S.Amdt. 2412

SA 2412. Mr. NELSON submitted an amendment intended to be proposed to
amendment SA 2282 submitted by Mr. Inhofe (for himself and Mr. McCain)
and intended to be proposed to the bill H.R. 5515, to authorize
appropriations for fiscal year 2019 for military activities of the
Department of Defense, for

[[Page S3325]]

military construction, and for defense activities of the Department of
Energy, to prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal year,
and for other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as
follows:

At the end of subtitle B of title XI, add the following:

SEC. 1126. CREDITABLE SERVICE FOR FEDERAL RETIREMENT FOR
UNITED STATES CITIZENS EMPLOYED BY AIR AMERICA
AND ASSOCIATED ENTITIES.

(a) Amendments.--
(1) In general.--Section 8332(b) of title 5, United States
Code, is amended--
(A) in paragraph (16), by striking ``and'' at the end;
(B) in paragraph (17), by striking the period at the end
and inserting ``; and'';
(C) by inserting after paragraph (17) the following:
``(18) any period of service performed not later than 1977,
while a citizen of the United States, in the employ of Air
America, Inc., or any entity associated with, predecessor to,
or subsidiary to Air America, Inc., including Air Asia
Company Limited, CAT Incorporated, Civil Air Transport
Company Limited, and the Pacific Division of Southern Air
Transport, during the period during which Air America, Inc.,
or the other entity was owned and controlled by the United
States Government.''; and
(D) by adding at the end the following: ``For purposes of
this subchapter, service of the type described in paragraph
(18) of this subsection shall be considered to have been
service as an employee.''.
(2) Exemption from deposit requirement.--Section 8334(g) of
title 5, United States Code, is amended--
(A) in paragraph (5), by striking ``or'' at the end;
(B) in paragraph (6), by striking the period at the end and
inserting ``; or''; and
(C) by adding at the end the following:
``(7) any service for which credit is allowed under section
8332(b)(18) of this title.''.
(b) Applicability.--
(1) In general.--Except as otherwise provided in this
subsection, the amendments made by subsection (a) shall apply
with respect to an annuity commencing on or after the
effective date of this section.
(2) Provisions relating to current annuitants.--
(A) Recomputation.--An individual who is entitled to an
annuity for the month in which this section becomes effective
may, upon application submitted to the Office of Personnel
Management not later than 2 years after the effective date of
this section, have the amount of the annuity recomputed as if
the amendments made by subsection (a) had been in effect
throughout all periods of service on the basis of which the
annuity is or may be based.
(B) Effect of recomputation.--A recomputation under
subparagraph (A) shall be effective as of the commencement
date of the annuity, and any additional amounts becoming
payable for periods before the first month for which the
recomputation is reflected in the regular monthly annuity
payments to the individual shall be payable to the individual
in the form of a lump-sum payment.
(3) Provisions relating to individuals eligible for (but
not currently receiving) an annuity.--
(A) In general.--An individual not described in paragraph
(2) who becomes eligible for an annuity or an increased
annuity as a result of the enactment of this section may
elect to have the rights of the individual under subchapter
III of chapter 83 of title 5, United States Code, determined
as if the amendments made by subsection (a) had been in
effect throughout all periods of service on the basis of
which the annuity is or would be based by submitting an
appropriate application to the Office of Personnel Management
not later than 2 years after the later of--
(i) the effective date of this section; or
(ii) the date on which the individual separates from
service.
(B) Commencement date, etc.--
(i) In general.--Any entitlement to an annuity or an
increased annuity resulting from an application submitted
under subparagraph (A) shall be effective as of the
commencement date of the annuity (subject to clause (ii), if
applicable), and any amounts becoming payable for periods
before the first month for which regular monthly annuity
payments begin to be made in accordance with the amendments
made by this section shall be payable to the individual in
the form of a lump-sum payment.
(ii) Retroactivity.--Any determination of the amount, or of
the commencement date, of any annuity, all the requirements
for entitlement to which (including separation, but
disregarding any application requirement) would have been
satisfied before the effective date of this section if this
section had been in effect (but would not then otherwise have
been satisfied absent this section) shall be made as if an
application for the annuity had been submitted as of the
earliest date that would have been allowable, after the
individual's separation from service, if the amendments made
by subsection (a) had been in effect throughout the periods
of service described in subparagraph (A).
(4) Right to file on behalf of a decedent.--
(A) In general.--The regulations prescribed under
subsection (d)(1) shall provide, consistent with the order of
precedence set forth in section 8342(c) of title 5, United
States Code, that a survivor of an individual who performed
service described in section 8332(b)(18) of that title (as
added by subsection (a) of this section)--
(i) may submit an application on behalf of the decedent and
receive any lump-sum payment that would otherwise have been
payable to the decedent under paragraph (2) or (3) of this
subsection; and
(ii) shall submit an application described in subparagraph
(A) not later than the later of--

(I) 2 years after the effective date of this section; or
(II) 1 year after the date of the decedent's death.

(c) Funding.--
(1) Lump-sum payments.--A lump-sum payment under subsection
(b) shall be payable out of the Civil Service Retirement and
Disability Fund.
(2) Unfunded liability.--Any increase in the unfunded
liability of the Civil Service Retirement System attributable
to the enactment of this section shall be financed in
accordance with section 8348(f) of title 5, United States
Code.
(d) Regulations and Special Rule.--
(1) In general.--
(A) In general.--Except as provided in paragraph (2), the
Director of the Office of Personnel Management shall
prescribe any regulations necessary to carry out this
section.
(B) Contents.--In prescribing regulations under
subparagraph (A), the Director of the Office of Personnel
Management shall apply rules similar to the rules established
under section 201 of the Federal Employees' Retirement System
Act of 1986 (Public Law 99-335; 100 Stat. 588) with respect
to any service described in section 8332(b)(18) of title 5,
United States Code (as added by subsection (a) of this
section) that was subject to title II of the Social Security
Act (42 U.S.C. 401 et seq.).
(2) Special rule.--For the purposes of an application for
any benefit that is computed or recomputed taking into
account any service described in section 8332(b)(18) of title
5, United States Code (as added by subsection (a) of this
section), section 8345(i)(2) of that title shall be applied
by deeming the reference to the date of the ``other event
which gives rise to title to the benefit'' to refer to the
effective date of this section, if later than the date of the
event that would otherwise apply.
(e) Definitions.--For purposes of this section--
(1) the term ``annuity'', as used in paragraphs (2) and (3)
of subsection (b), includes a survivor annuity; and
(2) the terms ``survivor'', ``survivor annuitant'', and
``unfunded liability'' have the meanings given those terms in
section 8331 of title 5, United States Code.
(f) Effective Date.--This section shall take effect on the
first day of the first fiscal year beginning after the date
of enactment of this section.
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