A Close Encounter with Abortion

Thu, 09 May 2013 19:21:58 +0000

One life that wasn’t snipped short

On a cold December night in 1975, a 17-year-old girl sobbed on the bedroom floor of a neighbor’s house. Her own home had just burned to the ground, destroying everything she had. But that wasn’t the only weight she carried that night. She had just discovered that she was a few weeks pregnant with her first child. In the dark, alone and terrified, she decided to find a way to Kalamazoo, Mich., 40 miles away, to “take care of her situation.”

That young girl was my mother, and if she had gone to Kalamazoo that night, you wouldn’t be reading this today. I would have been aborted.

Recently, after speaking on the House floor about the horrors of Dr. Kermit Gosnell’s abortion clinic in Philadelphia, I began wondering if my mother had ever thought about ending her unplanned pregnancy. My parents never gave any indication that it was ever a consideration, but was it?

I gave her a call. When she answered, I talked to her about my speech on the House floor and then asked gently, “Mom, did you ever think about .” There was a tense pause, and then, through tears she said, “Marlin, I’m so sorry!” As we cried together, I was no longer a congressman, but a son understanding for the first time the heartache and struggles my mom had gone through before I was born. As we talked about her fear of driving 40 miles alone, I had to think, “What if a ‘Gosnell’ clinic was only four miles away instead of 40?”

She asked if I could forgive her. I answered, “Yes, with all my heart.” I said that I couldn’t imagine how scared she must have been, and how thankful I was for her and Dad’s strength to do the right thing and protect my life. It could have ended so differently. At home with my wife and two children that night, my heart ached at the thought that all of this might never have been.

For 40 years, our society has been unwilling to come to grips with the grim truth about abortion. We’ve raced down a dead-end street, willfully blind to the facts, only to find ourselves at 3801 Lancaster St. — Kermit Gosnell’s clinic in West Philadelphia. There, behind brick walls, he killed hundreds of babies by snipping their spinal cords just moments after delivery.

After hiding behind euphemisms like “choice” for so long, is it any wonder that Dr. Gosnell and his staff hid behind the euphemism of “snipping” to describe severing infants’ necks with scissors? After decades of claiming that the unborn child is just a “blob of tissue,” why should we be horrified to see freezers, trash bags and cat food tins stuffed with such blobs? Why should the White House find Dr. Gosnell’s actions “unsettling” when, as a state senator, President Obama voted against Illinois’ Born Alive Infants Protection Act?

Our natural horror and grief are absurd unless we face the truth that abortion takes an innocent human life. There is no moral distinction between ending a child’s life five seconds after birth or five days before. Yet many of those who are repulsed by Dr. Gosnell too quickly pivot to phrases like “safe, legal and rare” as if they were legitimate arguments.

In fact, these are the abortion industry’s underlying falsehoods — lies the Gosnell case exposes.

What’s the difference between the abortion business, funded by giants like Planned Parenthood, and Dr. Gosnell’s Philadelphia house of horrors? Not much. Abortionists like him have recommended their gruesome practices as normal procedures for years. The only difference now is that their sterile terminology has been revealed in horrific pictures and eyewitness accounts for what it is: the killing of the weakest among us.

Right now, Americans ought to come together for an honest conversation about abortion. In the days and weeks ahead, let’s leave the euphemisms at the door, examine the facts and find our national conscience.

Kermit Gosnell, like every other abortionist in this country, sold lies to young women like my mother. Two years after Roe v. Wade, my young parents made the incredibly difficult decision to reject those lies and protect my life. The impactful conversation with my mom just a few weeks ago made me wonder how many more fathers, wives, business owners, doctors and public servants are missing today because of abortion?

Since 1973, more than 55 million children have been killed before birth. I was just 40 miles from being one of them.

This column originally appeared in the Washington Times.

End Obamacare’s Medical Device Tax and Save Hoosier Jobs

Mon, 11 Mar 2013 13:48:03 +0000

Hoosier work ethic, entrepreneurship, and a drive for excellence have made Warsaw, Indiana, the Orthopedic Capital of the World with innovators like Zimmer, Biomet, and DePuy. Across the state, the orthopedic device industry employs more than 20,000 Hoosiers. Companies like Boston Scientific in Spencer, Cook Medical in Bloomington, and Roche Diagnostics in Indianapolis provide the kind of lasting growth that is critical to economic development at the state and local level.

