House votes to admonish Rep. Wilson for outburst

WASHINGTON -- Lawmakers in the House voted 240-179 Tuesday to formally admonish Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., for shouting "You lie" to President Obama during his health care speech to Congress last week.

The relatively tight vote appeared to reflect the divisions over the outburst. Democrats said Wilson's behavior during Obama's speech to Congress last week was an egregious display of disrespect that could not be ignored. Republicans accused the majority party of hypocrisy and wasting the taxpayers' time.

Wilson has declined to back down on his position that he owed the House no apology for the outburst. Wilson did express sorrow to Obama, who accepted the apology.

The resolution added to the already-toxic atmosphere of partisanship in the House.

"At issue," House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said earlier, "is whether we are able to proceed with a degree of civility and decorum that our rules and our democracy contemplate and require."

Wilson, speaking after Democrat Hoyer, refused to back down. "I think it is clear to the American people that there are far more important issues facing this nation than what we're addressing right now." He said Obama had "graciously accepted my apology and the issue is over."

The resolution marks the first time in the 220-year history of the House that a member had been admonished for speaking out while the president was giving an address, according to the Office of the House Historian. A resolution of disapproval is less severe than other disciplinary action available to the House, including censure or expulsion.

Appearing on Fox News Sunday, Wilson reiterated his regrets for shouting "You lie!" in the middle of Obama's health care speech to a joint session of Congress on Wednesday. "I would never do that again," Wilson said. But he rejected demands from some of his colleagues, including House Majority Whip James Clyburn, D-S.C., that he deliver a formal apology on the House floor.

"I have apologized to the president," Wilson said. "I believe that is sufficient."

There are precedents for the action against Wilson.

In 2003, House Republican leaders forced then-House Ways and Means Committee chairman Bill Thomas, R-Calif., to apologize for calling the U.S. Capitol Police to evict Democrats from a meeting room.

Two years ago, the House voted 196-173 to table House Republican leader John Boehner's resolution to censure Rep. Pete Stark after the California Democrat suggested that then-president George W. Bush enjoyed U.S. casualties in Iraq.

A reprimand vote on Wilson presents Republicans with a difficult choice: A "no" vote could condone conduct that many in the party, including 2008 presidential candidate John McCain, have condemned, while a "yes" vote could irk newly energized conservatives, such as the tens of thousands who packed Washington for an anti-Obama rally Saturday — some carrying "You lie" and "Joe Wilson: My hero" banners.

For Democrats, the choice was to ignore a controversy that has infuriated many of the party's liberal members, particularly those in the Congressional Black Caucus, or proceed with a vote that Obama himself, in an interview Sunday on CBS' 60 Minutes, said could turn into a "big circus instead of us focusing on health care."

Rep. Tom Price, R-Ga., had warned Democrats against "poisoning any possibility of working together" by taking action against Wilson.

Price, who heads the conservative Republican Study Group, told USA TODAY that his party could raise other controversies, such as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's assertion that the CIA lied to Congress about torturing terrorism suspects.

Yet Price was non-committal when asked how he'd vote on a resolution condemning Wilson's conduct. "I'd have to see what it says," he said.

In a statement Monday, House Minority Leader John Boehner said he would vote against the resolution.

"Last Thursday, Speaker Pelosi said that she believed it was time to move on and discuss health care," Boehner said in a statement Tuesday. "I couldn't agree more, and that's why I plan to vote 'no' on this resolution."

At a news conference Thursday, Pelosi said: "As far as I'm concerned, the episode was unfortunate. It's time for us to talk about health care and not Mr. Wilson."

Contributing: Kathy Kiely, Andrew Seaman and Melanie Eversley