HENRY JOHN HYDE, REQUIESCAT IN PACE

Former Congressman Henry J. Hyde, Illinois Republican, known on both sides of the political aisle as “the gentle, friendly, ebullient giant” -- ardent pro-life champion for many decades in the U.S. Congress and throughout the world, died November 29 at age 83 from complications after open-heart surgery several months ago.

“I believe his heart just gave out” following months of treatment for complications after the surgery, his stepdaughter Sue Schiesser told the Chicago Sun-Times for its published obituary.

Hyde was born on April 18, 1924 and grew up as a Catholic Democrat in Rogers Park and attended St. George High School in Evanston, Illinois. He was elected to serve his suburban Chicago district surrounding busy O’Hare International Airport in 1975. He decided not to seek re-election in 2006 after representing the district continuously for 32 years.

After a stint in the U.S. Navy, he went to Georgetown University, then Loyola University’s School of Law in Chicago. He was elected to the state House of Representatives from the Northwest Side of Chicago and rose to House majority leader.

The National Right-to-Life Committee eulogized Hyde as “father of the modern pro-life movement” with the Hyde Amendment, a measure passed in 1976 that banned federal spending on abortions.

Hyde switched to the Republican party and was just a freshman congressman when a more senior member asked him to launch a “sneak attack” on federal funding of abortion, which became the powerful Hyde Amendment, Hyde said in a recent interview.

The law had to be offered year after year on many different congressional appropriations bills because U.S. military installations around the world, the U.S. Peace Corps, National Institutes of Health, university and community hospitals and abortion clinics in the United States that received federal taxpayer funds from scores of different federal government spending pockets continued using federal taxpayer dollars to perform abortions, research on aborted babies to mine their brains for insertion into the brains of adults in order to generate the chemical Dopamine that helps cure Parkinson’s disease, and  develop the so-called “morning-after pill” which is an abortifacient, and other activities clearly in violation of the intent of the 32-year-old Hyde amendment.

Hyde, who served at various times as chairman of the House Judiciary, International Relations, and Intelligence Committees when Republicans controlled Congress, championed many other pro-life causes:

• With Senator Edward M. Kennedy, Massachusetts Dempcrat, in the 1980s he championed legislation to outlaw abortion of so-called spina-bifida babies found in their mother’s womb during pregnancy to have a separation of the spinal cord, because medical research had found a way to mend this problem in most babies after birth.

• He helped lead a majority of pro-life members of Congress in both the House and Senate to outlaw the revolting procedure of “partial-birth” abortion, where a mother decides to abort her baby in the last three months of pregnancy and the abortion doctor has to use metal forceps to drag the unborn fully-developed baby out of the mother and then kill it by shoving a sharp metal prong into the baby’s brain.

President Bill Clinton, at the behest of Planned Parenthood, the National Abortion Rights Action League, National Education Association public school employees union, and other groups comprising the powerful pro-abortion lobby, vetoed the partial-birth prohibition bill on its first successful passage by Cpngress, but the vote was too narrow to override the Clinton veto.

Hyde and his pro-life colleagues persevered after President George W. Bush’s election on 2000, passed the bill again, and Bush signed it into law.

• Three years ago, the House of Representatives on Saturday November 20, 2004 added the Hyde-Weldon anti-discrimination amendment to a must-pass omnibus year-end federal spending bill that was necessary to stop most of the U.S. government from shutting down.

Hyde’s partner in drafting the amendment was Congressman David Weldon, Florida Republican.

The provision prohibited state and local governments that receive federal health and human services funds from discriminating against health care providers because they did not provide abortions, pay for abortions, provide coverage of abortions, or refer for abortions. The protection covered doctors and other health care professionals, hospitals, HMOs, and health insurance plans, among others.

Douglas Johnson, legislative director for National Right to Life, said at the time that the measure would “prevent state and local government officials from compelling health care providers to participate in killing unborn children."

President Bush awarded Hyde the Medal of Freedom three weeks before he died, but too ill to attend himself, Hyde sent his son Bob to pick up the honor at the White House.

"Henry Hyde spoke of controversial matters with intellectual honesty and without rancor. He proved that a man can have firm convictions and be a favorite of Democrats and Republicans alike," Bush said at the award ceremony at the White House.

