[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 19]
[House]
[Page 26543]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              HEALTH CARE

  (Mr. PAULSEN asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. PAULSEN. Mr. Speaker, with the new health care bill that spends 
$1 trillion and creates over 100 new bureaucracies and projects, I 
believe all the focus is in the wrong place.
  The bill still raises taxes on small business, hitting many with a 
5.4 percent surtax when they are struggling in a tough economy. The 
bill imposes a new tax on medical devices, which will increase costs 
for patients by adding costs on hearing aids, bandages, and 
wheelchairs. This will also result in lost jobs for medical technology 
companies that employ over 20,000 people in my State of Minnesota.
  The bill will hurt seniors with $500 billion of cuts to Medicare, 
including eliminating Medicare Advantage programs for over 19,000 
seniors in my district. Mr. Speaker, we shouldn't ram through a 2,000-
page bill on the backs of small businesses and seniors.
  There is a better way. We should be working on commonsense reforms 
that will actually lower premiums for families, individuals, and small 
businesses.

                          ____________________