University of California President Janet Napolitano issued today (March 27) the following statement on the $2 trillion bipartisan CARES Act:
Congress has passed and the President has signed into law an unprecedented spending bill that will allow the University of California to begin to meet extraordinary challenges during this pandemic.
The CARES Act provides much-needed fiscal relief and funding to our health centers treating COVID-19 patients so that they will be able to purchase additional masks, gloves and other equipment desperately needed to protect the nurses, doctors and other medical professionals on the frontlines of this fight.
The law will also help ensure that UC students receive the necessary financial support to continue pursuing their education, while providing our researchers additional resources to combat this virus by further exploring possible treatments and a vaccine.
I would like to recognize Congress for working together to pass this emergency spending package, but acknowledge that more will need to be done before this global health crisis passes. I want to applaud Speaker Nancy Pelosi, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, our California Senators Dianne Feinstein and Kamala Harris, as well as all the members of the California Congressional delegation for working across party lines to come together and support legislation that will help Californians during this time of incredible need.
I would also like to thank all of UC’s dedicated medical and clinical professionals, researchers, and those who are keeping our education enterprise running at this very difficult juncture. Though it will take time, we will weather this storm and come out much stronger on the other side.