Posted by Mike Dorning at 5:29 pm CST.
Henry Hyde may be leaving Congress. But his name will live on in the Capitol.
The House of Representatives voted on Tuesday to officially place Hyde's name on a ceremonial meeting room for the International Relations Committee. The room, located one floor below the House chamber, is used for receiving foreign dignitaries who come to meet with the committee chairman or other members of the panel.
Hyde, a suburban Chicago Republican congressman, is retiring this year after 32 years in Congress. He is best known for his activities on the House Judiciary Committee. On that committee he introduced the "Hyde Amendment" that bans federal funding to perform abortions for indigent women. And as chairman of the Judiciary Committee, he led the effort to remove President Bill Clinton on impeachment charges.
But Hyde chaired the International Relations Committee his final six years in Congress. And he has served as a member of the International Relations Committe since 1981. On the International Relations Committee, he was a staunch defender of President Reagan's support for the Nicaraguan Contras and an ardent opponent of the 1980s nuclear freeze movement.
Under his leadership, the House International Relations Committee has avoided criticism of President Bush's Iraq policy. Hyde also has used his chairmanship of the committee to press for greater funding of efforts to combat AIDS in Africa and the developing world.
(Photo from Rep. Hyde's official House website.)
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Comments
The impeachment led by Hyde reminds me of the movie. Dr.Jekyll and Mr. Hyde....While Hyde was impeaching Dr.Jekyll was getting his own.
Posted by: bill r. | December 5, 2006 6:37 PM
Here come the mean-spirited and baseless attacks on Mr. Hyde's character.
Posted by: Bill | December 5, 2006 8:24 PM
Wonder if Hyde heard this
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsk7z517Nr4
Posted by: Dale Peters | December 5, 2006 9:11 PM
Instead of calling it the
Henry Hyde Room they should call it:
"The Youthful Indiscretion Room."
All of these so called "family values" Republicans,who thought it was a good idea to impeach Bubba,are now falling to the wayside because of their "Youthful Indiscretions."
Hypocrasy at it's worst!!
Posted by: John E. | December 5, 2006 9:16 PM
Ahhhhh.....
Hyde and Reagan in the 80's.....
Thank-you!
Thank-you!
Thank-you!
And kudo's to you Mr.Hyde on your effort to impeach the lying,dis-graceful,sex-addict and aldulterer b.j.clinton.
Paulo
Posted by: Paulo | December 5, 2006 10:09 PM
Sorry the you tube had Hyde talking about the impeachment. But he got cought in a lie by a reporter.
Posted by: Dale Peters | December 5, 2006 11:42 PM
Mean-spirited perhaps, but certainly not baseless. He ADMITTED to a long term affair while in his forties and called it a youthful indiscretion.
Posted by: Catherine | December 6, 2006 7:20 AM
Catherine,
Yes, Henry (Big Ride) Hyde is Hell-bound for sure.
Not sure how many of the Seven Deadlies he committed, but probably a majority of them.
**********
Hey, here's 'Henry's song'
Hey, well I'm the friendly stranger in the black sedan
Oh won't you hop inside my car
I got pictures, got candy, I am a lovable man
I'd like to take you to the nearest star
I'm your vehicle baby
I'll take you anywhere you wanna go
I'm your vehicle woman
By now I'm sure you know
That I love ya (love you)
I need ya (need you)
I want to, got to have you child
Great God in heaven, you know I love you
Well if you want to be a politician's girl
I got the ticket to old DC
Well if you want to stay just like you are
You know I really hope you would
I'm only forty baby
I'll take you anywhere you wanna go
I'm only forty, woman
And by now I'm sure you know
That I love ya (love you)
I need ya (need you)
I want to, got to have you child
Great God in heaven, you know I love you
Posted by: c.morris | December 6, 2006 9:13 AM
Hyde is a vile foul smelling hypocrite. A disgraceful and adulterous lout. He is not a moral or ethical person and certainly does not deserve a ceremonial meeting room.
Posted by: Doug R. | December 6, 2006 9:45 AM
"I suggest impeachment is like beauty: apparently in the eye of the beholder. But I hold a different view. And it's not a vengeful one, it's not vindictive, and it's not craven. It's just a concern for the Constitution and a high respect for the rule of law. ... as a lawyer and a legislator for most of my very long life, I have a particular reverence for our legal system. It protects the innocent, it punishes the guilty, it defends the powerless, it guards freedom, it summons the noblest instincts of the human spirit.
The rule of law protects you and it protects me from the midnight fire on our roof or the 3 a.m. knock on our door."
Quote from Hyde during the Clinton impeachment hearings. His views apparently change when it's a Republican doing the same damage.
Posted by: John | December 6, 2006 9:47 AM
I have had the opportunity to attend the Economic Council of Chicago banquet last January when President Bush addressed the group. I was seated next to Henry Hyde and I had a wonderful opportunity to talk to him for the better part of 2 hours. He is a genuine hero for his work in impeaching President Clinton who also, remember this got disbarred by the U.S. Supreme Court. Hyde has had an illustrious career and those who bash him don't know his genius.I will never forget him, Jerry White, Springfield, IL
Posted by: Jerry White | December 6, 2006 10:00 AM
Catherine, whether Henry Hyde had an affair or not isn't the issue. He's admitted to having one. It's not against the law and I guess his wife is okay with it, since she's still with him. While that might make him a hypocrite in some people's eyes, let's try to remember that the most serious charages against Clinton from the Starr report involved the cover-up of L'Affaire Lewinsky, and not the actual act of having the affair itself. It was misuse of the machinery of government to protect his philandering that got Clinton in trouble.
I still find it hard to believe that one affair more than 30 years ago wipes away all the good things Henry Hyde did for Illinois. It doesn't.
Posted by: Bill | December 6, 2006 2:18 PM
I believe that Hyde has been a widower for some time.
I find it hard to believe that a surplus in the budget, great economy, low crime rate and other good things that Clinton oversaw should be wiped out by any of his indiscretions.(No matter how tawdry)
Posted by: Catherine | December 6, 2006 8:35 PM
Catherine, I never said that Clinton's indiscretions should wipe out all the good things he did as President. I don't think that's right, either. We can debate who should get credit for some of them, but I certainly don't think his dalliances make them moot. My point about Hyde's late wife was that she didn't leave him over the affair and they got past his horrible mistake as a couple before she passed on.
Posted by: Bill | December 7, 2006 11:18 AM