Joe Wilson


Addison Graves "Joe" Wilson Sr. is an American politician and attorney serving as the U.S. representative for since 2001. A member of the Republican Party, his district stretches from Columbia to the Georgia–South Carolina border. He served as the South Carolina state senator from the 23rd district from 1985 to 2001.
Wilson is a member of the House Republican Policy Committee and an assistant Republican whip.
In September 2009, Wilson interrupted a speech by U.S. President Barack Obama to a joint session of Congress, shouting, "You lie!" The incident resulted in a reprimand by the House of Representatives.

Early life and education

Wilson was born in Charleston, South Carolina, the son of Wray and Hugh deVeaux Wilson. In 1969 he obtained a bachelor's degree in political science from Washington and Lee University, where he joined Sigma Nu. He obtained his Juris Doctor degree from the University of South Carolina School of Law in 1972.

Early career

From 1972 to 1975, Wilson served in the United States Army Reserve. Thereafter, he was a Staff Judge Advocate in the South Carolina Army National Guard assigned to the 218th Mechanized Infantry Brigade until retiring from military service as a colonel in 2003.
A real estate attorney, Wilson co-accounted the law firm Kirkland, Wilson, Moore, Taylor & Thomas in West Columbia, where he practiced for over 25 years. He was also a municipal judge in Springdale, South Carolina.
Wilson was active in South Carolina Republican politics when the party barely existed in the state. He took part in his first Republican campaign in 1962, when he was 15 years old. He served as an aide to Senator Strom Thurmond and to his district's congressman, Floyd Spence.
In 1981 and 1982, during the first term of the Reagan administration, Wilson served as deputy general counsel for former governor Jim Edwards at the U.S. Department of Energy. Wilson is also a graduate of Morton Blackwell's Leadership Institute in Arlington, Virginia.

South Carolina Senate

Wilson was elected to the South Carolina Senate in 1984 as a Republican from Lexington County and reelected four times, the last three times unopposed. By this time, Lexington County had become one of the most Republican counties in the state. He never missed a regular legislative session in 17 years. After the Republicans gained control of the chamber in 1996, Wilson became the first Republican to chair the Senate Transportation Committee. He was a member of Columbia College's board of visitors and Coker College's board of trustees.
During his tenure in the South Carolina Senate, Wilson was the primary sponsor of bills including the following: establishing a National Guard license plate, providing paid leave for state employees to perform disaster relief services, and requiring men aged 18–26 to register for the Selective Service System when applying for a driver's license. In 2000, Wilson was one of seven senators to vote against removing the Confederate battle flag from being displayed over the state house.

U.S. House of Representatives

Committee assignments

As of the 118th Congress, Wilson served on three standing committees and various subcommittees overseeing specific areas of legislation. He serves on the Committee on Armed Services, for which he is also a member of the Subcommittee on Readiness and Subcommittee on Strategic Forces. He serves on the Committee on Education and the Workforce, for which he also is a member of the Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions. As a member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Wilson serves on the Subcommittee on Europe and Chairs the Subcommittee on the Middle East, North Africa, and Central Asia. Wilson serves as the Chair of the U.S. Helsinki Commission. Wilson is a member of the Republican Study Committee, Chair of the RSC National Security and Foreign Affairs Task Force, and a member of the Tea Party Caucus.
On June 27, 2024, Wilson announced he will run for the Chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

Caucus memberships

Like his former boss, Spence, Wilson is an ardent social and fiscal conservative.
In 2003, Wilson voted for the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act, including its Section 1011 authorizing $250,000 annually of taxpayer money to reimburse hospitals for treatment of illegal immigrants. In 2009, he changed to his current position of opposing public funds for health care of illegal immigrants.

