[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 163 (Wednesday, November 4, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2714]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      TRIBUTE TO STEPHEN H. MAHLE

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. ERIK PAULSEN

                              of minnesota

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, November 4, 2009

  Mr. PAULSEN. Madam Speaker, today I rise to commemorate and pay 
tribute to a great American, Stephen H. Mahle, a man who achieved great 
personal and professional success through courage, dedication and an 
unwavering commitment to improving the human condition.
  Steve Mahle received his bachelor of arts degree in physics from 
Beloit College in 1967 and his master's degree in physics from 
Pennsylvania State University in 1969. He served in the U.S. Army, 
where he held the rank of Captain while serving as a research scientist 
at NASA's Manned Spacecraft Center in Houston.
  In 1972, Steve Mahle began what would become a highly successful 37-
year career with Medtronic, Inc. where he held numerous leadership 
positions, including serving as president of Cardiac Rhythm Disease 
Management, CRDM.
  Steve played a key leadership role in many important milestones in 
cardiac rhythm disease innovation. He was the product development 
manager on the first Medtronic pacemaker programmer, and was 
instrumental in developing the world's first rate responsive single 
chamber pacemaker, which revolutionized and advanced cardiac pacing 
technology.
  He expanded Medtronic's international presence and was an integral 
part of growing the implantable cardioverter defibrillator business in 
the late 1990s. He is credited with creating cardiac resynchronization 
therapies that address heart failure, as well as establishing CareLink, 
a patient management system, that now serves more than a quarter of a 
million patients in the United States. Under his leadership the CRDM 
business grew from $500 million to just under $5 billion.
  Madam Speaker let us join his friends, family, and colleagues in 
congratulating Stephen H. Mahle on his many accomplishments, and wish 
him well as he begins his retirement from a lifetime of leadership and 
innovation, and starts the next chapter in his life where he will 
undoubtedly continue his own personal mission to ``make a difference in 
the lives of people throughout the world.''

                          ____________________