WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--Modernizing the outdated U.S. air traffic control system should be a top priority for industry regulators and members, lawmakers said at a hearing Wednesday on the Federal Aviation Administration's long-running modernization project known as "NextGen."

House Transportation and Infrastructure Chair James Oberstar (D-Minn.) says he is prepared to wait for a short time before bringing the FAA reauthorization bill for a full House vote, to see if the amounts in the bill align with the White House proposal. But he says he will not wait until June, as the House calendar gets very congested around that time. He stresses he will not include any user-fee language in the House version of the bill, even if the White House does so in its proposal.