Today my friend and colleague from Minnesota, Congressman Erik Paulsen and I will convene a meeting right here in Warsaw of leaders in the medical device field from across Indiana. Leading our discussions will be the 2.3 percent excise tax on the sale of medical devices that went into effect on January 1. This $30 billion tax hike was instituted to pay for President Obama's health care law and is killing Hoosier jobs, stifling future innovation, and increasing patients’ costs.

A recent study estimated that the medical device tax could cost more than 43,000 jobs nationally and eliminate more than 2,000 jobs here in Indiana. In fact, we’ve already seen companies put domestic expansions on hold and take a second look at overseas markets. Hoosiers are missing opportunities as Washington increases taxes to pay for more entitlement spending.

Medical device manufacturers understand that success depends on adaptation. Unlocking the next breakthrough takes time and resources, which is why so much hinges on research and development. When medical device companies look over their shoulders at the taxman instead of focusing on the next horizon, the pace of innovation slows.

Because the President’s medical device tax is applied regardless of a company’s profitability it stifles innovation and increases the time patients wait for new ideas to move from the laboratory to the operating room. Equally devastating, it deters startups and discourages ingenuity. The Santa Clara Valley would have never been Silicon Valley if Washington had taxed computer technologies in the 1980s. Today, Washington’s tax policy is preventing similar innovations in the life sciences.

Too often Washington levies taxes with little regard for who pays. Unfortunately, companies saddled with the increased tax burden could be forced to indirectly pass much of the cost onto patients—cancer survivors, returning veterans, and senior citizens.

Instead of eliminating jobs, threatening innovation, and burdening patients, Washington should be celebrating Indiana’s success. Last year, I co-sponsored legislation with Congressman Paulsen to end Obamacare’s medical device tax and save Hoosier jobs. By taking Hoosier perspectives to the capital, I joined patients, providers, and manufacturers to build a strong movement to repeal this tax. Unfortunately, although the House of Representatives passed this critical legislation, the Senate failed to act last year.

I’m proud to renew the fight to end the medical device tax this Congress alongside a strong, bipartisan coalition. It’s time to repeal the medical device tax and make sure that Warsaw holds onto its hard-earned title.

This column originally appeared in The Warsaw Times-Union.

A Crisis of the President’s Own Choosing

Mon, 25 Feb 2013 23:03:04 +0000

After a decade of borrowing, spending and bailouts, the federal government has accumulated $16 trillion of debt. We face this problem because Washington spends too much, plain and simple.

While the lion’s share of deficit spending is caused by bankrupt social safety nets that make up nearly two-thirds of federal spending (more than twice the entire defense budget), there are countless examples of Washington waste — from the $51.6 million PR campaign to promote Obamacare to the $2.2 billion free cellphone program. Hoosiers deserve better.

Unfortunately, because Washington refuses to meet these challenges head on, the Defense Department faces a half trillion dollar cut on March 1. Border security, law enforcement, and aviation safety programs are bracing for the impact as well.

Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta has compared the strategic impact of these cuts to “shooting yourself in the head.” Already our men and women in uniform are feeling the consequences across the country and right here in Indiana.

The USS Abraham Lincoln is waiting to be refueled, Marines are not being deployed to strategic regions in the Pacific, maintenance on equipment is delayed, and 170 full-time personnel at Fort Wayne’s Air National Guard could be furloughed.

Astonishingly, this devastating $500 billion blow to our national defense is the commander in chief’s idea and the consequence of Washington’s runaway spending habits. After refusing to join House Republicans in seriously tackling the federal government’s $16 trillion debt, President Barack Obama introduced the idea of across-the-board cuts to defense, known in Washington as the sequester.

According to Washington Post Associate Editor Bob Woodward, the sequester was first suggested during the summer 2011 debt negotiations by Obama’s then Chief of Staff Jack Lew and included in the final debt ceiling package at the president’s insistence.

So where do we go from here? Hoosiers understand two simple truths: first, we must tackle our nation’s massive $16 trillion debt and, second, our men and women in uniform shouldn’t pay the price for Washington’s failures.

