[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 8]
[House]
[Page 10254]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                          HONORING HENRY HYDE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from California (Mr. Rohrabacher) is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. ROHRABACHER. Mr. Speaker, tonight, I am honored to take this 
floor to sing the praises and accolades for a man who inspired me as a 
young person and has continued to inspire me as I have served here in 
these past 18 years.
  I have spent 18 years here in the House of Representatives, and 7 
years before that I served in the White House under Ronald Reagan. And 
I am pleased to say tonight that during that entire time, I have never 
met a man of whom I was more proud than that of the chairman of the 
International Relations Committee, Chairman Henry Hyde. Perhaps Ronald 
Reagan. Perhaps. But Henry Hyde, of the people that I have worked with 
as a fellow colleague, there is no match.
  Henry Hyde, of course, has been here since 1974, and has had a 
distinguished career as a Member of Congress, but more importantly, as 
a leader, as an American leader. Henry Hyde, as I say, inspired many of 
us by the fact that he is not just a political leader, not just a man 
of integrity, courage, and a person who works, to this day is working 
harder than most Members of this Congress.
  But he is not just a political leader, but a moral leader of this 
country as well.
  Henry Hyde is very well known. He has been known for many years for 
his views on what we call the prolife movement, the idea of protecting 
unborn children from the threat of abortion. And Henry Hyde has done 
more to inspire and inform people on this issue and, thus, if you agree 
with me and agree with Henry, done more to save the unborn babies of 
this country than any other individual that I can think of. That, 
alone, is a reason to applaud Henry Hyde and to be grateful that he has 
served in this body, saving so many unborn babies, and feeling so 
strongly about this issue that he was able to take the heat on an issue 
that, in the beginning, was far more unpopular than it is today. And I 
believe that he has created the national trend towards life that we see 
today.
  Consistent with that, Henry Hyde has been a champion of human rights 
during his entire term in the United States Congress. He has been an 
enemy to tyrants, to gangsters, whether they be in Cuba, the Soviet 
Union or China. This has been part of Henry Hyde's patriotic makeup, a 
man from Illinois, a man from the State that gave us Lincoln, who freed 
the slaves and freed America from the sin of slavery.
  I have seen Henry Hyde criticize Chinese leaders to their face and 
stand up for the human rights of believers in God in China. I have seen 
his courage, and his eloquence is famous throughout the world.
  I have seen Henry Hyde take on the issue of proliferation of nuclear 
materials by the Communist Chinese Government when other people would 
have had him soft-pedal the issue in order to maintain a certain 
friendly relationship with those gangsters who control the mainland of 
China. But Henry Hyde is a man of principle.
  Henry Hyde is a patriot. Henry Hyde was protecting our country 
through his patriotism when he was a young man and served in the 
military in World War II in the Philippines, and then in the State 
legislature in Illinois, and then here, on to the U.S. Congress.
  Many people will remember Henry Hyde for the fact that he was the 
chairman of the Judiciary Committee when President Clinton was 
impeached. Here, too, was an issue that Henry Hyde could have 
sidestepped. Why should he take all the abuse of such a controversial 
issue?
  Henry Hyde has taken on controversy because he believes in principle 
and morality. Henry Hyde took on the issue of the impeachment of 
President Clinton because he believed that President Clinton had 
committed perjury, that that was an impeachable offense, and that to 
compromise that standard would cause great damage to the future of the 
United States of America.
  Henry Hyde is a man who stands for standards, stands for principles. 
He is a man who has worked hard, who has used his skill as an orator to 
make sure that we cement those American values that have made this 
country a great country, realizing that we don't have a perfect 
country, but that we always need leaders like Henry Hyde to help us 
perfect those imperfections.
  So I gladly join with my colleagues tonight in a salute to the 
chairman of the International Relations Committee, a great American, a 
man who has served this country well, in the House of Representatives 
and throughout his life, Chairman Henry Hyde.

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