WASHINGTON —FOX- [1] Former Illinois Republican Rep. Henry Hyde, a strong foreign policy and anti-abortion voice in Congress and a leader of House impeachment proceedings in 1998, died Thursday. He was 83.
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Hyde served in the House of Representatives for 32 years and was a key foreign relations leader there, chairing the House International Relations Committee for six years. He was well-known for his sponsorship of the amendment passed by Congress banning federal funding for abortion, which became known as the Hyde amendment.
In addition to helping shape U.S. policy in the War on Terror, Hyde in 2003 oversaw passage of a $15 billion bill to fight the international AIDS epidemic. “Left unchecked, this plague will further rip the fabric of developing societies, pushing fragile governments and economies to the point of collapse,” he said. “So to those who suggest that the United States has no stake in this pandemic, let me observe that the specter of failed states across the world certainly is our business.”
I had my disagreements with the man, but one thing which can be said… you always knew where you stood with him… a rare thing in political circles, today.