House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) called reports about the little-used airport named after Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.) “appalling— and said the ethics committee should look at the relationship between defunct lobbying firm PMA Group and key lawmakers at his weekly press conference Thursday morning.

After he was asked about reports that a formal complaint would be filed with the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct regarding PMA, Boehner stopped short of saying that he or other Republicans would file a complaint.

“The ethics committee can initiate any kind of inquiry on its own,— Boehner said.

But Boehner specifically targeted the Johnstown, Pa., airport in Murtha’s district. Murtha also has been linked to PMA, the subject of an FBI raid last November. The veteran appropriator has provided millions of dollars in earmarks for PMA clients and has received hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from the former lobbying firm and its clients.

“When you’ve got more people working at the airport than you’ve got passengers flying on the plane, and the taxpayers are picking up the tab, this is outrageous,— Boehner said. “The ethics committee has a job to do, and I hope they do it.—