Andy Barr: “I thank my friend, the gentleman from Minnesota, my friend, the gentleman from Indiana, and I want to compliment both of…”

“I thank my friend, the gentleman from Minnesota, my friend, the gentleman from Indiana, and I want to compliment both of the gentlemen here and my friends on the other side of the aisle for their leadership, and, in particular, the gentleman from Minnesota, who has been an absolute champion in advocating life-improving and lifesaving technologies that really stand a chance of declining as a sector of our economy and, more importantly, declining as an opportunity for Americans and people all around this world to achieve a better life, a better way of life, and to actually have an opportunity to live because of some of this lifesaving technology. The medical technology industry impacts all of us all over this country. The medical device industry is in virtually every State. But it's in my home State, the Commonwealth of Kentucky as well. Kentucky has over 7,500 jobs in the medical technology industry. The med-tech job multiplier factor in Kentucky guarantees that for every one job in the Commonwealth's medical technology sector, 1.8 additional jobs are created as a result. And these jobs are responsible for over $364 million in total personal income and $1.3 billion in annual output for Kentucky. According to the Battellle study, the medical device tax could cost Kentucky over 100 jobs in this high- paying, high-tech sector. But as my friends have noted tonight, this is not just about jobs.…”