Legislation

Wilson has sponsored and co-sponsored a number of bills concerning teacher recruitment and retention, college campus fire safety, National Guard troop levels, arming airline pilots, tax credits for adoptions, tax credits for living organ donors, and state defense forces. As of January 2006, eight bills he co-sponsored have passed the House, including H.R. 1973, the Senator Paul Simon Water for the Poor Act of 2005, making safe water and sanitation an objective of U.S. assistance to developing countries.
Wilson is a staunch advocate of a federal prohibition of online poker. In 2006, he co-sponsored H.R. 4411, the Goodlatte-Leach Internet Gambling Prohibition Act, and H.R. 4777, the Internet Gambling Prohibition Act.
Wilson initiated the Drafting Business Expensing Act of 2003, which allows businesses to immediately write off 50% of the cost of business equipment and machinery. This bonus depreciation provision was extended for 2008 and 2009 in two separate stimulus bills. He also spearheaded the Drafting Teacher Recruitment and Retention Act of 2003, which offers higher education loan forgiveness to math, science and special education teachers in schools with predominantly low-income student populations. He cites as his most important vote the Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003.
In 2015, Wilson cosponsored a resolution to amend the Constitution to ban same-sex marriage.
Wilson sponsored H.R. 6202, the American Tech Workforce Act of 2021, introduced by Representative Jim Banks. The legislation would establish a wage floor for the high-skill H-1B visa program, thereby significantly reducing employer dependence on the program. The bill would also eliminate the Optional Practical Training program that allows foreign graduates to stay and work in the United States.
In 2023, Wilson introduced H.R. 3202, the Assad Regime Anti-Normalization Act of 2023. The act would extend the Caesar sanctions until 2032 and prevent the United States from recognizing or dealing with Ba'athist Syria. The act was passed by the House in 2024. Following the fall of the Assad regime, Wilson called for the lifting of sanctions related to the economy, investment, and reconstruction.

Political positions

In 2025, Wilson tweeted that the Iraqi judiciary was allegedly being controlled by "Iranian puppets," specifically referring to Judge Faiq Zaidan. He questioned the legitimacy of Zaidan's rulings within the Iraqi Constitution and called for what he deemed "Iraq's liberation from Iranian influence". These claims came after a congressional amendment proposed by Mike Waltz, labeling Zaidan as a tool of Iranian influence.

"You lie!" outburst during Obama address

On September 9, 2009, during a nationally televised joint address to Congress by President Barack Obama, Wilson shouted "You lie!" after Obama, while outlining his proposal for reforming health care, said, "There are also those who claim that our reform effort will insure illegal immigrants. This, too, is false—the reforms I'm proposing would not apply to those who are here illegally."
Obama's chief of staff Rahm Emanuel immediately approached senior Republican lawmakers and asked them to identify the heckler and urge him to apologize immediately. Members of Congress from both parties condemned the outburst. "Totally disrespectful", said Senator John McCain of Wilson's utterance. "No place for it in that setting or any other and he should apologize immediately." Wilson said later in a statement:
This evening I let my emotions get the best of me when listening to the President's remarks regarding the coverage of undocumented immigrants in the health care bill. While I disagree with the President's statement, my comments were inappropriate and regrettable. I extend sincere apologies to the President for this lack of civility.

Obama accepted his apology. "I'm a big believer that we all make mistakes", he said. "He apologized quickly and without equivocation and I'm appreciative of that."
House Democrats called on Wilson to issue a formal apology on the House floor. House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn said, "This is about the rules of the House". House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said, "What's at issue here is of importance to the House and of importance to the country... This House cannot stay silent".
Wilson refused to apologize to the House of Representatives, saying in a televised interview, "I believe one apology is sufficient." Congressional Republicans agreed, and opposed further action. Minority Leader John Boehner said, "I think this is a sad day for the House of Representatives... I think this is a political stunt aimed at distracting the American people from what they really care about, which is health care." On September 15, the House approved a "resolution of disapproval" against Wilson by a 240–179 vote almost exactly along party lines.
Wilson said that his outburst reflected his view that Obama's bill would provide government-subsidized benefits to illegal immigrants. Several fact-checking organizations wrote that Wilson's view was inaccurate because HR 3200 expressly excludes undocumented aliens from receiving government-subsidized "affordability credits". The nonpartisan Congressional Research Service agreed that people would need to be lawfully present in the U.S. in order to be eligible for the credits, but noted that the bill did not bar non-citizens from buying their own health insurance coverage through the health insurance exchange. The Obama administration said that, in the final bill, undocumented immigrants would not be able to participate in the Exchange. Such language was included in the Senate Finance Committee's version of the bill, America's Healthy Future Act.
After the incident, Wilson and Democrat Rob Miller, his 2010 general election opponent, experienced a significant upswing in campaign donations. In the week after Wilson's outburst, Miller raised $1.6 million, about three times his 2008 donations, while Wilson raised $1.8 million.