Erik Paulsen

Mr. Speaker, I was unavoidably detained.

Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea'' on rollcall No. 499.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, I want to first speak, in general, in support of this tax package overall, which includes some very, very good tax policy. But I want to highlight and specifically draw attention to one very important provision, a bipartisan provision, and that is a further delay of the medical device tax for a 5-year period.

My preference, Mr. Speaker, would have been to have a permanent repeal of the device tax, but I understand you have to compromise on things, and that is a good compromise, so 5 years is what we get.

And look, during a period of time when there are very few issues that a lot of policymakers, unfortunately, in Congress can agree upon, there is no doubt that there has been strong, bipartisan, broad-based support to repeal and eliminate a very bad policy that was put in place as a part of ObamaCare and repealing this device tax.

This is about making sure that our Nation, our country, America, continues to lead the world in this important ecosystem that is central to improving patient care and also creating high-quality jobs.

We all know the medical device industry in America is truly an American success story. It is a Minnesota success story. I can speak to the 400,000 people around the country who are directly employed. I can speak to the 35,000 folks who are employed in Minnesota in this industry.

And these are hundreds and hundreds of companies, by the way, Mr. Speaker, that I have had the chance to visit and tour, companies you may have never heard of. They may have 5 employees or 10 employees, but every single one of them has that doctor, that engineer, that entrepreneur who is working to improve or help save lives for patients.

The device tax, however, unfortunately, caused the loss of about 29,000 jobs as it was put in place. Back this last July, Members will recall that the House voted, overwhelmingly--bipartisan support--to permanently repeal this device tax with historic levels of support, both Republicans and Democrats. Nearly 300 Members voted together to get rid of it.

It is really about protecting innovation, and it is about protecting small businesses. Eighty percent of medical device companies have less than 50 employees, and 93 percent of these companies have less than 500 employees who have good, high-paying jobs.

We are also a net exporter, exporting around the world in this industry. The Affordable Care Act, Mr. Speaker, imposed a new 2.3 percent excise tax on all medical devices.

It doesn't sound like much, but keep in mind, this is not a tax on profits. It is a tax on your sales; it is a tax on your revenue; and that is where we saw the negative impact, because it already takes 8 to 10 years for these companies to become profitable in the first place. They deal with FDA regulation, and they deal with reimbursement issues. This raised the bar. This raised the hurdle. It made it much more difficult for these companies to become profitable in the first place.

It is about giving predictability and giving certainty for these companies so that they can continue to help innovate and help patients. That is what it is really about, making sure that new, life-improving and lifesaving products are coming to market.

I visited and met with engineers, technicians, owners, and entrepreneurs of these companies who work day in and day out coming up with the ideas for the innovation that really makes America the forefront leader.

Mr. Speaker, I would encourage support for this bill. It is a good compromise, and it makes sense.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate the Edina Boys Cross Country running team for winning the High School state championship. After a long season, these runners ran through the finish line to bring Edina its first ever state title.

With runners in all third through seventh place finishes, Edina destroyed the competition. The team ended with only 88 points, 11 points less than the runner up.

Mr. Speaker, we all know that being a cross country runner takes strength, perseverance, endurance, commitment to training, and raw athletic talent.

Congrats.