Political Quotes

“I rise today to speak about the promise of biomedical innovation in our country, as did Senator Klobuchar. I talk a lot about the importance of biomedical innovation because in my home State of Minnesota there are 400 medical device companies, and there are more than 30,000 employees who support our economy while creating high- quality jobs. They do it while saving and improving patients' lives. The industry is being punished for its innovation and growth. The medical device tax is cutting into the proceeds which go toward research and development and workforce training. By taxing companies on the first dollar of sales, they are especially hurting the very small companies, the startup companies, which may not be in profit yet. This is why I am happy to join with Senator Klobuchar, with Senator Hatch, in filing this amendment to the budget resolution to allow for the repeal of the medical device tax. This amendment is an important first step toward fully repealing the tax and providing much-needed relief for our innovators and doing it in a fiscally responsible way. Along with Senator Klobuchar, I fought this tax from the beginning. The health care law will insure 30 million new Americans while also improving the health care of every American citizen. While I am proud to be a champion of that law, I believe the medical device tax is not the way to pay for it. On this point, I disagree with the Obama administration, as I did from the beginning.…”