Henry Waxman

Thank you for holding this hearing, and focusing attention on job creation and economic growth, which should be our immediate priorities.

I know some Republican members think we need severe cuts in the Federal budget that put gapping holes in our safety net while giving tax breaks to the wealthiest Americans.

The recent budget by this administration for fiscal year 2013 shows its commitment to restoring middle class security by attacking wasteful spending and instead investing in education, innovation, and infrastructure.

But the Congress needs to work with this administration on long-term adjustments that must be made to ensure that the U.S. economy is one that rewards fair play and hard work.

It is ironic that Governor Romney is attacking President Obama saying he wants us to be more like the Europeans.

Some of the bills that are being proposed change FDA device regulation to make our system look a lot more like the E.U. system.

When you force a decision, you get a bad decision.

I was concerned about this program when we implemented it in 1997. I was never comfortable with the concept of having external third parties who have the potential for conflict of interests on their own reviewing these important devices.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

FDA's job is to protect the public health.

Many in the device industry argue that Europe should be our model and they say new technologies are available years before they are on the market in the United States.

The device industry claims that FDA regulation is killing jobs, stifling innovation, and depriving American patients of new medical devices.

I am concerned that some may try to hijack the reauthorization to advance proposals that would put the health of patients at risk.

The real compassion in this country is to make sure that we can get drugs and devices that work and that are safe to consumers.

I have very little faith that Congress is going to provide the appropriations for the FDA to do the job without a user fee.

Our goal today is to start the process of reauthorizing the Medical Device User Fee Act.

This legislation will help us turn this untenable situation around.

I am proud that we were able to work together in such a strong bipartisan fashion on this legislation.

One person's cost is another person's income, and so what is compliance costs from the perspective of the industry is incomes and jobs from the perspective of people installing the pollution abatement and control equipment.

This committee has had numerous hearings to examine the question--the big picture question of whether new regulations harm economic growth.

Well, many of my Republican colleagues talk about the cost of complying with EPA's rules as if the money spent on pollution controls and upgrades goes into a black hole.

These regulations are expected to have particularly positive effects under current economic conditions.

In addition to the overblown rhetoric about the impact of this rule on jobs, some have warned that this rule will cause electricity prices to skyrocket.

According to EPA, the Mercury Air Toxics Standards will generate up to $90 billion in health benefits each year, far outweighing the costs of compliance.

The idea that EPA requirements to clean up air pollution will hurt the economy and kill jobs is now Republican economic dogma, but these are the same doom and gloom scenarios we have heard from industry since the Clean Air Act was first…