Oral History Video

Henry Hyde (April 18, 1924 - November 29, 2007) was a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from 1975 to 2007, representing the 6th District of Illinois, an area of Chicago's northwestern suburbs. He chaired the Judiciary Committee from 1995 to 2001, and the House International Relations Committee from 2001 to 2007. Within the House, Mr. Hyde had a complex political persona. He was a persuasive speaker whose arguments could change votes - a rarity in the House in the years he served. Also, while Mr. Hyde championed many 'liberal' measures such as extending the Voting Rights Act in 1981 and supported constitutional amendments for same-sex marriages, he is best known for his the amendment that bears his name. First introduced in 1979, the Hyde amendment was added to an appropriations bill to prohibit Medicaid, the federal-state health care program for the poor, from paying for abortions. Here, Mr Hyde reflects on the interesting manner in which the Hyde Amendment came to be.