| 1 | 1 | | I |
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| 2 | 2 | | 118THCONGRESS |
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| 3 | 3 | | 1 |
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| 4 | 4 | | STSESSION H. R. 6049 |
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| 5 | 5 | | To award payments to employees of Air America who provided support to |
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| 6 | 6 | | the United States from 1950 to 1976, and for other purposes. |
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| 7 | 7 | | IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
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| 8 | 8 | | OCTOBER25, 2023 |
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| 9 | 9 | | Mr. G |
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| 10 | 10 | | ROTHMAN(for himself, Ms. MOOREof Wisconsin, Ms. NORTON, Mr. |
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| 11 | 11 | | W |
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| 12 | 12 | | ALTZ, Mr. TRONE, Ms. SALAZAR, Mr. TIFFANY, Ms. KELLYof Illinois, |
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| 13 | 13 | | Mr. L |
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| 14 | 14 | | AMALFA, Mr. SMITHof Washington, Ms. WILLIAMSof Georgia, Mr. |
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| 15 | 15 | | V |
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| 16 | 16 | | ALADAO, Mr. GARAMENDI, Mr. TAKANO, Ms. ESCOBAR, Ms. TENNEY, |
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| 17 | 17 | | Mr. B |
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| 18 | 18 | | OST, Mr. COSTA, Ms. TITUS, Ms. LEEof Nevada, Mr. MRVAN, Mr. |
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| 19 | 19 | | G |
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| 20 | 20 | | IMENEZ, Mr. CARBAJAL, Mr. NADLER, Mr. JOHNSONof Georgia, Mr. |
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| 21 | 21 | | M |
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| 22 | 22 | | OOLENAAR, Mr. PAPPAS, Mr. CARSON, Mr. KILMER, Ms. BROWNLEY, |
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| 23 | 23 | | and Mr. T |
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| 24 | 24 | | ONYGONZALESof Texas) introduced the following bill; which |
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| 25 | 25 | | was referred to the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence |
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| 26 | 26 | | A BILL |
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| 27 | 27 | | To award payments to employees of Air America who pro- |
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| 28 | 28 | | vided support to the United States from 1950 to 1976, |
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| 29 | 29 | | and for other purposes. |
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| 30 | 30 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1 |
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| 31 | 31 | | tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 |
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| 32 | 32 | | SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 |
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| 33 | 33 | | This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Air America Act of 4 |
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| 34 | 34 | | 2023’’. 5 |
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| 36 | 36 | | •HR 6049 IH |
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| 37 | 37 | | SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 1 |
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| 38 | 38 | | Congress finds the following: 2 |
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| 39 | 39 | | (1) Air America and its affiliated companies, in 3 |
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| 40 | 40 | | coordination with the Central Intelligence Agency, 4 |
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| 41 | 41 | | provided direct and indirect support to the United 5 |
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| 42 | 42 | | States Government from 1950 to 1976. 6 |
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| 43 | 43 | | (2) The service and sacrifice of employees of 7 |
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| 44 | 44 | | Air America included— 8 |
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| 45 | 45 | | (A) suffering a high rate of casualties in 9 |
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| 46 | 46 | | the course of service; 10 |
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| 47 | 47 | | (B) saving thousands of lives in search and 11 |
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| 48 | 48 | | rescue missions for downed United States air-12 |
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| 49 | 49 | | men and allied refugee evacuations; and 13 |
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| 50 | 50 | | (C) serving lengthy periods under chal-14 |
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| 51 | 51 | | lenging circumstances abroad. 15 |
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| 52 | 52 | | SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 16 |
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| 53 | 53 | | In this Act: 17 |
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| 54 | 54 | | (1) A |
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| 55 | 55 | | FFILIATED COMPANY .—The term ‘‘affili-18 |
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| 56 | 56 | | ated company’’, with respect to Air America, in-19 |
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| 57 | 57 | | cludes Air Asia Company Limited, CAT Incor-20 |
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| 58 | 58 | | porated, Civil Air Transport Company Limited, and 21 |
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| 59 | 59 | | the Pacific Division of Southern Air Transport. 22 |
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| 60 | 60 | | (2) A |
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| 61 | 61 | | IR AMERICA.—The term ‘‘Air America’’ 23 |
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| 62 | 62 | | means Air America, Incorporated. 24 |
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| 64 | 64 | | •HR 6049 IH |
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| 65 | 65 | | (3) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT -1 |
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| 66 | 66 | | TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com-2 |
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| 67 | 67 | | mittees’’ means— 3 |
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| 68 | 68 | | (A) the Committee on Homeland Security 4 |
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| 69 | 69 | | and Governmental Affairs, the Select Com-5 |
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| 70 | 70 | | mittee on Intelligence, and the Committee on 6 |
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| 71 | 71 | | Appropriations of the Senate; and 7 |
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| 72 | 72 | | (B) the Committee on Oversight and Ac-8 |
