Erik Paulsen: “Tonight we'd like to spend some time talking about an issue that I think has bipartisan support and what the American…”

“Tonight we'd like to spend some time talking about an issue that I think has bipartisan support and what the American people will want to pay a little bit of attention to. I am actually going to talk a little bit about the medical device industry. Mr. Speaker, I'm a passionate advocate for this industry. Coming from the State of Minnesota, we have some giant titans in this industry. Many of the folks out in this country may know the names of Medtronic, Boston Scientific, and St. Jude, but I'll tell you there are also 400 medical device companies in Minnesota that are small. These are companies you have never heard of, but many of which I've had the opportunity to tour and visit. They're all about entrepreneurship, innovation, improving lives, and saving lives. Tonight we have a handful of Members who really want to devote some time talking about a challenge that has risen up against this industry, and that's the new medical device tax. It was part of the health care law. It just started being implemented in January. This is an excise tax that might not sound like a lot at 2.3 percent. This is also a tax not on profit, but a tax on their revenue. We'll get into a little more detail about why that is so dangerous to this industry and why it has become so much more challenging in just a little bit. I will say this, though: of the 400 companies that are in Minnesota, about 200 of them alone are in my district, the Third District of Minnesota.…”