Although I voted against the flawed deal that included Obama's sequester because I don’t believe politicians should saddle our armed services with Washington’s failures, I am committed to replacing the president’s devastating cuts with matching cuts to wasteful spending and reforms to entitlement programs.

In fact, during the past six months, my Republican colleagues and I in the House passed two bills to replace the president’s sequester with common sense cuts to protect our national defense.

Unfortunately, these bills are stuck in the Democrat-controlled Senate while Obama wages a national fear campaign against the very cuts he proposed. Instead of threatening the American people with massive layoffs and furloughs, the president should encourage the Senate to vote on the bills we passed out of the House or negotiate a sensible solution. Unfortunately, the only solution the president can come up with is another oppressive tax hike.

Punishing middle class families and small businesses is no way to promote lasting growth. In fact, the federal government will take in more revenue this year than ever before. New tax increases will only prevent growth and fuel the same government extravagance that created this mess.

Instead of offering a fact-based conversation, the president is misleading the American people with the false choice between weakened security abroad or stifling tax hikes at home.

It’s time for the president to get serious about our nation’s $16 trillion debt and keep our national defense strong. Hoosiers are waiting to see if Obama will put away the threats and stand with service members and taxpayers.

This Column originally ran in The Times of Northwest Indiana.

Bill Strengthens States’ Gun Rights

Tue, 19 Feb 2013 18:21:42 +0000

The Journal Gazette has contributed to an important conversation about the Second Amendment and states’ rights and, while we disagree, I appreciate the opportunity to have a reasonable dialogue. Unfortunately, the Saturday editorial, “Congressman’s Orwellian turn of phrase,” inaccurately describes legislation I introduced to strengthen concealed carry laws as “taking away” states’ rights.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

The purpose of my bill is simple. It would allow people who legally carry a concealed weapon in their home state to also carry in any other state that allows concealed carry.

What my bill doesn’t do is just as important as what it would do. My bill would neither force a single state to change its gun laws nor force states that prohibit concealed carry to change their laws. Additionally, it will not force “Constitutional Carry” states like Arizona and Vermont, where no permit is even needed to carry a concealed weapon, to require their residents to obtain a permit. Finally, it would not supersede state legislation that prohibits carrying firearms in designated areas.

Forcing any of these changes would violate the 10^th Amendment to the Constitution, which guarantees states’ rights.

Furthermore, under my bill, nonresidents exercising reciprocity are subject to the same laws of the state they are visiting. Illinois and the District of Columbia specifically prohibit concealed carry. Their residents will not be able to use another state’s nonresident permit to carry in their home state.

My legislation is based on the common sense belief that if you are a responsible gun owner in your home state you should be allowed to be a responsible gun owner in any other state that allows concealed carry.

In their recent decisions Heller v. District of Columbia and McDonald v. Chicago, the U.S. Supreme Court confirmed what Hoosiers already know: the right to keep and bear arms is an individual right that neither state nor federal governments can deny.

It’s time to strengthen our nation’s gun laws in order to eliminate confusion and protect the constitutional right of law-abiding citizens to protect themselves.

This column originally ran in The Journal Gazette.

Printing more money won’t stop economy from shrinking

Tue, 12 Feb 2013 22:40:56 +0000

Upon learning recently that the economy shrank for the first time in more than three years, the Federal Reserve decided to continue its longstanding policy of printing money at full speed until investor confidence runs out or the ink runs dry. Unfortunately, this is all within its purview due to its “dual mandate,” which requires it to focus on the often contradictory mission of “maximum employment” and “stable prices.”

Americans can blame the misplaced trust in central planning of the Carter era for this conundrum. In 1978, a Democrat Congress and the Carter White House gave the Federal Reserve its dual mandate of fighting unemployment and inflation, an impossible and contradictory mission, because firing up the printing presses during times of high unemployment weakens the dollar. Thirty-five years later, the Fed is buying $85 billion in new assets each month and still failing to make a dent in the country’s unemployment crisis.

Our country now has $16 trillion in debt, more than 12 million people looking for work and an administration intent on “solving” the problem in large part by printing more money.

