[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 101 (Tuesday, June 14, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Page S2936]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
AIR AMERICA ACT OF 2021
Ms. HASSAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate
proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 370, S. 407.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the bill by title.
The senior assistant legislative clerk read as follows:
A bill (S. 407) to provide redress to the employees of Air
America.
There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the bill,
which had been reported from the Committee on Homeland Security and
Governmental Affairs, with an amendment to strike all after the
enacting clause and insert in lieu thereof the following:
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Air America Act of 2022''.
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 Department 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) 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'', 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;
(2) the term ``qualifying service'' means service that--
(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;
(3) the term ``survivor'', with respect to an individual
who performed qualifying service, means--
(A) a widow or widower of the individual who performed
qualifying service; or
(B) an individual who, at any time during or since the
period of qualifying service, was a dependent or child of the
individual who performed qualifying service; and
(4) the terms ``widow'', ``widower'', ``dependent'', and
``child'' have the meanings given those terms in section
8341(a) of title 5, United States Code, except that that
section shall be applied by substituting ``individual who
performed qualifying service'' for ``employee or Member''.
(c) Creditable Service.--Any period of qualifying service
shall be treated as creditable service for purposes of
subchapter III of chapter 83 of title 5, United States Code.
(d) Rights.--
(1) In general.--An individual who performed qualifying
service or a survivor of such an individual--
(A) 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 of title 5, United States
Code, with respect to that qualifying service; and
(B) may submit an application for benefits based on the
qualifying service to the Office of Personnel Management not
later than 2 years after the effective date under section
2(g) of this Act.
(2) Individuals deceased before date of enactment.--A
survivor of an individual who performed qualifying service
and became eligible, by reason of this Act, for benefits
based on the qualifying service under subchapter III of
chapter 83 of title 5, United States Code (but became
deceased before the date of enactment of this Act)--
(A) may submit an application for benefits based on the
qualifying service to the Office of Personnel Management not
later than 2 years after the effective date under section
2(g) of this Act, disregarding any requirement that an
employee have filed an application while living; and
(B) upon submission of the application under subparagraph
(A), shall be eligible for a survivor annuity under section
8341 of title 5, United States Code, equal to 55 percent (or
50 percent if the deceased individual retired before October
11, 1962) of the self-only annuity (as defined in section
838.103 of title 5, Code of Federal Regulations (or any
successor regulation)) that otherwise would have been paid to
the deceased individual.
(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) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this Act shall be
construed to set any type of precedent for purposes of civil
service retirement credit with the Civil Service Retirement
and Disability Fund or any successor fund.
(g) Effective Date.--This Act shall take effect on the date
that is 30 days after the date of enactment of this Act.
Ms. HASSAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the
committee-reported substitute amendment be agreed to; that the bill, as
amended, be considered read a third time and passed; and that the
motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, with
no intervening action or debate.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
The committee-reported amendment in the nature of a substitute was
agreed to.
The bill (S. 407), as amended, was ordered to be engrossed for a
third reading, was read the third time, and passed.
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