WASHINGTON, D.C.—Chairman John D. (Jay) Rockefeller IV issued the following statement after House leaders insisted they hold a House-Senate conference committee meeting on the payroll tax:

“Although I think the smart thing for the House to do is vote for the bipartisan payroll extension approved by 90 percent of the Senate on Saturday, I am at least pleased that Speaker Boehner has embraced the conference concept.  I have been pressing my colleagues in the House to appoint conferees on the FAA bill for nearly 10 months.  They have repeatedly refused, instead preferring to shut down the entire FAA system and make do with stopgap short-term funding extensions.  If the House leadership believes that conference committees are now appropriate, I hope they will move toward a conference on FAA as well, since the current extension expires next month.”

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