II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 3047 

To award payments to employees of Air America who provided support to 

the United States from 1950 to 1976, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

OCTOBER 17, 2023 

Mr. RUBIO (for himself, Mr. WARNER, and Mr. CORNYN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Select Committee 

on Intelligence 

A BILL 

To award payments to employees of Air America who provided support to the United States from 1950 to 1976, 

and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Air America Act of 

5 2023’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) Air America and its affiliated companies, in 

9 coordination with the Central Intelligence Agency, 


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1 provided direct and indirect support to the United 

2 States Government from 1950 to 1976. 

3 (2) The service and sacrifice of employees of 

4 Air America included— 

5 (A) suffering a high rate of casualties in 

6 the course of service; 

7 (B) saving thousands of lives in search and 

8 rescue missions for downed United States air9 men and allied refugee evacuations; and 

10 (C) serving lengthy periods under chal11 lenging circumstances abroad. 

12 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

13 In this Act: 

14 (1) AFFILIATED COMPANY.—The term ‘‘affili15 ated company’’, with respect to Air America, in16 cludes Air Asia Company Limited, CAT Incor17 porated, Civil Air Transport Company Limited, and 

18 the Pacific Division of Southern Air Transport. 

19 (2) AIR AMERICA.—The term ‘‘Air America’’ 

20 means Air America, Incorporated. 

21 (3) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT22 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com23 mittees’’ means— 

24 (A) the Committee on Homeland Security 

25 and Governmental Affairs, the Select ComVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:36 Oct 18, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3047.IS S3047

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1 mittee on Intelligence, and the Committee on 

2 Appropriations of the Senate; and 

3 (B) the Committee on Oversight and Ac4 countability, the Permanent Select Committee 

5 on Intelligence, and the Committee on Appro6 priations of the House of Representatives. 

7 (4) CHILD; DEPENDENT; WIDOW; WIDOWER.— 

8 The terms ‘‘child’’, ‘‘dependent’’, ‘‘widow’’, and 

9 ‘‘widower’’ have the meanings given those terms in 

10 section 8341(a) of title 5, United States Code, ex11 cept that section shall be applied by substituting 

12 ‘‘individual who performed qualifying service’’ for 

13 ‘‘employee or Member’’. 

14 (5) COVERED DECEDENT.—The term ‘‘covered 

15 decedent’’ means an individual who was killed in 

16 Southeast Asia while supporting operations of the 

17 Central Intelligence Agency during the period begin18 ning on January 1, 1950, and ending on December 

19 31, 1976, as a United States citizen employee of Air 

20 America or an affiliated company. 

21 (6) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means 

22 the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency. 

23 (7) QUALIFYING SERVICE.— The term ‘‘quali24 fying service’’ means service that— 


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1 (A) was performed by a United States cit2 izen as an employee of Air America or an affili3 ated company during the period beginning on 

4 January 1, 1950, and ending on December 31, 

5 1976; and 

6 (B) is documented in— 

7 (i) the corporate records of Air Amer8 ica or an affiliated company; 

9 (ii) records possessed by the United 

10 States Government; or 

11 (iii) the personal records of a former 

12 employee of Air America or an affiliated 

13 company that are verified by the United 

14 States Government. 

15 (8) SURVIVOR.—The term ‘‘survivor’’means— 

16 (A) the widow or widower of— 

17 (i) an individual who performed quali18 fying service; or 

19 (ii) a covered decedent; or 

20 (B) an individual who, at any time during 

21 or since the period of qualifying service, or on 

22 the date of death of a covered decedent, was a 

23 dependent or child of— 

24 (i) the individual who performed such 

25 qualifying service; or 


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1 (ii) the covered decedent. 

2 SEC. 4. AWARD AUTHORIZED TO ELIGIBLE PERSONS. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the limitation in sub4 section (d), the Director shall provide an award payment 

5 of $40,000 under this section— 

6 (1) to an individual who performed qualifying 

7 service for a period of greater than or equal to 5 

8 years or to a survivor of such individual; or 

9 (2) to the survivor of a covered decedent. 

10 (b) REQUIREMENTS.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible for a payment 

12 under this subsection, an individual who performed 

13 qualifying service or survivor (as the case may be) 

14 must demonstrate to the satisfaction of the Director 

15 that the individual whose qualifying service upon 

16 which the payment is based meets the criteria of 

17 paragraph (1) or (2) of subsection (a). 

18 (2) RELIANCE ON RECORDS.—In carrying out 

19 this subsection, in addition to any evidence provided 

20 by such an individual or survivor, the Director may 

21 rely on records possessed by the United States Gov22 ernment. 

