Press Releases

Congressman Jim Banks (IN-03) today spoke on the House floor about the need to permanently repeal the medical device tax.

Click here or on the image below to view Congressman Banks’ speech.

The text of the speech follows:

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support a permanent repeal of the Medical Device Tax.

The more than 7,000 medical device companies in the United States contribute hundreds of billions of dollars to our economy every year, employ over 400,000 Americans, and create life-saving technologies that benefit patients around the world.

Many of these device manufacturers are based in my district in Warsaw, Indiana, and we are proud that Warsaw is often called the “Orthopedic Capital of the World.”

The vast majority of medical device manufacturers employ fewer than 50 people, with many generating little to no sales revenue. This is what makes the potential reinstatement of the 2.3% excise tax on medical device sales so harmful. This misguided tax would subject the medical device industry to one of the highest corporate tax rates in the world and eliminate thousands of jobs.

Repealing this tax has broad bipartisan support in both chambers of Congress, and I urge my colleagues to make eliminating this tax a top legislative priority in 2017.

Mr. Speaker, thank you and I yield back the balance of my time. 

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Interested members of the media may contact Anna Swick at anna.swick@mail.house.gov .