PA-Sen: Casey Proposes Bill to End Social Security for Ex-Nazis

Bob CaseyMaybe there still are some things we can all agree on.

Senate Democrats Robert Casey (D-PA) and Charles Schumer (D-NY) have teamed up with

Representative Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) and the Senate Finance Committee to propose the Nazi Benefits Termination Act, which will end Social Security benefits distributed to former Nazi war criminals and SS guards previously expelled from the U.S.

The lawmakers are reacting to a recent AP study that found that at least four surviving Nazi war criminals and SS guardsmen are receiving Social Security benefits. The money flows from a legal loophole the U.S. Justice Department used to persuade former Nazis to leave the country before deportation.

The Social Security Administration (SSA) has refused the AP’s request for documentation regarding payments made to former SS officials while the Justice Department has denied using Social Security benefits as incentives for the war criminals to voluntarily leave the country.

“The idea that Nazi war criminals could receive Social Security benefits is deeply disturbing and should be remedied quickly,” Senator Casey said in a press release about the Nazi Benefits Termination Act.

The Act doesn’t directly challenge the U.S. Justice Department’s previous actions, but it does introduce new legislation that will deny any Federal public assistance to any person found to have committed Nazi war crimes and effectively close the loophole.

“This investigation has revealed a gross injustice and I’m hopeful that Democrats and Republicans will come together to fix this problem in the very near future” Casey said.

Rep. Carolyn Maloney, working with Sen. Casey, has issued an order that the Justice Department and the SSA launch an immediate investigation into the government funds still flowing to the former Nazis. The SSA has not recognized Maloney’s request, but has stated that it doesn’t track information related specifically to Nazi cases.

Casey has called the AP’s finding “deeply disturbing” and hopes the bill will clear the Senate as soon as possible to quickly end the payout of American tax dollars to men convicted of war crimes.

The White House has come out in support of the bill and released statements to the press that it does not believe Nazi war criminals should be receiving Social Security.

Reps. Sam Johnson (R-Tex.) and Xavier Becerra (D-Calif.), the top two members of the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Social Security, are also preparing similar legislation in the House.

3 Responses

  1. Oh… and it’s only “any person found to have committed Nazi war crimes”, so again, not all the Nazis.

    Basically, they’ve found 4 so far. This appears to be less of a problem then ebola.

  2. Not every Nazi committed despicable acts. Some were forced into joining. Some did office clerical work. Many recanted and cooperated with the US (especially some scientists). They weren’t all prison guards.

    Oskar Schindler was a Nazi, he’s regarded as a hero.

    If these people worked in the US and PAID social security taxes, then they are entitled to whatever benefits correspond to the taxes they paid (or a refund of those taxes collected).

    We have US citizens who belong to the KKK who get social security benefits as well as all the old racist white senior citizens in the South.

    This is all a lot of bullsh*t distraction. WWII ended 70 years ago. Anyone 20 then, would be 90 now. How many are still alive and in the US?

  3. Knowing that Nazi scumbags have been getting Social Security Benefits is outrageous. I don’t understand why a bunch of men who committed despicable acts against humanity received undeserved and unearned benefits. Out of everything Republicans say no to, I hope they have enough of a conscience to support Senator Casey’s bill.

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