The former Illinois Republican Congressman Henry Hyde, known in India for the "Hyde Act" that paved the way for civilian nuclear cooperation with the United States, died on Thursday.

Hyde died in Chicago, He was 83, House Minority Leader John Boehner's office on Capitol Hill announced.

A spokeswoman for Rush University Medical Center, said Hyde died at 3 am CST at that hospital. There was no immediate word on the cause of his death, although Hyde underwent open-heart surgery in July.

Hyde retired from Congress at the end of the last session and was major player and quite instrumental in steering the Henry J Hyde United States and India Nuclear Cooperation Promotion Act of 2006 through the second session of Congress in 2006.

A hero of the anti-abortion movement in America, Hyde is also known for being in charge of steering the Impeachment Proceedings in the House of Representatives against former Democratic President Bill Clinton.

Earlier this month, President Bush presented him with the Presidential Medal of Freedom. The White House praised Hyde, a leading foe of abortion, as a "powerful defender of life" and an advocate for a strong national defense.