Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger Saturday issued the following statement on the need for comprehensive health care reform and the need for any reform measure to ensure that states are not placed with an unfair financial burden ...

"I have long supported comprehensive health care reform and I am very encouraged by the progress happening in Congress, moving the nation closer than ever before to fixing our broken health care system," Schwarzenegger said.

"But, while I believe that successful elements of reform have been proposed in one form or another, additional work is required to ensure the final reform package contains the necessary balance to ensure success," the governor added.

"Any reform must address our shared goals of slowing the growth in health care costs, improving the quality of care and providing health insurance coverage for the uninsured, while also ensuring states are not strapped with unfunded mandates and unfair costs," he said Saturday.

"Finding the appropriate balance will be the difference between success and failure, and I urge our federal partners on both sides of the political aisle to continue to work together to prevent this historic opportunity from slipping away."