mr. paulsen: mr. speaker i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. paulsen: mr. speaker and members defibrillators, operating room monitors, insulin pumps, pace makers, artificial hips, x-ray machines, ventilators and ultrasound machines -- these are life-improving and life-saving technologies that have reduced costs for the improved health of millions of americans. unfortunately the president's health care law implemented a new tax on all of these innovative devices, a tax on medical devices. only in washington, mr. speaker, would you impose a tax on life-saving medical technology and think you will actually reduce health care costs. this is bad tax policy and it needs to be repealed. the medical device industry is truly an american success story. employing more than 400,000 people. in my state of michigan 35,000 people are employed in this industry. 400 companies alone in the state of minnesota. 80,000 of device manufacturers are small busin

mr. paulsen: i yield one minute to mr. benishek, a physician who works with patients each and every day. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. benishek: i urge my colleagues to support h.r. 160 the protect innovation act. it will permanently repeal the misguided excise tax on medical devices that was imposed by the president's health care law. i'm a co-sponsor of this important legislation along with 280 members of this house of representatives. in the 113th congress, the senate endorsed getting rid of this burdensome tax by an overwhelming margin. it's time for this tax to go. the medical device tax discourages innovation lowers the quality of medical care available to the american people and cuts jobs while driving production overseas. companies in my district are being harmed by this burdensome tax. instead of hamstringing these manufactures, we should allow them to create new medical devices and create jobs. i know how important medical devicesr for providing quality health care and getting rid of t

mr. paulsen: mr. speaker, behind every man and woman in uniform serving our country are family members, husbands wifes, mothers fathers, brothers sisters, sons daughters and other family members who make sacrifices as members of military families. recently i attended the dedication of a new minnesota military family tribute that's now part of the capitol mall area in minnesota at our state capitol. it's built entirely with private donations. it commemorates the military gold star families, blue star families and families of our veterans. this memorial is the first of its kind in the country and it recognizes the military family members that do so much to support our service men and women and our veterans. being a member of a military family comes with many sacrifices. it means many sleepless nights during deployment, it means unexpected moves around the country and serving as the front line resource when our soldiers transition into a new life. every military family does this proudly. mr. speaker, i c

mr. paulsen for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from minnesota is recognized for one minute. mr. paulsen: thank you mr. speaker, members. you know, it is difficult to overstate the importance of trade with other countries. you know, the benefits of trade are huge and enormous for our economy. if you take the trade we have, you add them, we have a trade surplus. if you take the trade agreements -- the nontrade agreements with the countries we don't have trade agreements with we have a deficit. efit us. there's no doubt that u.s. has been on the sidelines in recent years. this gets us back in the game, making us create a healthier economy here at home, changing and making sure that our status as a global leader will be right back on top, higher paying jobs, better paying jobs and this is an opportunity also, to make sure that united states is setting the rules for our economy for the world economy instead of china. mr. speaker, if you're for these things, you should be for this legislation. trad

mr. paulsen from minnesota. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. mr. paulsen: i thank the gentleman for bringing an additional trade legislation today that is very, very important. i rise in support of h.r. 1295, trade preferences act for a couple of key reasons because there are key important provisions that accomplish some critical goals. it extends the vital trade preferences with both africa through the african growth and opportunity act as well as haiti. and these investments now these preference programs provide vital opportunities for american investment for u.s. investment, long-term investment. these countries are asking for this investment for the long-term. it helps african workers and haitian workers and businesses establish themselves as developing countries to making sure they are going to be set for the global economy. mr. speaker, this is more about establishing soft power, strategic alliances and that's smart power. the legislation renews the generalized system of preferences program. this is another important program that reduces tarif

mr. paulsen: mr. speaker, it's time to personalize and modernize our health care system and bring it into the 21st century. we have an opportunity through the 21st century cures act to pass bipartisan reforms that will accelerate the discovery, development and deployment and delivery of life saving and life improving techniques and cures. the 21st century cures act is a result of bipartisan work to ensure that our regulatory system keeps pace with the advances we are seeing in our science and technology fields. 21st century cures will make a difference in people's lives. for the 10,000 known diseases there are only 500 f.d.a. approved treatments. by removing barriers to research and development modernizing clinical trials and in-- incorporating more patient perspectives, we can more effectively develop treatments and cures to fight cancer, alzheimer's and other diseases affecting millions of americans. mr. speaker, in the coming weeks, while the opportunity -- we'll have the opportunity to help bring

mr. paulsen: there is a special bond formed by service members and their military service dogs.rrently the department of defense is not required to bring these dogs home after they are retired and this means veterans are often forced to spend their own money to transport them back to the united states for adoption. that's why i introduced bipartisan legislation with my colleague, congresswoman krysten sinema, that would fix this problem by ensuring that military working dogs are returned to the united states for adoption. mr. speaker, there's a waiting list of over 1200 people looking to adopt these k-9 and ensuring our troops and veterans can easily adopt these dogs honors their service and their partnership. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentleman from california seek recognition? >> mr. speaker, i seek unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. mcnerney: i ask you to honor the service of john on his 5th birthday today. bor

