my minister at Harvard, Peter Gomes, used to say often: “The radical news of the Gospel is not that heaven is the destination of the faithful. The radical news is that God wants us to flourish in our present lives, our earthly existence, and to do so more in the future than in the past,” Moulton said.

Moulton said that Frates, a standout athlete at St. John's Prep and a member of Boston College's baseball team, had "flourished."

"And even in his darkest days," Mouton said, "he looked towards the future. He was the epitome of strength, leadership, and courage…both as an athlete and as an advocate."

"I’ve met a lot of inspiring people in this job, but none more so than Pete. Because of you, Pete, we will cure ALS," Moulton said.

Moulton then offered his personal 'thank you' to Frates wife, daughter, father, mother, sister and brother.

"Julie, Lucy, John, Nancy, Jennifer and Andrew: thank you for sharing him with us."

In March 2017, Moulton introduced legislation with Frates called the ALS Disability Insurance Access Act meant to provide health care support to ALS patients more quickly after they are diagnosed, bypassing the 5-month waiting period mandated by the Social Security Disability Insurance.

The bill did not pass last Congress, and Moulton reintroduced it in the 116th Congress. It presently has 216 cosponsors, said Moulton's spokesman, Tim Biba.

U.S. Rep. Connor Lamb, D-Pennsylvania, also joined Moulton in paying tribute to Frates with a floor speech on Tuesday.

You can watch Moulton pay tribute to Frates here: https://www.c-span.org/video/?c4839980/user-clip-tribute-pete-frates