Boehner names conferees for payroll tax bill

House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) has appointed a mix of senior members and freshmen to serve on a payroll tax conference committee.

Boehner said Reps. Dave Camp (R-Mich.), Fred Upton (R-Mich.), Greg Walden (R-Ore.), Tom Price (R-Ga.), Kevin Brady (R-Texas), Renee Ellmers (R-N.C.), Nan Hayworth (R-N.Y.) and Tom Reed (R-N.Y.) are prepared to represent the House GOP in conference negotiations on the bill.

"A formal House-Senate conference committee can resolve the differences between our yearlong tax cut extension and Democrats’ short-term bill. We can avoid a needless tax hike on middle-class families if Senate Democrats will work with us and appoint negotiators to extend the payroll tax cut for another year and help create new jobs,” Boehner said in a statement.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) are refusing to appoint Democratic conferees and say the House should have an up-or-down vote on the Senate bill, which Reid negotiated with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).

The House voted Tuesday to establish a bicameral conference to sort out the differences between the payroll tax bills passed by the two chambers. The Senate bill would extend the tax cut and other measures for two months to buy time for more negotiations, while the House version would last for a year.

House Republicans say the Senate needs to return to Washington and hammer out a yearlong extension of the tax cut that can pass both chambers. 

Camp and Upton are powerful committee chairmen, while Ellmers, Hayworth and Reed are freshman members. Walden was chairman of the GOP transition after the 2010 election. Brady is chairman of a Trade subcommittee, while Price is chairman of the Policy Committee.

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