Washington, DC – The House of Representatives will take up a bipartisan short-term extension of Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) programs on Tuesday in order to conclude negotiations on a long-term FAA bill.

“After Speaker Boehner and Senator Reid reached agreement Friday on labor provisions to require unprecedented reform and increased oversight of the National Mediation Board (NMB), I agreed to bring up this extension to provide the time necessary to complete work on a few remaining issues and comply with notification requirements for considering legislation,” said Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman John L. Mica (R-FL). “We must bring to conclusion a long-term FAA bill to help create jobs, modernize our nation’s aviation infrastructure and air traffic control system, and streamline and reform FAA programs as soon as possible.”

The short-term bill, to be introduced later today, is a simple extension of FAA programs through February 17, 2012, and contains no additional policy provisions. This will mark the 23rd time FAA programs have been extended since the expiration of the last long-term FAA law in 2007. 17 of these extensions were approved when both House of Congress were controlled by Democrats who failed to complete action on a much-needed long-term bill.

Update: the short-term extension (H.R. 3800) introduced on January 23, 2012 can be viewed by clicking here.

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