WASHINGTON (JTA) — A bipartisan bill introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives would cut off Nazi war criminals from U.S. benefits.
Reps. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) and Leonard Lance (R-N.J.) introduced the bill this week in the wake of an Associated Press investigation that found that dozens of suspected Nazi war criminals and SS guards collected millions of dollars after being forced out of the United States.
The measure authorizes new immigration hearings to determine whether suspected war criminals were receiving benefits.
Maloney said she hoped Congress would pass the bill in the “lame duck” session, the few weeks between the Nov. 4 elections and Christmas — the last weeks of this Congress, when it is unusual for new legislation to succeed.
“We should work in a bipartisan and expeditious manner to terminate these benefits once and for all,” she said at a news conference. “The American taxpayer should not be subsidizing the retirements of those guilty of the worst atrocities in human history.”
There are at least four living beneficiaries, including Jakob Denzinger, a former guard at Auschwitz. Denzinger, 90, lives in Croatia, where he receives approximately $1,500 a month in Social Security payments.
