[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 19]
[House]
[Page 26540]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1400
                              HEALTH CARE

  (Mr. CHAFFETZ asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. CHAFFETZ. Mr. Speaker, one of the most troubling realities of the 
Nancy Pelosi health care bill is a new tax on medical devices. The so-
called wheelchair tax imposes a new 2.5 percent tax increase at the 
very time American families don't need and don't want a tax increase.
  Yes, the Pelosi bill includes a new 2.5 percent excise tax on the 
sale of medical devices in the United States. It will cover everything 
from bandages to prosthetics, from glucose monitors to crutches, from 
hearing aids to pacemakers, and even thermometers to syringes.
  Weren't we told that there wouldn't be even one dime--not one dime--
of a tax increase for those earning less than $250,000 a year?
  This bill adds a tax increase that will hit each and every American. 
It will affect jobs in this country, and it will affect your ability to 
buy the very things that you need for your children, for your parents, 
for your own families.
  Think about all of the medical devices that you use within your 
family.

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