Washington - Today, U.S. Senators Frank R. Lautenberg (D-NJ) and Robert Menendez (D-NJ) announced that the Senate Appropriations Committee has approved legislation to provide back pay for Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) workers furloughed earlier this summer, including nearly 650 New Jersey workers. The back pay was included as part of the Transportation-Housing and Urban Development (T-HUD) funding bill cleared through the Committee on Wednesday. As a member of the T-HUD Subcommittee, Lautenberg helped craft the bill and the provision for the FAA workers.

"This summer, hundreds of FAA workers in New Jersey lost their paychecks as a result of a shameless Republican stunt," said Lautenberg, a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee. "Now, the Senate is taking action to correct that wrong and provide back pay for furloughed FAA workers. These hard working men and women should never have been used as pawns in a political game, and the House of Representatives must work with us to provide this back pay."

"Today, 650 hard working men and women in New Jersey are one step closer to getting the back pay they deserve," said Menendez, who visited workers at the Tech Center in Atlantic City in August. "It's time now for members of the House to earn their pay and get this fixed once and for all."

In July, a partial shutdown of the FAA occurred after House Republicans refused to consider an extension of FAA funding unless it included controversial and divisive policy provisions. As a result, 650 professionals at the FAA Tech Center outside Atlantic City and thousands of workers around the country were furloughed. Those workers would be eligible for back pay if the legislation approved in Committee this week becomes law. The full Senate must now approve the bill.

Senators Lautenberg and Menendez are also cosponsors of a bill toprovide back payto the furloughed workers.

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