Providing for Consideration of H.R. 160, Protect Medical Innovation Act of 2015, and Providing for Consideration of H.R. 1190, Protecting Seniors' Access to Medicare At of 2015

Floor Speech

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Mr. BILIRAKIS. I thank the chairman.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the rule for H.R. 160, the Protect Medical Innovation Act. Last August, I held two 21st Century Cures roundtables in my district in the Tampa Bay area.

The second roundtable featured healthcare providers. One participant was Lisa Novorska, CFO of Rochester Electro-Medical. Rochester Electro-Medical is a medical device manufacturer in my district, and it is a small business.

The medical device tax, originally included in the President's healthcare law, is devastating to these small businesses. Eighty percent of the device manufacturers in Florida have less than 25 employees. In total, Florida has 662 device manufacturers, and one-third of them are in the Tampa Bay area, as I said, in the area that I represent in the Congress.

This bill has over 280 bipartisan cosponsors. Voting for this rule and bill should be easy, despite the administration's veto threat. Let's support device manufacturers and give them the flexibility to innovate and help our constituents.

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