Gratitude for Hyde's Commitment to the Unborn the Theme for the 13th Annual Proudly Pro-Life Awards Dinner; Henry Hyde to Be Honored with Lifetime Achievement Award.

National Right to Life will celebrate the 13th annual Proudly Pro-Life Awards Dinner by honoring retiring pro-life champion Congressman Henry Hyde April 25 at the Willard Inter-Continental Hotel in Washington, D.C. Hyde (R-IL) was previously honored with a Proudly Pro-Life Award at the second annual dinner in 1995.

Honorees have provided exceptional and selfless service to the pro-life cause. Congressman Hyde has not only tried to save the most defenseless among us, but he has also succeeded on a level of which most can only dream.

His efforts, his victories, his leadership, and his friendship are deeply appreciated by the National Right to Life Committee and by pro-life citizens across this nation. Thus, the Proudly Pro-Life Awards Dinner seemed a most appropriate occasion to honor the career of a public official who has shown himself to be steadfast, determined, and proud in his efforts to protect human life.

Long considered the premier pro-life champion in the United States Congress, Henry J. Hyde began his congressional career in 1975. He has worked tirelessly to advance the rights and protect the lives of unborn children, seniors, veterans, working families, and victims of political oppression.

Raised in Chicago, Mr. Hyde graduated from Georgetown University and the Loyola University School of Law. He served in the Illinois House from 1966 to 1974, during which time he was one of that body's most outspoken and articulate debaters, rising to majority leader. He was married to Jeanne Simpson Hyde for 45 years until her death in 1992. He is the father of four, and the grandfather of four.

Shortly after becoming a congressman, Hyde drew his first line in the sand in defense of human life by arguing passionately that the United States government should not pay for abortion-on-demand. At that time, the federal government was funding approximately 300,000 abortions annuallythe tax dollars of hard-working Americans were being used to pay for the deaths of defenseless children.

Just a freshman member of Congress, Hyde offered a surprise amendment to an appropriations bill which would prevent federal funding of abortion. To the shock and consternation of pro-abortion forces, Congress adopted the Hyde Amendment, virtually removing the federal government from the business of funding abortions. To this day the Hyde Amendment stands as an integral part of Hyde's legacy and protection for unborn children and pro-life taxpayers, alike.