Last September, the Fed announced a third round of quantitative easing, but QE3 merely proved the ineffectiveness of QE1 and QE2. While unemployment stays close to 8 percent, inflation threatens to drive prices higher, undermine families’ savings and hurt seniors living on fixed incomes. Regrettably, Chairman Bernanke’s medicine has become his bread, and this unconventional tool has become the Fed’s standard procedure.

Despite years of pleading from conservatives to do otherwise, printing money ad nauseum is not sound economic policy. Since the dual mandate basically encourages this misguided action, it’s time to put a stop to it, which is why I am introducing legislation to do just that.

Just as we cannot borrow and spend our way back to a growing economy, we also cannot print our way back, either. In the real economy, the American people understand that achieving recovery means empowering families, entrepreneurs and small businesses—not bureaucrats.

The Fed’s efforts to combat unemployment have failed and will weaken the dollar. It’s time to end the dual mandate and force the Fed to pursue sound monetary policy once and for all. Backed by a healthy currency, Congress and the president must act swiftly to pay off our nation’s $16 trillion debt, tear down regulatory barricades and cut taxes so that Americans keep more of their hard-earned paychecks.

Washington is trying to borrow, bail and print its way to prosperity, and it isn’t working. We can ill afford the inflation, debt and insecurity that this misguided approach causes. Now is the time to repeal the dual mandate and break this destructive cycle. The American people deserve a strong dollar and a shot at building a real recovery.

This column originally ran in The Washington Times.

No Better Time to Break Washington’s Old Habits

Mon, 17 Dec 2012 15:20:01 +0000

As Hoosiers look forward to spending the upcoming holidays with family and friends, Washington is on the cusp of its latest fiscal crisis, and the menace of tax hikes on Jan. 1 is casting a shadow over what should be a joyful season. Unfortunately, this scene is all too familiar to the American people.

Despite numerous opportunities, Congress and the White House refuse to come to grips with out-of-control spending and offer long-term solutions to solve the federal government’s $16 trillion debt crisis.

Hoosiers have every right to be frustrated and discouraged with Washington, D.C., as the country heads toward bankruptcy, our nation’s broken entitlement programs teeter on the verge of insolvency, and looming tax hikes threaten thousands of Hoosier jobs.

The facts are alarming. Washington borrows more than 40 cents of every dollar it spends, Medicare’s own trustees have calculated that the program will reach insolvency in just 12 short years, and President Obama’s tax proposals jeopardize more than 15,000 jobs here in Indiana.

Despite his promise to cut the deficit in half by the end of his first term, Obama increased the national debt by more than $4 trillion. In just four years, this administration has stacked up more debt than every president from George Washington to Bill Clinton combined. A child born today inherits a $52,000 share of Uncle Sam’s borrowed spending. Meanwhile, their grandparents are left with the empty promises of a broken entitlement system.

Each day, 10,000 baby boomers reach retirement age and Medicare’s worker-to-beneficiary ratio grows weaker. In 2000, four current workers supported each beneficiary, but that number is on pace to fall below three. As that number declines, health care costs continue to climb. Nearly one in three primary care doctors is limiting the number of Medicare patients they see, and that number will only grow as Obamacare continues to be implemented. That’s unacceptable to the millions of seniors who were promised that the program would be there in their retirement.

Although Hoosiers understand that our economic crisis is, at heart, a debt crisis, Obama has focused nearly exclusively on tax hikes to fuel more deficit spending. Hoosiers know Washington can’t tax its way out of a spending mess. Under the most optimistic projections, Obama’s taxes will only cover eight days of government spending.

Despite these facts, the focus of the current fiscal cliff talks seems to remain on taxes, and when politicians focus on taxes instead of cuts and reforms, they leave middle class families out to dry. If we’re serious about fixing these fundamental problems, we have to rein in Washington’s runaway spending, give permanent tax certainty, and do the tough work of entitlement reform.

We need immediately to cut spending, responsibly cap future expenditures and put our nation’s finances on a path toward healthy balance. The House-passed budget, The Path to Prosperity, would have reduced the fiscal year 2013 deficit to less than $800 billion and put us on a path to paying off the debt.