mr. paulsen: well, madam speaker, i rise today to congratulate the chan hason high school baseball team with a 2-0 championship victory. the senior tossed a complete game shutout to clench the second state athletic title in the school's short history. it came courtesy of a tied in the third inning. in addition, they held lake hill north at bay. madam speaker baseball is a game of skill and mental toughness. it's clear that players from there have both. in addition, from the time spent on the practice field student athletes have to balance their work in the plass room and any family responsibilities they have as well. their dedication and commitment is commendable. congratulations to the baseball team on their state title, and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentlewoman from new mexico seek recognition? >> madam speaker, i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentlewoman is recognized for one minute. ms. lujan i rise to acknowled

mr. paulsen: tyler placed second in the essay competition and senior megan plumber faced fifth. the invite -- thesta competition asks students around the country to analyze the investment scenario in 1,000 words or fewer. tyler and megan both used their analytical skills they learned in their home school and their teacher. mr. speaker, as a member of the financial literacy caucus, i believe that our youth need more opportunities to learn how to effectively manage money in order to plan and achieve their financial goals. events like this will encourage our students to learn the ends and outs of our world economic views. once again, mr. speaker, i want to congratulate tyler and megan on their great opportunity to do so well in this competition. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentlelady from california seek recognition? ms. hahn: i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentlelady is recognized 1. -- is recognized for one minute. ms. hahn: thank yo

mr. paulsen: he was the survivor in the preliminary round when over 200 were eliminated. he spelled both of his names right in the nationally broadcast semifinal round on thursday and unfortunately came up just short of the finals after failing to score enough points on a written vocabulary point. the national spelling bee mr. speaker, showcases some of the brightest, most dedicated young students across the country and maxwell makes his community and the state of minnesota proud. to reach this stage of the spelling bee takes countless hours of hard work learning the skills and knowledge to be an accurate speller and for some that means reading the dictionary. he had folks all over the state of minnesota cheering him on and we congratulate him on his success and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the chair lays before the house the following personal requests. the clerk: leave of absence requested for mr. doyle of pennsylvania for today and mr. stewart of utah for today. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the requests are granted. t

mr. paulsen: mr. speaker, i rise to congratulate the wayzata boys and girls track team for winning the state championship. after coming up just short the two years, the trojans were boosted by strong performances from distance runners connor and jared. and i would zata was led by the second place finish in the long jump, a number of strong relay teams. it absolutely was a complete team effort. these athletes spent practice after practice pushing themselves and each other to reach their personal best. in addition every single one of these student athletes still managed to meet and excell at their other school family and social obligations. mr. speaker, the family teachers, friends and entire community are very proud of these highway champs. congratulations, coach aaron, and the wayzata girls track and field team. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields. for what purpose does the gentleman from texas seek recognition? veast mr. speaker i ask unanimous consent -- mr. poe: mr. speaker, i ask unanimo

mr. paulsen: thank you. it's difficult to overstate the importance of trade with other countries. you know, the benefits of trade are huge and enormous for our economy. if you take all the trade agreements that we have with other countries around the world, you add them, we have a trade surplus. if you take the trade agreements -- the nontrade agreements the countries we don't have trade agreements with, we have a deficit. so these agreements help us, they benefit us. there's no doubt that u.s. has been on the sidelines in recent years. this gets us back in the game, making us create a healthier economy here at home, changing and making sure that our status as a global leader will be right back on top, higher paying jobs, better paying jobs and this is an opportunity also, to make sure that united states is setting the rules for our economy for the world economy instead of china. mr. speaker, if you're for these things, you should be for this legislation. trade promotion authority allows these agreements to move forward with congressional oversight, and i yield back. the speaker p

mr. paulsen: winning title was no easy task for the eagles as it took back-to-back overtime wins in boththey were crowned champions. in the finals it even took a second overtime for junior kelly wolf tossed in the winning goal with just over 1:00 left to deliver the title to eden prairie. mr. speaker, in order to be the high enough level to win a state championship, these student athletes must devote countless hours, honing their athletic skills while still exceling in the classroom and juggling family and social responsibilities. parents, family, friends and fans and the entire eden prairie community is very proud of these high school athletes. once again, congratulations to the eden prairie girls la crosse team on a job well done. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the house will be in order. members please remove your conversations from the floor. for what purpose does the gentleman from pennsylvania seek recognition? without objection the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> it's my great pleasure to congratulate not one but two pennsylvani

mr. paulsen: she served on the bloomington school board for 33 years and volunteered for many year, but the longevity of arlene's service is just part of the story. arlene was known for the kindness she showed to everyone that she interacted with. superintendent of bloomington schools remember how arlene always approached decisions that the school board faced by asking what is best for the children. . she was a fixture at school events and the on a all art competition. she often took the time to tag along with myself when i visited schools. arlene's positive, kind and supportive spirit was contagious to those around her. her legacy will be remembered far beyond the bloomington school board meeting room and the minnesota school board association award that bears her name. my condolences go out to arlene's family, to the bloomington public schools and to the entire bloomington community who mourn the loss of arlene but who celebrate a wonderful public servant. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentlewoman from t