23 (c) ADDITIONAL PAYMENT.—If an individual, or in 

24 the case of a survivor, the individual whose qualifying 

25 service upon which the payment is based, can demonstrate 


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1 to the Director that the qualifying service of the individual 

2 exceeded 5 years, the Director shall pay to such individual 

3 or survivor an additional $8,000 for each full year in ex4 cess of 5 years (and a proportionate amount for a partial 

5 year). 

6 (d) SURVIVORS.—In the case of an award granted to 

7 a survivor under this section, the payment shall be made— 

8 (1) to the surviving widow or widower; or 

9 (2) if there is no surviving widow or widower, 

10 to the surviving dependent or child, in equal shares. 

11 SEC. 5. FUNDING LIMITATION. 

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—The total amount of awards 

13 granted under this Act may not exceed $60,000,000. 

14 (b) REQUESTS FOR ADDITIONAL FUNDS.—If, at the 

15 determination of the Director, the amount of funds re16 quired to satisfy all valid applications for payment under 

17 this Act exceeds the limitation set forth in subsection (a), 

18 the Director shall submit to Congress a request for suffi19 cient funds to fulfill all remaining payments. 

20 (c) AWARDS TO EMPLOYEES OF INTERMOUNTAIN

21 AVIATION.—The Director may determine, on a case-by22 case basis, to award amounts to individuals who performed 

23 service consistent with the definition of qualifying service 

24 as employees of Intermountain Aviation. 


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1 SEC. 6. TIME LIMITATION. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible for an award pay3 ment under this Act, a claimant must file a claim for such 

4 payment with the Director not later than 2 years after 

5 the effective date of the regulations prescribed by the Di6 rector in accordance with section 7. 

7 (b) DETERMINATION.—Not later than 90 days after 

8 receiving a claim for an award payment under this section, 

9 the Director shall determine the eligibility of the claimant 

10 for payment. 

11 (c) PAYMENT.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—If the Director determines 

13 that the claimant is eligible for the award payment, 

14 the Director shall pay the award payment not later 

15 than 60 days after the date of such determination. 

16 (2) LUMP-SUM PAYMENT.—The Director shall 

17 issue each payment as a one-time lump sum pay18 ment contingent upon the timely filing of the claim19 ant under this section. 

20 (3) NOTICE AND DELAYS.—The Director shall 

21 notify the appropriate congressional committees of 

22 any delays in making an award payment not later 

23 than 30 days after the date such payment is due. 


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1 SEC. 7. APPLICATION PROCEDURES. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall prescribe pro3 cedures to carry out this Act, which shall include processes 

4 under which— 

5 (1) claimants may submit claims for payment 

6 under this Act; 

7 (2) the Director will award the amounts under 

8 section 4; and 

9 (3) claimants can obtain redress and appeal de10 terminations under section 6. 

11 (b) OTHER MATTERS.—Such procedures— 

12 (1) shall be— 

13 (A) prescribed not later than 60 days after 

14 the date of the enactment of this Act; and 

15 (B) published in the Code of Federal Reg16 ulations; and 

17 (2) shall not be subject to chapter 5 of title 5, 

18 United States Code. 

19 SEC. 8. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 

20 Nothing in this Act shall be construed to— 

21 (1) entitle any person to Federal benefits, in22 cluding retirement benefits under chapter 83 or 84 

23 of title 5, United States Code, and disability or 

24 death benefits under chapter 81 of such title; 

25 (2) change the legal status of the former Air 

26 America corporation or any affiliated company; or 


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1 (3) create any legal rights, benefits, or entitle2 ments beyond the one-time award authorized by this 

3 Act. 

4 SEC. 9. ATTORNEYS’ AND AGENTS’ FEES. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—It shall be unlawful for more than 

6 25 percent of an award paid pursuant to this Act to be 

7 paid to, or received by, any agent or attorney for any serv8 ice rendered to a person who receives an award under sec9 tion 4, in connection with the award under this Act. 

10 (b) VIOLATION.—Any agent or attorney who violates 

11 subsection (a) shall be fined under title 18, United States 

12 Code. 

13 SEC. 10. NO JUDICIAL REVIEW. 

14 A determination by the Director pursuant to this Act 

15 is final and conclusive and shall not be subject to judicial 

16 review. 

17 SEC. 11. REPORTS TO CONGRESS. 

18 Until the date that all funds available for awards 

19 under this Act are expended, the Director shall submit to 

20 the appropriate congressional committees a semiannual re21 port describing the numbers of award payments made and 

22 denied during the 180 days preceding the submission of 

23 the report, including the rationales for any denials, and 

24 if, at the determination of the Director, the amount of 


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1 funds provided to carry out this Act are insufficient to 

2 satisfy any remaining or anticipated claims. 

Æ 


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