Instead of threatening families and small businesses with the constant threat of higher taxes, we need to give certainty by extending the current tax rates for all Americans. In August, House Republicans and some Democrats voted to prevent these looming tax hikes, setting the stage for real tax reform in the year to come. The Senate should pass that extension without delay.

In addition, we must save Medicare while there’s still time. House Republicans have shown that we can reform Medicare for future generations without making any changes for current seniors. By expanding opportunity and empowering patients, younger workers can choose plans that meet their individual needs. We offer multiple guaranteed coverage options and, if it meets their unique needs, patients can choose the traditional Medicare plan.

In Indiana, we know that problems are only solved with honesty and hard work. Washington has an opportunity to tackle these challenges. This is difficult work, but no one was sent to Washington to make easy decisions.

As the new year approaches, there’s no better time to break Washington’s old habits and fix what’s broken.

This column originally ran in The Journal Gazette.

The 'Farm' Bill Is No Such Thing

Thu, 02 Aug 2012 17:12:44 +0000

For decades, an unholy Washington alliance—between rural lawmakers and their urban and suburban colleagues—has caused exponential growth in spending by combining farm policy and food stamps in one huge legislative package. It's a practice our nation can no longer afford as we approach $16 trillion in debt. Yet in July the House Agriculture Committee passed a farm bill with nearly $1 trillion in spending, or 60% more than was contained in the 2008 bill (passed by the Nancy Pelosi-led Congress over the veto of then-President George W. Bush).

Instead of combining farm policy, food stamps, telecommunications, energy, forestry and conservation into a single legislative vehicle, we must begin advancing one issue at a time. Even Americans with differing views on the role of the federal government in U.S. agriculture should agree that any farm bill passed by Congress be a farm-only bill. Only by breaking this massive bill into manageable, understandable pieces can we begin to make meaningful reforms.

From its name, you'd never know that 80% of the Federal Agriculture Reform and Risk Management Act goes toward the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), commonly referred to as food stamps. But it does—and, like most programs rooted in the New Deal and Great Society, this one has grown exponentially.

Thanks to misaligned incentives for the states and a consistent weakening of eligibility criteria, the cost of the food-stamps program doubled between 2001 and 2006. Then, thanks to President Obama's stimulus, it doubled again between 2008 and 2012.

Taxpayers now spend $80 billion a year on food stamps, an amount the Senate "farm bill" would essentially lock in for the next decade. The bill passed by the House Agriculture Committee is almost as bad, shaving just 2% from the stimulus-era levels.

In the 1970s, just one in 50 Americans received food benefits. Today that number is one in seven. In other words, 15% of the U.S. population is dependent on food stamps. Half of all food-stamp spending goes toward individuals who have been on the program for eight years or more. There can be no doubt that we are in the midst of a dependency crisis, and conservatives especially shouldn't settle for locking in Obama-era levels of government dependence.

The Obama administration wants to make Americans more dependent on government, not less. Witness its recent decision to gut the federal work requirements for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, the program created by the 1996 reform of welfare.

Instead of removing work requirements, we should be expanding them. Adding common-sense work requirements to the food-stamp program would begin the process of reversing the corrosive aspect of government dependency.

Yet even discussing such measures is difficult, if not impossible, when the food-stamp program is carried under the banner of a farm bill. The Orwellian language of Washington creates unnecessary confusion and makes responsible governing needlessly difficult. It is time to have a farm-only farm bill, and move other policies separately.

Mr. Stutzman is a Republican congressman from Indiana. Mr. Needham is chief executive officer of Heritage Action for America.

A version of this article appeared August 2, 2012, on page A13 in the U.S. edition of The Wall Street Journal, with the headline: The 'Farm' Bill Is No Such Thing.

Filet the Catfish Inspection Program

Wed, 11 Jul 2012 14:44:16 +0000

With the national debt fast approaching $16 trillion, the American taxpayers are tired of paying for Washington’s duplicative and wasteful programs. As freshmen representatives who were sent to Washington to save tax dollars, we have introduced legislation to eliminate the unnecessary transfer of catfish inspection from the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), which would create dual inspection efforts in seafood processing facilities. According to the Government Accountability Office, this unnecessary transfer would cost taxpayers $30 million in start-up costs and at least $14 million every year thereafter. This is a prime example of the wasteful spending in Washington that has to stop.