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| 73 | 73 | | countability, the Permanent Select Committee 9 |
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| 74 | 74 | | on Intelligence, and the Committee on Appro-10 |
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| 75 | 75 | | priations of the House of Representatives. 11 |
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| 76 | 76 | | (4) C |
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| 77 | 77 | | HILD; DEPENDENT; WIDOW; WIDOWER.— 12 |
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| 78 | 78 | | The terms ‘‘child’’, ‘‘dependent’’, ‘‘widow’’, and 13 |
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| 79 | 79 | | ‘‘widower’’ have the meanings given those terms in 14 |
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| 80 | 80 | | section 8341(a) of title 5, United States Code, ex-15 |
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| 81 | 81 | | cept that section shall be applied by substituting 16 |
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| 82 | 82 | | ‘‘individual who performed qualifying service’’ for 17 |
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| 83 | 83 | | ‘‘employee or Member’’. 18 |
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| 84 | 84 | | (5) C |
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| 85 | 85 | | OVERED DECEDENT .—The term ‘‘covered 19 |
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| 86 | 86 | | decedent’’ means an individual who was killed in 20 |
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| 87 | 87 | | Southeast Asia while supporting operations of the 21 |
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| 88 | 88 | | Central Intelligence Agency during the period begin-22 |
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| 89 | 89 | | ning on January 1, 1950, and ending on December 23 |
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| 90 | 90 | | 31, 1976, as a United States citizen employee of Air 24 |
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| 91 | 91 | | America or an affiliated company. 25 |
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| 93 | 93 | | •HR 6049 IH |
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| 94 | 94 | | (6) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means 1 |
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| 95 | 95 | | the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency. 2 |
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| 96 | 96 | | (7) Q |
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| 97 | 97 | | UALIFYING SERVICE.—The term ‘‘quali-3 |
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| 98 | 98 | | fying service’’ means service that— 4 |
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| 99 | 99 | | (A) was performed by a United States cit-5 |
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| 100 | 100 | | izen as an employee of Air America or an affili-6 |
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| 101 | 101 | | ated company during the period beginning on 7 |
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| 102 | 102 | | January 1, 1950, and ending on December 31, 8 |
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| 103 | 103 | | 1976; and 9 |
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| 104 | 104 | | (B) is documented in— 10 |
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| 105 | 105 | | (i) the corporate records of Air Amer-11 |
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| 106 | 106 | | ica or an affiliated company; 12 |
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| 107 | 107 | | (ii) records possessed by the United 13 |
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| 108 | 108 | | States Government; or 14 |
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| 109 | 109 | | (iii) the personal records of a former 15 |
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| 110 | 110 | | employee of Air America or an affiliated 16 |
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| 111 | 111 | | company that are verified by the United 17 |
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| 112 | 112 | | States Government. 18 |
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| 113 | 113 | | (8) S |
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| 114 | 114 | | URVIVOR.—The term ‘‘survivor’’means— 19 |
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| 115 | 115 | | (A) the widow or widower of— 20 |
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| 116 | 116 | | (i) an individual who performed quali-21 |
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| 117 | 117 | | fying service; or 22 |
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| 118 | 118 | | (ii) a covered decedent; or 23 |
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| 119 | 119 | | (B) an individual who, at any time during 24 |
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| 120 | 120 | | or since the period of qualifying service, or on 25 |
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| 122 | 122 | | •HR 6049 IH |
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| 123 | 123 | | the date of death of a covered decedent, was a 1 |
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| 124 | 124 | | dependent or child of— 2 |
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| 125 | 125 | | (i) the individual who performed such 3 |
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| 126 | 126 | | qualifying service; or 4 |
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| 127 | 127 | | (ii) the covered decedent. 5 |
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| 128 | 128 | | SEC. 4. AWARD AUTHORIZED TO ELIGIBLE PERSONS. 6 |
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| 129 | 129 | | (a) I |
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| 130 | 130 | | NGENERAL.—Subject to the limitation in sub-7 |
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| 131 | 131 | | section (d), the Director shall provide an award payment 8 |
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| 132 | 132 | | of $40,000 under this section— 9 |
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| 133 | 133 | | (1) to an individual who performed qualifying 10 |
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| 134 | 134 | | service for a period of greater than or equal to 5 11 |
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| 135 | 135 | | years or to a survivor of such individual; or 12 |
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| 136 | 136 | | (2) to the survivor of a covered decedent. 13 |
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| 137 | 137 | | (b) R |
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| 138 | 138 | | EQUIREMENTS.— 14 |
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| 139 | 139 | | (1) I |
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| 140 | 140 | | N GENERAL.—To be eligible for a payment 15 |
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| 141 | 141 | | under this subsection, an individual who performed 16 |
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| 142 | 142 | | qualifying service or survivor (as the case may be) 17 |
