Republican Rep. Joe Wilson

Republican Congressman Wilson Apologizes for Calling Obama a Liar

WASHINGTON (By Ann Gerhart and Philip Rucker, Washington Post) September 11, 2009 ― Republican Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) said Thursday his interruption of President Obama's speech by shouting out, "You lie!" was "spontaneous."

Wilson apologized for his outburst in a statement released shortly after the prime-time speech to Congress concluded Wednesday night, saying he was overcome with emotion. But reporters eager for a firsthand accounting from the congressman staked out his office Thursday.

When Wilson emerged on his way to a vote, he elaborated on his statement, saying he had "heard from the Republican leadership they wanted me to contact the White House and state my statements were inappropriate. I did."

Wilson then seemed to repeat his point Obama was wrong in saying illegal immigrants would not be covered under his plan for health-care reform. "The bills that are before Congress would include illegal aliens, and I think this is wrong," he said.

He said his concerns stem in part from the defeat of two proposed amendments during committee debate this summer. The amendments would have required immigrants to verify their citizenship status before obtaining health-care coverage. Wilson also said the Congressional Research Service "had indicated" some of the legislation under consideration could include non-citizens. He did not provide details.

"We need to be discussing issues specifically to help the American people, and that would not include illegal aliens," Wilson said. "People who have come to our country and violated laws, we should not be providing full health-care services."

Despite many claims to the contrary by opponents of the universal health care proposals, fact-checkers have repeatedly established the bills' universal coverage provisions would not extend to illegal immigrants. In Section 246 on page 143, the House's bill states "undocumented aliens" will not be eligible for credits to help them buy health insurance -- and these credits are the provision that lies at the heart of expanding coverage to the uninsured. And Medicaid already is limited to those who can prove legal residency. For that matter, even the universal health care program in Massachusetts -- one of the most liberal states in the country -- does not cover illegal immigrants.

Obama said Thursday after a meeting of his Cabinet he appreciated Wilson's apology. "I'm a big believer we all make mistakes, that we apologize quickly and without equivocation and I'm appreciative of that," he told reporters. "We have to get to the point where we can have a conversation about big important issues that matter to the American people without vitriol, without name-calling, without the assumption of the worst in other people's motives."

Obama was halfway through his speech, trying to dispel what he called "bogus claims spread by those whose only agenda is to kill reform," when Wilson launched his attack.

My plan would not insure illegal immigrants, said Obama. "You lie!" rang out in the chamber. Federal funds would not pay for abortions, Obama continued. "Not true!" came another yell from Wilson.

Wilson's staccato shouts shocked Democrats and Republicans alike, who were quick to denounce the extraordinary breach of decorum.

Wilson is a four-term Republican from South Carolina who got his political start as an aide to the late Sen. Strom Thurmond. A lawyer with four sons who have served in the military, two in Iraq, Wilson has long aspired to statewide office. He also has a history of lashing out and later apologizing.

In 2002, during a C-SPAN discussion about Iraq's capabilities for nuclear and biological weapons, Wilson attacked Rep. Bob Filner (D-Calif.) as harboring "hatred of America" at least four times when Filner suggested Saddam Hussein may have obtained some technologies from the United States.

In 2003, when The Washington Post persuaded Essie Mae Washington-Wilson to publicly identify herself as the biracial daughter of Thurmond, who once had been an avowed segregationist, Wilson accused the woman of trying to "smear" the senator, who had died six months earlier.

"It's a smear on the image that Thurmond has as a person of high integrity who has been so loyal to the people of South Carolina," Wilson said.

"Sometimes these things just go on," Wilson said. "These are heroes of mine. I really hope these would be heroes to future generations of Americans. The stories are . . . a way to diminish their contributions to our country's existence."

When the Thurmond family acknowledged Washington-Wilson was indeed Thurmond's daughter, Wilson apologized but did not back down from his assertion she should have kept quiet.

Wednesday night, House Majority Whip James E. Clyburn, whose district adjoins Wilson's, said, "I think Joe's very confrontational." Wilson held his first town hall forum to discuss health care last month in Clyburn's district, three blocks from his home, in the high school that Clyburn's three grandchildren attended.

In a radio interview Thursday morning, Clyburn called for some sort of sanction against his South Carolina colleague. "I'm not saying the guy ought to be kicked out of the House, but I do believe an apology is not sufficient," he said. "There ought to be some rebuke or censure, something that will discourage that conduct in the future. If you can do that to the president and get away with it, it's open season."

Sen. Arlen Specter (D-Pa.) agreed, writing on Twitter Wilson should face "a reprimand or censure . . . to discourage that kind of conduct in the future."

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) told reporters Thursday she would have considered gaveling Wilson to order had he not stopped interrupting Obama. She said the president did the right thing by continuing his address and ignoring the congressman's outburst.

"The episode was unfortunate," Pelosi said. "Congressman Wilson apologized, and it's time to turn our attention to health care."

The speaker repeatedly shushed off reporters' questions about Wilson's behavior and whether House leaders were considering sanctioning him. Pelosi added later, "I'm not having this discussion about Congressman Joe Wilson. I think his actions speak for themselves. He has apologized, and he needs to figure out what he thinks is appropriate for him to do."

Pelosi added Wilson's outburst during Obama's speech shows the "bankruptcy" of Republicans' ideas on health care.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) called Wilson's behavior "inappropriate" but said the congressman should not be judged on one incident alone.

"I think it was very inappropriate, it did not reflect well on him, and I'm glad he apologized," Graham said Thursday. But, he added, "people who know Joe Wilson like I do understand that doesn't reflect the man. That was a mistake on his part from emotion about the issue, the consequences of where we're going as a nation."

Graham pledged to campaign on Wilson's behalf for his reelection next year. "I think people in his congressional district know him as a complete person and will not take one episode in his life to define him," Graham said.

One clear beneficiary of Wilson's intemperance was his Democratic opponent, Rob Miller, who garnered 46 percent of the vote in a 2008 matchup with the congressman. By midday, Miller had received more than 10,000 new contributions, totaling more than $350,000, according to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which hailed the "groundswell of support." Miller, a former Marine, still faces a fierce fight in a firmly Republican stronghold.

Graham said Wilson's outburst was representative of the anger he and many other members saw firsthand during the congressional recess.

"He did a bunch of town hall meetings and you get people very emotional coming to these meetings," Graham said. "They're afraid of where the president's taking the country in a lot of areas, particularly health care. But having said that, I went to two town hall meetings and I'm not going to put up with people calling the president a bad name. That's just not the way we do business in this country."

After the speech Wednesday night, White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel approached two Republican House leaders, Roy Blunt and Paul Ryan, and said "no president has ever had that happen," and urged them to have the lawmaker "apologize immediately." Wilson called Emanuel late Wednesday night.