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 Mis-
sissippi, 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. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Air America Act of 
2020’’. 
SEC. 2. AIR AMERICA. 
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 
(1) Air America, Incorporated (referred to in 
this section as ‘‘Air America’’) and its related cover 
corporate entities were wholly owned and controlled 
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by the United States Government and directed and 
managed by the Department of Defense, the Depart-
ment of State, and the Central Intelligence Agency 
from 1950 to 1976. 
(2) Air America, a corporation owned by the 
Government of the United States, constituted a 
‘‘Government corporation’’, as defined in section 103 
of title 5, United States Code. 
(3) It is established that the employees of Air 
America and the other entities described in para-
graph (1) were Federal employees. 
(4) The employees of Air America were retro-
actively excluded from the definition of the term 
‘‘employee’’ under section 2105 of title 5, United 
States Code, on the basis of an administrative policy 
change in paperwork requirements implemented by 
the Office of Personnel Management 10 years after 
the service of the employees had ended and, by ex-
tension, were retroactively excluded from the defini-
tion of the term ‘‘employee’’ under section 8331 of 
title 5, United States Code, for retirement credit 
purposes. 
(5) The employees of Air America were paid as 
Federal employees, with salaries subject to— 
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(A) the General Schedule under subchapter 
III of chapter 53 of title 5, United States Code; 
and 
(B) the rates of basic pay payable to mem-
bers 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 air-
men and allied refugee evacuations; and 
(C) lengthy periods of service in chal-
lenging circumstances abroad. 
(b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 
(1) the term ‘‘affiliated company’’, with respect 
to Air America, includes Air Asia Company Limited, 
CAT Incorporated, Civil Air Transport Company 
Limited, and the Pacific Division of Southern Air 
Transport; and 
(2) the term ‘‘qualifying service’’ means service 
that— 
(A) was performed by a United States cit-
izen as an employee of Air America or an affili-
ated company during the period beginning on 
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