Wilson gets his scolding

Six days after U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson shouted "You lie!" as President Barack Obama addressed a joint session of Congress, the House of Representatives voted mostly down party lines on Tuesday to rebuke him for his conduct.

The extraordinary debate, which lasted almost an hour and was televised on C-SPAN, pitted two South Carolina congressmen whose districts abut from Columbia to the Lowcountry.

Wilson, R-S.C., refused to apologize, saying he already had issued an apology to Obama, who accepted it. "There are far more important issues facing this nation than what we're doing right now," Wilson said.

House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., said Wilson did not show proper contrition because he refused to apologize to his colleagues in the House.

Clyburn had predicted such a resolution last week if Wilson refused to apologize on the House floor in addition to telephoning the president.

"This is not about partisan politics," Clyburn said. "We all make mistakes. When we do, proper contrition is expected."

Clyburn and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., presented the Democrats' case for the resolution, which said, "Resolved, that the House of Representatives disapproves of the behavior of the Representative from South Carolina, Mr. Wilson, during the joint session of Congress held on Sept. 9, 2009."

"This was not the time or place for expressing that kind of comment," Hoyer said.

The vote to ratify a "resolution of disapproval" was 240-179.

Since Wilson's remark, the national debate over his two words has proven to be as passionate and time consuming as the larger debate over reforming health care, one-sixth of the nation's economy and the topic of Obama's speech.

Several Republican House members -- none from South Carolina -- spoke on Wilson's behalf, arguing that Wilson already had apologized and that this resolution was nothing more than a partisan witch hunt that was doing nothing to solve the nation's health problem.

Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., said, "How much longer does this go on? What are we accomplishing here today?"

Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind., said Obama's speech was highly partisan and that Wilson's remark, which came after Obama said health care reform would not result in taxpayer dollars going to treat illegal immigrants, helped focus attention on the contents of the House's health care bill.

"Ironically, because of Joe Wilson's outburst, we have been engaged in a week-long debate about what's actually in House Bill 3200," Pence said. "Last Wednesday was not a good day in the House, but today we see politics overwhelming this institution."

It also sparked tensions over the treatment of illegal immigrants and even prompted some black lawmakers to say that Obama was treated harshly because of his race.

The debate has remade what was looking like a quiet 2010 re-election bid on Wilson's part. His Democratic opponent, Rob Miller, has received more than $1 million in donations since Wilson's outburst, a sizable sum for a South Carolina congressional race.

Miller had raised less than $100,000 in the many months before. The 2nd Congressional District runs from West Columbia in Lexington County down to Beaufort and Hilton Head Island.

Wilson also has drawn sizeable contributions and seen his profile soar nationally. His congressional Web site was shut down Thursday and remained in limited function, with only his biography accessible, through Tuesday.

Tuesday's vote split largely down party lines, though at least seven Republicans voted for the resolution, including South Carolina's Bob Inglis, and at least 12 Democrats voted against, with three others voting "present."

Wilson told his colleagues that he was humbled by the support of his wife and sons, one of whom, Alan, is running for S.C. Attorney General, and said Obama himself said the time for games is over.

"We'll not be taking any steps toward helping any American families afford health insurance," he said.

Clyburn said his grandchildren attend schools in Wilson's congressional district, and he talked about the importance of keeping order in the House, just as it's important to keep order in a classroom.

"This hall is the most prominent classroom in this great country," Clyburn said, "and we are all teachers."

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 a federal bribery and corruption conviction, according to The Washington Post.

Before 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.