Joe Wilson (American politician)

Addison Graves "Joe" Wilson Sr. (born July 31, 1947) is an American politician and attorney serving as the U.S. representative for SC's 2nd congressional district since 2001.

A member of the Republican Party, his district stretches from Columbia to the Georgia–South Carolina border.

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 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 (J.D.) degree from the University of South Carolina School of Law in 1972.

From 1972 to 1975, Wilson served in the United States Army Reserve.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Wilson has cited as one of his proudest congressional achievements the Drafting Business Expensing Act of 2003, which allows businesses to immediately write off 50% of the cost of business equipment and machinery.

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.

This bonus depreciation provision was extended for 2008 and 2009 in two separate stimulus bills.

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.

Wilson was born in Charleston, South Carolina, the son of Wray (née Graves) and Hugh deVeaux Wilson.

In 2009, he changed to his current position of opposing public funds for health care of illegal immigrants.

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 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.

Like his former boss, Spence, Wilson is an ardent social and fiscal conservative.