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| 143 | 143 | | must demonstrate to the satisfaction of the Director 18 |
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| 144 | 144 | | that the individual whose qualifying service upon 19 |
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| 145 | 145 | | which the payment is based meets the criteria of 20 |
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| 146 | 146 | | paragraph (1) or (2) of subsection (a). 21 |
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| 147 | 147 | | (2) R |
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| 148 | 148 | | ELIANCE ON RECORDS .—In carrying out 22 |
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| 149 | 149 | | this subsection, in addition to any evidence provided 23 |
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| 150 | 150 | | by such an individual or survivor, the Director may 24 |
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| 152 | 152 | | •HR 6049 IH |
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| 153 | 153 | | rely on records possessed by the United States Gov-1 |
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| 154 | 154 | | ernment. 2 |
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| 155 | 155 | | (c) A |
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| 156 | 156 | | DDITIONALPAYMENT.—If an individual, or in 3 |
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| 157 | 157 | | the case of a survivor, the individual whose qualifying 4 |
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| 158 | 158 | | service upon which the payment is based, can demonstrate 5 |
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| 159 | 159 | | to the Director that the qualifying service of the individual 6 |
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| 160 | 160 | | exceeded 5 years, the Director shall pay to such individual 7 |
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| 161 | 161 | | or survivor an additional $8,000 for each full year in ex-8 |
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| 162 | 162 | | cess of 5 years (and a proportionate amount for a partial 9 |
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| 163 | 163 | | year). 10 |
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| 164 | 164 | | (d) S |
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| 165 | 165 | | URVIVORS.—In the case of an award granted to 11 |
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| 166 | 166 | | a survivor under this section, the payment shall be made— 12 |
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| 167 | 167 | | (1) to the surviving widow or widower; or 13 |
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| 168 | 168 | | (2) if there is no surviving widow or widower, 14 |
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| 169 | 169 | | to the surviving dependent or child, in equal shares. 15 |
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| 170 | 170 | | SEC. 5. FUNDING LIMITATION. 16 |
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| 171 | 171 | | (a) I |
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| 172 | 172 | | NGENERAL.—The total amount of awards 17 |
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| 173 | 173 | | granted under this Act may not exceed $60,000,000. 18 |
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| 174 | 174 | | (b) R |
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| 175 | 175 | | EQUESTS FORADDITIONALFUNDS.—If, at the 19 |
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| 176 | 176 | | determination of the Director, the amount of funds re-20 |
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| 177 | 177 | | quired to satisfy all valid applications for payment under 21 |
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| 178 | 178 | | this Act exceeds the limitation set forth in subsection (a), 22 |
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| 179 | 179 | | the Director shall submit to Congress a request for suffi-23 |
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| 180 | 180 | | cient funds to fulfill all remaining payments. 24 |
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| 182 | 182 | | •HR 6049 IH |
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| 183 | 183 | | (c) AWARDS TOEMPLOYEES OF INTERMOUNTAIN 1 |
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| 184 | 184 | | A |
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| 185 | 185 | | VIATION.—The Director may determine, on a case-by- 2 |
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| 186 | 186 | | case basis, to award amounts to individuals who performed 3 |
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| 187 | 187 | | service consistent with the definition of qualifying service 4 |
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| 188 | 188 | | as employees of Intermountain Aviation. 5 |
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| 189 | 189 | | SEC. 6. TIME LIMITATION. 6 |
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| 190 | 190 | | (a) I |
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| 191 | 191 | | NGENERAL.—To be eligible for an award pay-7 |
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| 192 | 192 | | ment under this Act, a claimant must file a claim for such 8 |
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| 193 | 193 | | payment with the Director not later than 2 years after 9 |
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| 194 | 194 | | the effective date of the regulations prescribed by the Di-10 |
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| 195 | 195 | | rector in accordance with section 7. 11 |
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| 196 | 196 | | (b) D |
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| 197 | 197 | | ETERMINATION.—Not later than 90 days after 12 |
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| 198 | 198 | | receiving a claim for an award payment under this section, 13 |
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| 199 | 199 | | the Director shall determine the eligibility of the claimant 14 |
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| 200 | 200 | | for payment. 15 |
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| 201 | 201 | | (c) P |
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| 202 | 202 | | AYMENT.— 16 |
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| 203 | 203 | | (1) I |
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| 204 | 204 | | N GENERAL.—If the Director determines 17 |
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| 205 | 205 | | that the claimant is eligible for the award payment, 18 |
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| 206 | 206 | | the Director shall pay the award payment not later 19 |
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| 207 | 207 | | than 60 days after the date of such determination. 20 |
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| 208 | 208 | | (2) L |
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| 209 | 209 | | UMP-SUM PAYMENT.—The Director shall 21 |
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| 210 | 210 | | issue each payment as a one-time lump sum pay-22 |
