I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1297 
To provide redress to the employees of Air America. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 24, 2021 
Mr. GROTHMAN (for himself, Mrs. DEMINGS, Ms. BROWNLEY, Ms. NORTON, 
Mr. QUIGLEY, Mr. GALLEGO, Mr. MAST, Mr. WALTZ, Mr. STEWART, Mr. 
ESPAILLAT, Mr. LYNCH, Mr. KELLY of Mississippi, Mr. BILIRAKIS, Mr. 
KELLER, Mr. KIM of New Jersey, Mr. COSTA, Mr. SMITH of Washington, 
Mr. DESAULNIER, Mr. STEUBE, Mr. CRAWFORD, Mr. POCAN, Mr. 
GAETZ, Mr. THOMPSON of California, Mr. CARBAJAL, Mr. MEIJER, Mr. 
GRIFFITH, Mr. STIVERS, Mr. RUTHERFORD, Mr. MEEKS, Mr. TRONE, 
Mr. TIFFANY, Mr. LOUDERMILK, Mrs. HARTZLER, Mr. GONZALEZ of 
Ohio, Ms. TITUS, Miss RICE of New York, Mr. GALLAGHER, Mr. LARSEN 
of Washington, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Ms. SPEIER, Mr. HASTINGS, 
Mr. KILMER, Ms. HOULAHAN, Ms. LEE of California, Ms. ESCOBAR, Mr. 
POSEY, Ms. WILD, Mr. SEAN PATRICK MALONEY of New York, Mr. 
RYAN, Mr. CRIST, Mr. LUCAS, Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania, Mr. 
LOWENTHAL, Ms. MENG, Mr. VAN DREW, Mr. TONKO, and Mrs. KIRK-
PATRICK) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee 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 
2021’’. 
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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 
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 
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title 5, United States Code, for retirement credit 
purposes. 
(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 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 
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(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 
January 1, 1950, and ending on December 31, 
1976; and 
(B) is documented in the attorney-certified 
corporate records of Air America or any affili-
ated company. 
(c) TREATMENT AS FEDERAL EMPLOYMENT.—Any 
period of qualifying service— 
(1) is deemed to have been service of an em-
ployee (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 of title 5, United States Code. 
(d) RIGHTS.—An individual who performed quali-
fying 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 sub-
chapter III of chapter 83 of title 5, United States Code, 
with respect to that qualifying service. 
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(e) DEDUCTION, CONTRIBUTION, AND DEPOSIT RE-
QUIREMENTS.—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 Serv-
ice Disability and Retirement Fund in 1976 is deemed to 
satisfy the deduction, contribution, and deposit require-
ments 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’’ for 
‘‘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. 
Æ 
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