I 
118TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 6049 
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 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
OCTOBER 25, 2023 
Mr. GROTHMAN (for himself, Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin, Ms. NORTON, Mr. 
WALTZ, Mr. TRONE, Ms. SALAZAR, Mr. TIFFANY, Ms. KELLY of Illinois, 
Mr. LAMALFA, Mr. SMITH of Washington, Ms. WILLIAMS of Georgia, Mr. 
VALADAO, Mr. GARAMENDI, Mr. TAKANO, Ms. ESCOBAR, Ms. TENNEY, 
Mr. BOST, Mr. COSTA, Ms. TITUS, Ms. LEE of Nevada, Mr. MRVAN, Mr. 
GIMENEZ, Mr. CARBAJAL, Mr. NADLER, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Mr. 
MOOLENAAR, Mr. PAPPAS, Mr. CARSON, Mr. KILMER, Ms. BROWNLEY, 
and Mr. TONY GONZALES of Texas) introduced the following bill; which 
was referred to the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence 
A BILL 
To award payments to employees of Air America who pro-
vided support to the United States from 1950 to 1976, 
and for other purposes. 
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 
2023’’. 
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SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) Air America and its affiliated companies, in 
coordination with the Central Intelligence Agency, 
provided direct and indirect support to the United 
States Government from 1950 to 1976. 
(2) The service and sacrifice of employees of 
Air America included— 
(A) suffering a high rate of casualties in 
the course of service; 
(B) saving thousands of lives in search and 
rescue missions for downed United States air-
men and allied refugee evacuations; and 
(C) serving lengthy periods under chal-
lenging circumstances abroad. 
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) AFFILIATED COMPANY.—The term ‘‘affili-
ated company’’, with respect to Air America, in-
cludes Air Asia Company Limited, CAT Incor-
porated, Civil Air Transport Company Limited, and 
the Pacific Division of Southern Air Transport. 
(2) AIR AMERICA.—The term ‘‘Air America’’ 
means Air America, Incorporated. 
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(3) APPROPRIATE
CONGRESSIONAL
COMMIT-
TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com-
mittees’’ means— 
(A) the Committee on Homeland Security 
and Governmental Affairs, the Select Com-
mittee on Intelligence, and the Committee on 
Appropriations of the Senate; and 
(B) the Committee on Oversight and Ac-
countability, the Permanent Select Committee 
on Intelligence, and the Committee on Appro-
priations of the House of Representatives. 
(4) CHILD; DEPENDENT; WIDOW; WIDOWER.— 
The terms ‘‘child’’, ‘‘dependent’’, ‘‘widow’’, and 
‘‘widower’’ have the meanings given those terms in 
section 8341(a) of title 5, United States Code, ex-
cept that section shall be applied by substituting 
‘‘individual who performed qualifying service’’ for 
‘‘employee or Member’’. 
(5) COVERED DECEDENT.—The term ‘‘covered 
decedent’’ means an individual who was killed in 
Southeast Asia while supporting operations of the 
Central Intelligence Agency during the period begin-
ning on January 1, 1950, and ending on December 
31, 1976, as a United States citizen employee of Air 
America or an affiliated company. 
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(6) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means 
the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency. 
(7) QUALIFYING
SERVICE.—The term ‘‘quali-
fying 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 
January 1, 1950, and ending on December 31, 
1976; and 
(B) is documented in— 
(i) the corporate records of Air Amer-
ica or an affiliated company; 
(ii) records possessed by the United 
States Government; or 
(iii) the personal records of a former 
employee of Air America or an affiliated 
company that are verified by the United 
States Government. 
(8) SURVIVOR.—The term ‘‘survivor’’means— 
(A) the widow or widower of— 
(i) an individual who performed quali-
fying service; or 
(ii) a covered decedent; or 
(B) an individual who, at any time during 
or since the period of qualifying service, or on 
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the date of death of a covered decedent, was a 
dependent or child of— 
(i) the individual who performed such 
qualifying service; or 
(ii) the covered decedent. 