This unneeded inspection provision was added late in the 2008 Farm Bill process without the full consideration of either the House or Senate. Under this convoluted regulatory structure, federal inspection of catfish would be transferred from the FDA to the USDA. This makes no sense as the FDA already inspects all commercial seafood while the USDA only inspects meat and poultry products. This unneeded transfer of duties requires spending precious tax dollars to hire an additional 90 full-time inspectors to duplicate efforts fully covered by the FDA inspection program. Millions of tax dollars would be wasted if the USDA’s program is not repealed.

If this added regulation is not reversed, the USDA will sink millions of dollars on an additional catfish inspection regime while the FDA will continue to inspect tilapia, shrimp, and all other seafood. Both the departments would be required to employ experts in seafood inspection – a duplication of services whose cost will be borne by taxpayers and businesses. Seafood companies often process multiple species of seafood on the same line and would be forced to meet requirements from both agencies.

We realize that tackling real problems takes work, but regulation for regulation’s sake is the epitome of waste. The most recent Government Accountability Office (GAO) report entitled, “Seafood Safety: Responsibility for Inspecting Catfish Should Not Be Assigned to USDA,” clearly states that “the agency’s (USDA) proposed catfish inspection program further fragments the federal oversight system for food safety without demonstrating that there is a problem with catfish or a need for a new federal program.” The GAO recognizes there is absolutely no known public health benefit gleaned for creating an entirely new program to replace the FDA’s inspection regime and concludes, “Congress should consider repealing provisions of the Farm Bill assigning USDA responsibility for catfish inspection.”

If Washington needs another reason to stop frittering away tax dollars, it should consider this. The new catfish inspection program could provoke a trade war that would put U.S. agriculture exports at risk. Current rules at the World Trade Organization require science-based standards behind food safety laws that can be used as barriers to imports. Countries that export catfish products would likely win a suit against the United States and enact retributive trade tariffs on American products like soybeans and beef. Adding costs through duplicative programs is wasteful; risking harm to our agriculture exporters while they work to decrease our trade deficit is foolish.

We find ballooning costs with no benefit and the risk of a trade war unacceptable. The facts point to a simple conclusion. Wasting tax dollars for this unnecessary program is short-sighted and must be stopped. It’s time to filet the duplicative USDA Catfish Inspection Program.

This column originally ran in the Kansas City Star.

Republican Marlin Stutzman, of Howe, Indiana, is a first-term 3rd Congressional District Indiana representative. He serves on the House Agriculture, Budget, and Veterans’ Affairs Committees. Vicky Hartzler, of Harrisonville, Mo., is a first-term Republican representing Missouri’s 4th Congressional District. She serves on the House Agriculture and Armed Services Committees.

Put Patients First and Repeal the President's Health Care Law

Fri, 29 Jun 2012 19:12:21 +0000

Yesterday, the Supreme Court upheld President Obama’s health care law. While I respect the court, I strongly disagree with this decision. Hoosiers deserve health care reforms that work. Unfortunately, this law just gives bureaucrats more control over our daily lives. My freshman colleagues and I were sent to Congress to put the brakes on this kind of government intrusion. This decision, though certainly a blow to limited government, cannot and will not be the last chapter in the ongoing effort to repeal this destructive law.

While five judges reached the wrong decision, millions of Americans have long held the law in contempt. According to the latest Gallup poll, an overwhelming 70% of all Americans believe the individual mandate is unconstitutional. Our political system is built on the idea that government works best when it is carefully checked and limited. The individual mandate undermines that foundation. A federal government powerful enough to force citizens to buy health insurance or any other product for that matter is more powerful than anything our Founding Fathers envisioned.

This is exactly why I will continue to work to repeal the entirety of the President’s health care law. Like the President and the justices of the high court, members of the House took oaths to uphold and defend the Constitution. I take my oath seriously and do not believe that the Constitution gives the federal government this sweeping power. Members of the legislative branch must exercise our authority to repeal this law.

House Republicans have voted to repeal, defund, or dismantle the President’s health care law thirty times. This is the largest tax hike in American history and will harm families and small businesses during the weakest recovery since the Great Depression. Nearly 75% of small businesses say that the law makes it more difficult for them to hire more employees. Americans deserve better.

