A novel two‐step optical pumping technique is described for creating line‐tunable laser emission in the 2&ngr;2–&ngr;2band of NH3. Two TE CO2lasers operating on theR(30) andP(24) 9‐&mgr;m transitions are used to pump thesR(5,0) and 2sR(4,3) NH3transitions respectively, and lasing is observed on 11 different NH3lines having wavelengths from 16 to 21 &mgr;m. This pumping technique relies on rapid rotational thermalization in the vibrational levels to enhance the pump absorptions and distribute the population inversion. The possibility of producing cw line‐tunable operation on these transitions is discussed.