SEC. 4. AWARD AUTHORIZED TO ELIGIBLE PERSONS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the limitation in sub-
section (d), the Director shall provide an award payment 
of $40,000 under this section— 
(1) to an individual who performed qualifying 
service for a period of greater than or equal to 5 
years or to a survivor of such individual; or 
(2) to the survivor of a covered decedent. 
(b) REQUIREMENTS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible for a payment 
under this subsection, an individual who performed 
qualifying service or survivor (as the case may be) 
must demonstrate to the satisfaction of the Director 
that the individual whose qualifying service upon 
which the payment is based meets the criteria of 
paragraph (1) or (2) of subsection (a). 
(2) RELIANCE ON RECORDS.—In carrying out 
this subsection, in addition to any evidence provided 
by such an individual or survivor, the Director may 
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rely on records possessed by the United States Gov-
ernment. 
(c) ADDITIONAL PAYMENT.—If an individual, or in 
the case of a survivor, the individual whose qualifying 
service upon which the payment is based, can demonstrate 
to the Director that the qualifying service of the individual 
exceeded 5 years, the Director shall pay to such individual 
or survivor an additional $8,000 for each full year in ex-
cess of 5 years (and a proportionate amount for a partial 
year). 
(d) SURVIVORS.—In the case of an award granted to 
a survivor under this section, the payment shall be made— 
(1) to the surviving widow or widower; or 
(2) if there is no surviving widow or widower, 
to the surviving dependent or child, in equal shares. 
SEC. 5. FUNDING LIMITATION. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The total amount of awards 
granted under this Act may not exceed $60,000,000. 
(b) REQUESTS FOR ADDITIONAL FUNDS.—If, at the 
determination of the Director, the amount of funds re-
quired to satisfy all valid applications for payment under 
this Act exceeds the limitation set forth in subsection (a), 
the Director shall submit to Congress a request for suffi-
cient funds to fulfill all remaining payments. 
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(c) AWARDS
TO EMPLOYEES
OF INTERMOUNTAIN 
AVIATION.—The Director may determine, on a case-by- 
case basis, to award amounts to individuals who performed 
service consistent with the definition of qualifying service 
as employees of Intermountain Aviation. 
SEC. 6. TIME LIMITATION. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible for an award pay-
ment under this Act, a claimant must file a claim for such 
payment with the Director not later than 2 years after 
the effective date of the regulations prescribed by the Di-
rector in accordance with section 7. 
(b) DETERMINATION.—Not later than 90 days after 
receiving a claim for an award payment under this section, 
the Director shall determine the eligibility of the claimant 
for payment. 
(c) PAYMENT.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—If the Director determines 
that the claimant is eligible for the award payment, 
the Director shall pay the award payment not later 
than 60 days after the date of such determination. 
(2) LUMP-SUM PAYMENT.—The Director shall 
issue each payment as a one-time lump sum pay-
ment contingent upon the timely filing of the claim-
ant under this section. 
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(3) NOTICE AND DELAYS.—The Director shall 
notify the appropriate congressional committees of 
any delays in making an award payment not later 
than 30 days after the date such payment is due. 
SEC. 7. APPLICATION PROCEDURES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall prescribe pro-
cedures to carry out this Act, which shall include processes 
under which— 
(1) claimants may submit claims for payment 
under this Act; 
(2) the Director will award the amounts under 
section 4; and 
(3) claimants can obtain redress and appeal de-
terminations under section 6. 
(b) OTHER MATTERS.—Such procedures— 
(1) shall be— 
(A) prescribed not later than 60 days after 
the date of the enactment of this Act; and 
(B) published in the Code of Federal Reg-
ulations; and 
(2) shall not be subject to chapter 5 of title 5, 
United States Code. 
SEC. 8. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 
Nothing in this Act shall be construed to— 
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