On behalf of the University of California, I urge Congress to move swiftly to pass the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act -- legislation that will create jobs and provide much needed economic relief to California, students and families.

UC is pleased that Congress recognizes that higher education institutions, like the University of California, have a key role in our nation's economic recovery and are part of the solution for putting our country on the path to economic prosperity.

The student financial aid funding provided in this bill will help alleviate of the economic burden many students and families in California are currently feeling. The university estimates that current UC students will receive approximately $22 million in additional aid and 2,000 new students will be eligible to receive Pell Grants. Funding higher education and ensuring access is a valuable investment that leads to an educated work force and more robust tax revenues.

I applaud Congress for providing robust funding that will allow UC researchers to expand their efforts to develop scientific and technological groundbreaking solutions that are saving lives, solving the climate change crisis and helping our economy grow. The strong research funding in this bill will help universities such as UC continue developing the innovations that are a crucial underpinning of economic growth.

I am particularly pleased that funds provided to states to restore cuts made in education in recent years will be available for school modernization as well. Investment in infrastructure will create jobs immediately and provide economic opportunities in our campus communities, while greatly assisting universities, like UC, which have seen severe reductions in capital budgets. UC estimates that for every $100 million invested in infrastructure, an additional $100 million in associated economic activity is generated, and about 3,400 jobs are created. UC will work closely with Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger on the distribution of funds and to highlight the cost-effective benefits of ongoing investments in higher education infrastructure.

The University of California is the fifth-largest health care system in California and one of the state's largest providers of health care to low-income, medically vulnerable patients. Each year, we provide 137,000 inpatient admissions, 261,000 emergency room visits and 3.6 million outpatient visits. Congress' inclusion of a number of health care provisions will allow us to continue to provide high quality care to Californians.

The university recognizes the leadership and hard work of the California delegation on this important legislation, including Senators Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Chairman George Miller, Chairman Henry Waxman and Chairman Pete Stark and thanks them for their commitment to California, students, families and the university. This legislation will help stimulate the economy, while ensuring that California and the University of California continue to be leaders in education and innovation.

We urge Congress to swiftly pass the bill.

The University of California, recognized worldwide for its academic distinction, includes more than 220,000 students, 180,000 faculty and staff, and a $19 billion annual budget at its 10 campuses at Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Francisco, Santa Barbara and Santa Cruz. UC's five medical centers support the clinical teaching programs of the university's medical and health sciences schools and handle more than three million patient visits each year. The university offers programs in more than 150 disciplines, many of which are ranked among the top 10 nationally, and for the last 14 years has generated more patents than any other university in the nation. In addition to managing the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science, the UC system is also involved in managing DOE national laboratories at Livermore and Los Alamos, N.M.

For more information on the University of California, visit www.universityofcalifornia.edu.