My colleagues and I will move to entirely repeal this law. We can get reform right if we debate new health care legislation in the full light of day.

Instead of replacing the President’s law with another lengthy and convoluted bill, my colleagues and I in the House will continue the work of reform with a fresh slate and careful attention to patient needs and free-market principles.

In the past decade, health care costs have more than doubled. Those costs will only soar higher if consumers are not able to make individual decisions. Unfortunately, President Obama’s health care law eliminates individual choices, relies on bureaucratic controls, and drives prices up. Rather than expanding government control through individual mandates and discouraging innovation through top-down policies, we can work to promote individual choice and empower patients.

Americans in the real economy know these policies do not work for them. The vast majority of hardworking taxpayers see the law for what it is—an unprecedented exercise in federal overreach. The American people, acting through their representatives in Congress can set this right. My colleagues and I will act to repeal the President’s law and enact true reforms that put patients first.

This column originally ran in the News-Sentinel.

Defending Hoosier Jobs by Repealing President’s Medical Device Tax

Fri, 08 Jun 2012 14:12:17 +0000

President Coolidge famously remarked that “the chief business of the American people is business.” Nowhere is this better exemplified than in Northeast Indiana. From farms to factories, Hoosiers lead the country in innovation and production. Indiana’s Third District is a manufacturing stronghold.

Freight trains ride steel rails made here in Indiana. Families can enjoy their weekends in Hoosier RV’s. Cancer survivors, seniors, and wounded veterans around the country enjoy renewed mobility thanks to innovative medical devices made here at home.

While Hoosiers have shouldered market loss in this difficult economy, one sector has grown steadily in our state: medical device manufacturing. Warsaw hosts the headquarters of dozens of leading medical device companies and had earned the title of “Orthopedic Capital of the World.” In 2009 alone, the Warsaw region represented half of the U.S. market share of orthopedic device manufacturing and 33% of the global market.

Clearly, Northeast Indiana is ready to lead bioscience in the same way that Silicon Valley has led information technology. Hoosiers have the innovative know-how that medical device manufacturers need. At a time when Indiana is showing the country that it’s open for business, the industry has created jobs—high paying jobs. The sector employs over 20,000 Hoosiers at wages 56 percent higher than the state’s average. The industry’s economic footprint isn’t limited to the production floor but expands with stronger communities.

This isn’t just about numbers—this is about people. The industry’s work is also measured by the comfort it brings. Statistics can’t tell the stories of leukemia survivors living active lives or seniors, like my own grandmother, enjoying independent living. A wounded veteran’s renewed sense of purpose isn’t something that you’ll calculate on a spreadsheet. Yet, these are the benefits that the medical device industry brings.

Unfortunately, Washington is threatening to erase this success story. A new 2.3% tax on medical device company sales puts Hoosier jobs at risk. This ill-conceived tax was designed to fuel the spending in President Obama’s health care legislation and now endangers our community.Not content to merely tax profits, Washington’s insatiable appetite for taxes is focused on this industry’s sales. This tax is causing medical device companies to contract and could result in over 10% of those jobs being lost. The tax could destroy 43,000 jobs across the country. Here at home, over 2,000 jobs could be eliminated.

Washington needs to focus on recovery and this job-crushing, industry-specific tax hike is a clear loser. Given the importance of medical device manufacturing to Indiana, I’m proud that today the House will vote to repeal this tax and save Hoosier jobs.

My friend and ally from Minnesota, Congressman Erik Paulsen, introduced the Protect Medical Innovation Act of 2011. I’m proud to be an original co-sponsor of this legislation. Mr. Paulsen and I have worked to build a strong, bipartisan coalition. We explained the facts and outlined the case. That work has produced results. This week when the legislation comes to the floor, more than half of my colleagues will have joined us with their co-sponsorships.

Washington can learn from the pioneers who take ideas from the drawing board to surgery center. Too often, it seems as if Washington isn’t much interested in hearing voices from the real economy. Not this time. I’m proud that the House will vote to end this tax. Congress can do the right thing for patients and job creators.

This column originally ran in the Warsaw Times-Union.

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