Air America Act of 2021

To provide redress to the employees of Air America. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Air America Act of 2021 2. Air America (a) Findings Congress finds the following: (1) Air America, Incorporated (referred to in this section as Air America (2) Air America, a corporation owned by the Government of the United States, constituted a Government corporation (3) It is established that the employees of Air America and the other entities described in paragraph (1) were Federal employees. (4) The employees of Air America were retroactively excluded from the definition of the term employee employee (5) The employees of Air America were paid as Federal employees, with salaries subject to— (A) the General Schedule under subchapter III of chapter 53 (B) the rates of basic pay payable to members of the Armed Forces. (6) The service and sacrifice of the employees of Air America included— (A) suffering a high rate of casualties in the course of employment; (B) saving thousands of lives in search and rescue missions for downed United States airmen and allied refugee evacuations; and (C) lengthy periods of service in challenging circumstances abroad. (b) Definitions In this section— (1) the term affiliated company (2) the term qualifying service (A) was performed by a United States citizen as an employee of Air America or an affiliated company during the period beginning on January 1, 1950, and ending on December 31, 1976; and (B) is documented in the attorney-certified corporate records of Air America or any affiliated company. (c) Treatment as Federal Employment Any period of qualifying service— (1) is deemed to have been service of an employee (as defined in section 2105 of title 5, United States Code) with the Federal Government; and (2) shall be treated as creditable service by an employee for purposes of subchapter III of chapter 83 (d) Rights An individual who performed qualifying service, or a survivor of such an individual, shall be entitled to the rights, retroactive as applicable, provided to employees and their survivors for creditable service under the Civil Service Retirement System under subchapter III of chapter 83 (e) Deduction, Contribution, and Deposit Requirements The deposit of funds in the Treasury of the United States made by Air America in the form of a lump-sum payment apportioned in part to the Civil Service Disability and Retirement Fund in 1976 is deemed to satisfy the deduction, contribution, and deposit requirements under section 8334 of title 5, United States Code, with respect to all periods of qualifying service. (f) Application Time Limit Section 8345(i)(2) of title 5, United States Code, shall be applied with respect to the death of an individual who performed qualifying service by substituting 2 years after the effective date under section 2(g) of the Air America Act of 2021 30 years after the death or other event which gives rise to title to the benefit (g) Effective Date This section shall take effect on the date that is 30 days after the date of enactment of this Act.

Summary: Air America Act of 2021 This bill establishes the service of Air America employees as qualifying service for purposes of the Civil Service Retirement System. (Air America was a government-owned airline that provided air transport for certain covert operations in Southeast Asia, including Laos and Vietnam, between 1950 and 1976.) The bill applies to U.S. citizens who were employees of Air America or another affiliated company, as specified, between January 1, 1950 and December 31, 1976. Benefit applications must be filed within two years of the date of enactment of this bill.