I want to thank our witnesses for being very patient.

Not only do patients end up paying more, their options are more limited, and they have to wait longer for new devices.

I think that was a big part of the rationale, this notion that you were going to get a big windfall.

I am very hopeful that we will, in this Congress, be able to repeal the medical device tax.

Yet, here we have an excise tax that stifles the development of new products that improve the quality of life for Americans.

We thank the 14 Members of Congress and both Senators from the Pennsylvania delegation for co-sponsoring legislation that would repeal this tax and put job growth back on track in Pennsylvania.

I want to move from this hearing, Mr. Chairman--and I would mention the ranking member also because this is a bipartisan effort.

It is more than time that Congress took up this legislation, passed a bill on a bipartisan basis, delivered it to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, and, if necessary, was prepared to override a presidential veto.

Senator Stabenow raised, I think, a completely valid and important technical question about how this tax interacts with other taxes.

I want to thank you, Senator Stabenow, for your cooperation in joining us in this hearing. I am going to put you down as someone who is in favor of the Affordable Care Act, if I could.

this tax, instead of creating meaningful tax revenues as was its original purpose, has had the unintended consequence of dissuading institutional investment and discouraging entrepreneurship in a vital industry already under significant…

My question is, is it your view that this additional layer of tax that we impose on your industry, on top of the highest corporate income tax rate in the world, does that discourage the attraction of capital by this industry? Does that…