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| 211 | 211 | | ment contingent upon the timely filing of the claim-23 |
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| 212 | 212 | | ant under this section. 24 |
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| 214 | 214 | | •HR 6049 IH |
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| 215 | 215 | | (3) NOTICE AND DELAYS.—The Director shall 1 |
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| 216 | 216 | | notify the appropriate congressional committees of 2 |
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| 217 | 217 | | any delays in making an award payment not later 3 |
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| 218 | 218 | | than 30 days after the date such payment is due. 4 |
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| 219 | 219 | | SEC. 7. APPLICATION PROCEDURES. 5 |
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| 220 | 220 | | (a) I |
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| 221 | 221 | | NGENERAL.—The Director shall prescribe pro-6 |
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| 222 | 222 | | cedures to carry out this Act, which shall include processes 7 |
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| 223 | 223 | | under which— 8 |
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| 224 | 224 | | (1) claimants may submit claims for payment 9 |
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| 225 | 225 | | under this Act; 10 |
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| 226 | 226 | | (2) the Director will award the amounts under 11 |
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| 227 | 227 | | section 4; and 12 |
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| 228 | 228 | | (3) claimants can obtain redress and appeal de-13 |
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| 229 | 229 | | terminations under section 6. 14 |
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| 230 | 230 | | (b) O |
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| 231 | 231 | | THERMATTERS.—Such procedures— 15 |
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| 232 | 232 | | (1) shall be— 16 |
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| 233 | 233 | | (A) prescribed not later than 60 days after 17 |
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| 234 | 234 | | the date of the enactment of this Act; and 18 |
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| 235 | 235 | | (B) published in the Code of Federal Reg-19 |
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| 236 | 236 | | ulations; and 20 |
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| 237 | 237 | | (2) shall not be subject to chapter 5 of title 5, 21 |
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| 238 | 238 | | United States Code. 22 |
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| 239 | 239 | | SEC. 8. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 23 |
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| 240 | 240 | | Nothing in this Act shall be construed to— 24 |
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| 242 | 242 | | •HR 6049 IH |
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| 243 | 243 | | (1) entitle any person to Federal benefits, in-1 |
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| 244 | 244 | | cluding retirement benefits under chapter 83 or 84 2 |
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| 245 | 245 | | of title 5, United States Code, and disability or 3 |
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| 246 | 246 | | death benefits under chapter 81 of such title; 4 |
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| 247 | 247 | | (2) change the legal status of the former Air 5 |
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| 248 | 248 | | America corporation or any affiliated company; or 6 |
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| 249 | 249 | | (3) create any legal rights, benefits, or entitle-7 |
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| 250 | 250 | | ments beyond the one-time award authorized by this 8 |
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| 251 | 251 | | Act. 9 |
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| 252 | 252 | | SEC. 9. ATTORNEYS’ AND AGENTS’ FEES. 10 |
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| 253 | 253 | | (a) I |
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| 254 | 254 | | NGENERAL.—It shall be unlawful for more than 11 |
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| 255 | 255 | | 25 percent of an award paid pursuant to this Act to be 12 |
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| 256 | 256 | | paid to, or received by, any agent or attorney for any serv-13 |
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| 257 | 257 | | ice rendered to a person who receives an award under sec-14 |
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| 258 | 258 | | tion 4, in connection with the award under this Act. 15 |
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| 259 | 259 | | (b) V |
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| 260 | 260 | | IOLATION.—Any agent or attorney who violates 16 |
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| 261 | 261 | | subsection (a) shall be fined under title 18, United States 17 |
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| 262 | 262 | | Code. 18 |
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| 263 | 263 | | SEC. 10. NO JUDICIAL REVIEW. 19 |
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| 264 | 264 | | A determination by the Director pursuant to this Act 20 |
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| 265 | 265 | | is final and conclusive and shall not be subject to judicial 21 |
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| 266 | 266 | | review. 22 |
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| 267 | 267 | | SEC. 11. REPORTS TO CONGRESS. 23 |
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| 268 | 268 | | Until the date that all funds available for awards 24 |
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| 269 | 269 | | under this Act are expended, the Director shall submit to 25 |
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| 271 | 271 | | •HR 6049 IH |
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| 272 | 272 | | the appropriate congressional committees a semiannual re-1 |
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| 273 | 273 | | port describing the numbers of award payments made and 2 |
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| 274 | 274 | | denied during the 180 days preceding the submission of 3 |
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| 275 | 275 | | the report, including the rationales for any denials, and 4 |
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| 276 | 276 | | if, at the determination of the Director, the amount of 5 |
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| 277 | 277 | | funds provided to carry out this Act are insufficient to 6 |
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| 278 | 278 | | satisfy any remaining or anticipated claims. 7 |
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| 279 | 279 | | Æ |
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