“He used his persuasive powers for noble causes. He stood for a strong and purposeful America,” the president said, “confident in freedom's advance, and firm in freedom's defense. He stood for limited, accountable government, and the equality of every person before the law. He was a gallant champion of the weak and forgotten, and a fearless defender of life in all its seasons.

Bush continued: “I worked closely with Henry on many issues and he was a tireless defender of the rights of the unborn and a strong advocate of the rule of law and the Constitution. There was no better voice for the unborn than Henry Hyde – principled, articulate and tough.”

The White House press release noted: "Henry Hyde has served his country with honor and dedication. During his 32-year career in the House of Representatives,… an unwavering voice for liberty, democracy, and free enterprise around the world. A true gentleman of the House, he advanced his principles without rancor and earned the respect of friends and adversaries alike. The United States honors Henry Hyde for his distinguished record of service to America."

As a steadfast conservative, Hyde did not march lockstep with the right-oriented political movement.

In 1994, when House Speaker Newt Gingrich's so-called Republican Revolution swept the House, Hyde opposed the term-limit plank that was part of the GOP's Contract with America on the grounds that it denied voters the right to choose.

Hyde, when Judiciary Committee chairman, also bucked the conservative tide by backing legislation to require mandatory trigger locks on all guns, background checks for buyers of explosives and closing other gun sales loopholes.

Under Republican House rules, committee chairmen were limited to six years. When Hyde could not keep his Judiciary Committee chairmanship any longer, respect for his seniority — and a sense among House Republicans not to let down the man who led the impeachment of President Bill Clinton — resulted in Hyde becoming chairman of the important House International Relations Committee.

As chairman, Hyde disagreed with his party and President George W. Bush on the Iraq War, saying:

“Lashing our interests to the indiscriminate promotion of democracy is a tempting but unwarranted strategy, more a leap of faith than a sober calculation. There are other negative consequences as well. A broad and energetic promotion of democracy in other countries that will not enjoy our long-term and guiding presence may equate not to peace and stability but to revolution.”

Former Congressman Dan Rostenkowski, Illinois Democrat, said Hyde harkened back to an earlier era of less partisan hostility on Capitol Hill.

“It was a different atmosphere — today in Washington they don’t do anything but hate each other,” Rostenkowski, whose office was next door to Hyde’s for years, said. “He was an affable, outstanding legislator. I think his proudest achievement was the Hyde Amendment. He said he was proud of presiding over the impeachment proceedings, but I don’t believe it,” Rostenkowski, who served for many years was chairman of the powerful tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee, said.

“He acted as a mentor and we became close friends despite our political and ideological differences,” said Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr., Illinois Democrat. Hyde and Jackson formed a political marriage of convenience to push for Jackson’s goal for an airport in the Far South Chicago suburbs and Hyde’s opposition to expansion of O’Hare Airport.

Fred Thompson, former Republican U.S. senator from Tennessee, former film and TV star, and a serious contender for the 2008 GOP presidential nomination, said this: "Henry Hyde was a true conservative hero.  He was a patriot, a leader, a man who defended freedom and who understood America's standing in the world and the need for us to lead, and most importantly, a man who defended life.  The Hyde Amendment placed the U.S. government on the side of respecting human dignity and has served our nation well."

I have not found eulogies from other Republican or Democratic presidential contenders for the 2008 cycle. Where are they?

Traditional Values Coalition Chairman Reverend Louis P. Sheldon issued a statement that said Hyde’s death was “a giant” for the right-to-life… He was a compassionate man and left a lasting mark upon our nation.” during his service in the House of Representatives from 1975 through 2006.

“His service on the House Judiciary Committee was of great importance during the years when the House was in Republican hands. He was a constitutionalist, an historian, a patriot and most of all, a distinguished statesman.

"The nation has lost a great, great man," said Father Frank Pavone, National Director of Staten Island, New York-based Priests for Life. “National leaders in the pro-life movement reflect on the privilege it was to stand side by side with him in advocating for the unborn. Every American who is part of this movement owes a debt of gratitude to Henry Hyde for the example he gave.”

In 2005, Congress voted to name a room in Hyde’s honor in the U.S. Capitol. At the dedication ceremony, Congressman Mark Pence, Indiana Republican, summarized across-the-board bipartisan accolades for the gentle, friendly ebullient giant.

“As the chairman of several major committees at the center of repeated national controversies, Henry Hyde is regarded on both sides of the aisle as a paragon of dignity, civility and commitment to principle, and ... a lion of the right to life," Pence said.