Sept. 10 (Bloomberg) -- South Carolina Republican Joe Wilson broke with decorum and shouted out that President Barack Obama was telling a “lie” as the president addressed Congress on health care last night, drawing a rebuke from his own party.

Wilson, a U.S. representative since 2001, later called the White House and apologized “for this lack of civility” in a conversation with Obama Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel.

“I let my emotions get the best of me when listening to the president’s remarks regarding the coverage of illegal immigrants in the health-care bill,” Wilson said in a statement. “While I disagree with the president’s statement, my comments were inappropriate and regrettable.”

Wilson shouted “you lie” at a point in the speech when Obama said his plan to extend insurance coverage “would not apply to those who are here illegally.”

Obama said today he accepts Wilson’s apology.

“I’m a big believer that we all make mistakes, that we apologize quickly and without equivocation and I’m appreciative of that,” Obama told reporters. “We have to get to the point where we can have a conversation about big important issues that matter to the American people without vitriol, without name-calling, without the assumption of the worst in other people’s motives.”

Wilson’s conduct was denounced by Democratic and Republican lawmakers. Senator John McCain of Arizona, Obama’s Republican opponent in the 2008 presidential race, called Wilson’s outburst “totally disrespectful.”

“He should apologize,” McCain said in an interview on CNN.

‘Discredit’ to the House

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, a Maryland Democrat, said he has attended some 40 presidential speeches during his 28 years in the chamber and Wilson’s conduct was unprecedented.

“I’ve never heard a member discredit the House, demean the House in that manner,” Hoyer said.

He said Democratic leaders hadn’t decided whether to seek a sanction against Wilson. Still, he said he would like Wilson to make a further display of contrition.

“I want to see Mr. Wilson come to the floor and apologize to the House,” Hoyer said, adding that he “has put the House in a very bad position.”

House Minority Leader John Boehner, an Ohio Republican, called Wilson’s behavior “inappropriate” today and said he was glad his colleague apologized. “I think Mr. Wilson summed it up best when he said his behavior was inappropriate,” he said.

Boehner said he spoke with Wilson today, though he declined to say whether he asked the lawmaker to make an apology on the House floor. Boehner stood by Wilson’s charge that health-care reform would benefit illegal immigrants.

‘Outlining the Facts’

“There’s nothing in this bill that will prevent these people from getting this type of insurance,” Boehner said, referring to the House version of the legislation. “I’m outlining the facts.”

Democratic legislation being considered in Congress excludes illegal residents from being covered by the health- care plan. FactCheck.org, a non-partisan Washington-based watchdog, has called the Republican charge about coverage being extended to illegal immigrants “misleading.”

Representative John Lewis of Georgia told reporters that the House “must take some action” to send a “strong message” about the Wilson episode.

Representative John Larson of Connecticut, chairman of the Democratic caucus, said, “It’s clear the members of our caucus are quite upset and quite angry” about Wilson’s outburst. He said Wilson should make an apology on the House floor.

‘Has Apologized’

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat, said this morning that the Wilson episode is “over” because the congressman “has apologized and it’s time for us to talk about health care.”

So far, Rob Miller, the Democrat who is challenging Wilson in the 2010 election, has raised $97,000 since the lawmaker’s outburst, said Adrian Arroyo, a spokesman for ActBlue, a Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Democratic fund-raising Web site.

Wilson, 62, is in his fifth term in the House. He previously served 16 years in the South Carolina Senate.

The American Conservative Union gave Wilson a 92 percent rating in 2008, according to ratings compiled by Congressional Quarterly.

During the 2004 presidential campaign, Wilson demanded that Massachusetts Senator John Kerry, the eventual Democratic presidential nominee, apologize for having criticized the U.S. troops in Vietnam in 1971. Kerry was a Navy veteran who had served in Vietnam.

Wilson’s call for a Kerry apology set off a round of acrimonious debate. Former Democratic Senator Max Cleland of Georgia, a triple amputee who served in Vietnam, called Wilson a “chicken hawk” who supported military action without ever having gone to war, according to the Almanac of American Politics.

To contact the reporters on this story: Ryan J. Donmoyer in Washington at rdonmoyer@bloomberg.net; Edwin Chen in Washington at Echen32@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: September 10, 2009 16:31 EDT