Henry Barbosa Gonzalez
was born in San Antonio, Bexar County, Texas, on 3rd May, 1916. His
parents had arrived in San Antonio from Durango during the Mexican
Revolution in 1911. After graduating from St. Mary's University School
of Law he became a juvenile probation officer in Bexar County. A member
of the Pan American Progressive Association, he helped his father
run a translation service in San Antonio.
A member of the Democratic
Party, Gonzalez served as a member of the Texas City Council (1953-56)
and the Texas State Senate (1956-1961). In November 1961, Gonzalez
was elected to Congress. Gonzalez also served on the Committee on
Banking, Finance and Urban Affairs, where he worked for the passage
of a number of legislative proposals of the New Frontier and the Great
Society including the Housing Act of 1964. He was also a staunch supporter
of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
In
1976 Thomas N. Downing began campaigning
for a new investigation into the assassination of John
F. Kennedy.
Downing said he was certain that Kennedy had been killed as a result
of a conspiracy. He believed that the recent deaths of Sam
Giancana and
Johnny
Roselli were
highly significant. He also believed that the Central
Intelligence Agency and
the Federal
Bureau of Investigation had
withheld important information from the Warren
Commission.
Downing was not alone in taking this view. In 1976, a Detroit
News poll indicated that 87% of the American population
did not believe that Lee Harvey Oswald
was the lone gunman who killed Kennedy.
Gonzalez
joined Downing in his campaign and in
1976 Congress voted to create a 12-member committee to investigate
the deaths of John
F. Kennedy and
Martin Luther King.
Thomas
N. Downing named Richard
Sprague as chief counsel of the House
Select Committee on Assassinations.
Gaeton
Fonzi was
to later say: "Sprague was known
as tough, tenacious and independent. There was absolutely no doubt
in my mind when I heard of Sprague's appointment that the Kennedy
assassination would finally get what it needed: a no-holds-barred,
honest investigation. Which just goes to show how ignorant of the
ways of Washington both Sprague and I were".
Sprague
quickly assembled a staff of 170 lawyers, investigators and researchers.
On 8th December, 1976, Sprague submitted a 1977 budget of $6.5 million.
Frank Thompson, Chairman of the House Administration Committee made
it clear he opposed the idea of so much money being spent on the investigation.
Smear
stories against Sprague began appearing in the press. David B. Burnham
of The New York Times reported
that Sprague had mishandled a homicide case involving the son of a
friend. Members of Congress joined in the attacks and Robert E. Bauman
of Maryland claimed that Sprague had a "checkered career"
and was not to be trusted. Richard Kelly of Florida called the House
Select Committee on Assassinations a "multimillion-dollar
fishing expedition for the benefit of a bunch of publicity seekers."
Probably the most important
criticism came from Eldon J. Rudd of Arizona,
a former FBI agent who had worked on the
assassination investigation, declared the Committee had "already
fanned the flames of rumour, distortion and unwanted distrust of law
inforcement agencies." However, Walter
E. Fauntroy defended the work of Sprague: "threshold inquiries
by a thoroughly professional staff... in the last three months have
produced literally a thousand questions unanswered by the investigations
of record."
On 2nd February, 1978,
Gonzalez replaced Thomas
N. Downing as
chairman of the House Select Committee
on Assassinations. Gonzalez immediately sacked Richard
Sprague as
chief counsel.
Sprague claimed that only the fill committee had the power to dismiss
him. Walter
E. Fauntroy agreed with Sprague and launched a campaign to keep
him as chief counsel. On 1st March, Gonzalez resigned describing Sprague
as "an unconscionable scoundrel"
In 1981 Gonzalez became
Chairman of the Subcommittee on Housing and Community Development.
In this post he fought the administration of Ronald
Reagan when it proposed cuts in public housing programs.
Henry Barbosa Gonzalez
died of a heart attack in San Antonio, Texas, on 28th November, 2000.
House
Select Committee on Assassinations
Open
Debate on the Kennedy Assassination
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