U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), Co-Chair of the House Pro-life Caucus today issued the following statement on the passing of Congressman Henry Hyde (R-IL), a lifelong friend whom Smith served with in the House of Representatives for 26 years:
On the Passing of Henry Hyde
Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. I would like to associate myself with the sense of loss we all feel for the passing of Congressman Henry Hyde. As I think my colleagues know, Henry Hyde was one of the rarest, most accomplished and most distinguished Members of Congress ever to serve. He was a class act.
Henry Hyde was a man of deep and abiding faith, generous to a fault with an incisive mind that worked seamlessly with his incredible sense of humor. He was a friend and colleague who inspired and challenged us to look beyond surface appeal arguments and to take seriously the admonitions of Holy Scripture to care for the downtrodden, the vulnerable and the least of our brethren.
On the greatest human rights issue of our time, the right to life for unborn children, the disabled and frail elderly, Henry Hyde will always be known as the great champion and the great defender of life. No one was more logical, compassionate or eloquent in the defense of the disenfranchised.
Because of the Hyde amendment, countless young children and adults walk on this Earth today and have an opportunity to love, to learn, to experience, to play sports, to get married, to enjoy their grandchildren some day, to experience the adventure of life itself because they were spared destruction when they were most at risk, millions, almost all of whom have no idea how much danger they were in, today pursue their dreams and their hopes with expectations and great accomplishment.
With malice towards none, no one, even his most vociferous critics, Henry Hyde often took to the House floor to politely ask us to show compassion and respect and even love for the innocent and inconvenient babies about to be annihilated by abortion.
A Congressman for 32 years, a chairman for 6 years of the Judiciary Committee, and for another 6 years chairman of the International Relations Committee, Henry Hyde was a prodigious lawmaker. With uncanny skill, determination and grace, he crafted numerous historic bipartisan laws and commonsense policies that lifted people out of poverty, helped alleviate disease, strengthen the U.S. Code to protect victims and to get the criminals off the streets. He was magnificent in his defense of democracy and freedom both here and overseas.
One of his many legislative accomplishments includes his authorship of the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, PEPFAR, a 5-year $15 billion plan to combat HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria. During the debate, Chairman Hyde compared the HIV/AIDS crisis to the bubonic plague of the 14th century, the black death, and challenged us to enact a comprehensive program to rescue the sick, assist the dying and to prevent the contagion from spreading.
Having served with this brilliant one-of-a-kind lawmaker, I know the world will truly miss Henry Hyde. Still, we take some comfort in knowing that Henry Hyde's kindness, his compassion and generosity will live on in the many laws he wrote to protect and enhance the lives of others. I, we, will miss this great statesman.