By Dan Spalding
News Now Warsaw
WARSAW — Second District Congressman Rudy Yakym met with workers at Zimmer Biomet in Warsaw on Tuesday as part of a district-wide tour touting President Trump’s ‘One Big Beautiful Bill,’ which was recently signed into law.
Yakym is a member of the House Ways and Means committee that helped shape the bill.
He told the Warsaw workers that the large-scale legislation includes tax incentives for research and development efforts that will benefit the orthopedic industry.
As Yakym points out, the medtech sector “is only as good as its next innovation.”
The bill added a sense of permanence to the R&D policy, which should provide industry leaders with increased confidence in terms of planning.
“To have the R&D provisions be permanent so that we’re not coming back here again in three to five or seven years, having the same conversations with my colleagues, we solved it for once and for all because we were able to make it permanent through our One Big Beautiful Bill,” Yakym said, drawing applause from the crowd.
Yakym also took questions from workers.
One man thanked Yakym for assisting in his wife’s ongoing efforts to gain citizenship, but then went on to ask him to justify supporting policies that have left many people in fear.
Even though she’s on a path toward legal immigration, he said the entire family is fearful and that when she does leave the house, she takes a packet to document her status if questioned.
Yakym responded, saying that he’s pleased that Trump has quickly sealed the southern border and emphasized that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) should not ge detaining those who are not criminals and who are on a path toward citizenship.
He said Trump’s efforts are three-fold: Seal the border. Deport undocumented citizens and then pass some kind of immigration reform effort.
Yakym said he does not support ICE agents taking people into custody who are in good standing and said repeatedly that his office is available to help anyone in the district.
“If you are here illegally and you commit a crime and you’re being deported, adios. Sorry – not sorry. But if you’re here legally and you’re having a problem, give me a call.”
News Now Warsaw talked with Yakym after the event and asked several questions, including if he is concerned about the latest report that shows inflation rising as well s increased grocery prices.
He blamed former President Joe Biden.
“We’ve stopped all of these additional trillion-dollar spending packages over and above all our normal appropriations process. That’s really what caused inflation to begin with, and we’re excited to see the numbers continue to come down,” Yakym said.
Orthopedic companies, including Zimmer Biomet, have recently updated their projections on charges incurred over increased tariffs, some of which have been reduced significantly since Trump began instituting hikes in tariffs across the globe.
Yakym, noting that trade and tariffs are a crucial issue for the district’s expansive manufacturing base, said he wants to see more tariff agreements reached soon so that businesses have a sense of predictability in what to expect.
“There are still deals to be negotiated and need to be finalized. But what you are seeing … is that a lot of trade deals have been negotiated and more are coming,” Yakym said.
Audio
