WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today Congressman David Wu released the following statement after the House Committee on Ways and Means completed their review of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which is being referred to as the economic stimulus legislation:

“I am excited to report that, after vigorously championing the health information technology workforce training language from my 10,000 Trained by 2010 Act, it has now been included in the current version of the economic stimulus legislation.  Health IT is a growing field that will provide well-paying new jobs while improving health care and reducing deaths from medical errors.  We are currently more than 40,000 workers short of the number needed to build, implement, and maintain health IT systems in our hospitals alone.  By including my bill’s language in the economic stimulus, we are providing the specific direction needed to train these essential, high-skilled workers.  This is a major victory for all of those who are committed to investing in job creation and in the technology that will drive our new economy.”