Earlier today (Tues., Sept. 15) The House rebuked Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) for shouting “you lie” at President Obama last Wednesday, ending a week-long standoff during which Democrats demanded a public apology that the lawmaker refused to give.
The House voted 240 to 179 to ratify a “resolution of disapproval” against Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) for interrupting Obama’s speech last week before a joint session of Congress. Just 12 Democrats opposed the resolution against Wilson, while seven Republicans supported the disapproval motion. Five Democrats voted “present,” rather than cast a yes or no vote.
During the hour-long debate, Wilson refused to apologize, saying his private phone call to White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel was sufficient because Obama himself said the matter was closed the day after his speech.
“It is clear to the American people that there are far more important issues than what we are dealing with now. . . . [Obama] graciously accepted my apology, and this issue is over,” Wilson said in brief remarks.
Wilson said Democrats had “provoked partisanship” through their health-care proposal, which he has called a “government takeover” of private insurance. His interruption of Obama came as the president said illegal immigrants would not benefit from his legislation, a point of sharp contention among Democrats and some Republicans.
House Democrats responded that Wilson’s call to a presidential aide was insufficient because he had violated chamber rules forbidding such remarks directed at colleagues or the president.
A resolution of disapproval is the softest form of punishment that the House administers to its members. The Wilson resolution was just three paragraphs, concluding: “Whereas the conduct of the Representative from South Carolina was a breach of decorum and degraded the proceedings of the joint session, to the discredit of the House: Now, therefore, be it resolved, that the House of Representatives disapproves of the behavior of the Representative from South Carolina, Mr. Wilson, during the joint session of Congress.”
The outburst has encapsulated the increasing partisan tensions of the health-care debate, while also igniting tensions over the treatment of illegal immigrants, and prompted many black lawmakers to suggest Obama was being treated so harshly because some voters could not accept him as the first black president.
Wilson is only the second member to be punished this decade by the full House, the last time being a near-unanimous resolution expelling James Traficant (D-Ohio) in July 2002 after his federal bribery and corruption conviction. Prior to that, the last previous time the full House voted to punish a sitting member was January 1997, when then-Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) was reprimanded and fined for ethical breaches involving fundraising activities, the teaching of a college course and a multimillion-dollar book deal, according to the Congressional Research Service.
Information from the Washington Post contributed to this report.