I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 8801 

To provide redress to the employees of Air America. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 20, 2020 

Mr. GROTHMAN (for himself, Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York, Mrs. 

DEMINGS, Mr. MAST, Mr. GALLEGO, Mr. LYNCH, Mr. KELLY of Mississippi, Ms. NORTON, Mr. STEWART, Ms. BROWNLEY of California, Mr. 

BILIRAKIS, Mr. BYRNE, and Mr. WALTZ) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Reform 

A BILL 

To provide redress to the employees of Air America. 

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 2020’’. 

6 SEC. 2. AIR AMERICA. 

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) Air America, Incorporated (referred to in 

9 this section as ‘‘Air America’’) and its related cover 

10 corporate entities were wholly owned and controlled 


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1 by the United States Government and directed and 

2 managed by the Department of Defense, the Depart3 ment of State, and the Central Intelligence Agency 

4 from 1950 to 1976. 

5 (2) Air America, a corporation owned by the 

6 Government of the United States, constituted a 

7 ‘‘Government corporation’’, as defined in section 103 

8 of title 5, United States Code. 

9 (3) It is established that the employees of Air 

10 America and the other entities described in para11 graph (1) were Federal employees. 

12 (4) The employees of Air America were retro13 actively excluded from the definition of the term 

14 ‘‘employee’’ under section 2105 of title 5, United 

15 States Code, on the basis of an administrative policy 

16 change in paperwork requirements implemented by 

17 the Office of Personnel Management 10 years after 

18 the service of the employees had ended and, by ex19 tension, were retroactively excluded from the defini20 tion of the term ‘‘employee’’ under section 8331 of 

21 title 5, United States Code, for retirement credit 

22 purposes. 

23 (5) The employees of Air America were paid as 

24 Federal employees, with salaries subject to— 


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1 (A) the General Schedule under subchapter 

2 III of chapter 53 of title 5, United States Code; 

3 and 

4 (B) the rates of basic pay payable to mem5 bers of the Armed Forces. 

6 (6) The service and sacrifice of the employees 

7 of Air America included— 

8 (A) suffering a high rate of casualties in 

9 the course of employment; 

10 (B) saving thousands of lives in search and 

11 rescue missions for downed United States air12 men and allied refugee evacuations; and 

13 (C) lengthy periods of service in chal14 lenging circumstances abroad. 

15 (b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 

16 (1) the term ‘‘affiliated company’’, with respect 

17 to Air America, includes Air Asia Company Limited, 

18 CAT Incorporated, Civil Air Transport Company 

19 Limited, and the Pacific Division of Southern Air 

20 Transport; and 

21 (2) the term ‘‘qualifying service’’ means service 

22 that— 

23 (A) was performed by a United States cit24 izen as an employee of Air America or an affili25 ated company during the period beginning on 


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

2 1976; and 

3 (B) is documented in the attorney-certified 

4 corporate records of Air America or any affili5 ated company. 

6 (c) TREATMENT AS FEDERAL EMPLOYMENT.—Any 

7 period of qualifying service— 

8 (1) is deemed to have been service of an em9 ployee (as defined in section 2105 of title 5, United 

10 States Code) with the Federal Government; and 

11 (2) shall be treated as creditable service by an 

12 employee for purposes of subchapter III of chapter 

13 83 of title 5, United States Code. 

14 (d) RIGHTS.—An individual who performed quali15 fying service, or a survivor of such an individual, shall be 

16 entitled to the rights, retroactive as applicable, provided 

17 to employees and their survivors for creditable service 

18 under the Civil Service Retirement System under sub19 chapter III of chapter 83 of title 5, United States Code, 

20 with respect to that qualifying service. 

21 (e) DEDUCTION, CONTRIBUTION, AND DEPOSIT RE22 QUIREMENTS.—The deposit of funds in the Treasury of 

23 the United States made by Air America in the form of 

24 a lump-sum payment apportioned in part to the Civil Serv25 ice Disability and Retirement Fund in 1976 is deemed to 


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1 satisfy the deduction, contribution, and deposit require2 ments under section 8334 of title 5, United States Code, 

3 with respect to all periods of qualifying service. 

4 (f) APPLICATION TIME LIMIT.—Section 8345(i)(2) of 

5 title 5, United States Code, shall be applied with respect 

6 to the death of an individual who performed qualifying 

7 service by substituting ‘‘2 years after the effective date 

8 under section 2(g) of the Air America Act of 2020’’ for 

9 ‘‘30 years after the death or other event which gives rise 

10 to title to the benefit’’. 

11 (g) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section shall take effect 

12 on the date that is 30 days after the date of enactment 

13 of this Act. 

Æ 


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