Coats: End Loophole for Nazis Receiving Social Security Benefits
WASHINGTON, DC – Senator Dan Coats (R-Ind.), senior Senate Republican on the Joint Economic Committee, today supported the No Social Security for Nazis Act, legislation that would ensure no individuals who participated in Nazi persecutions are eligible to receive Social Security benefits:
“The countless lives lost during the Holocaust left scars that still haunt much of Europe and the world,” said Coats. “Due to an egregious loophole in current law, some Nazis who had lived in the United States after World War II retained Social Security benefits. It is morally wrong and fiscally irresponsible to allow this loophole to remain, which is why I support legislation to right this wrong. American taxpayers should not be funding benefits for those who perpetuated the atrocities committed during the Holocaust.”
The bill would amend existing law to:
- Stop benefit payments to those denaturalized due to participation in Nazi persecutions (as defined in the Immigration and Nationality Act) or who voluntarily renounced their citizenship as part of a settlement with the Attorney General related to their participation in Nazi persecution (those who are judicially deported are already ineligible for Social Security under current law),
- Ensure individuals who are ineligible for benefits based on participation in Nazi persecutions do not receive spouse benefits due to marriage to a Social Security beneficiary or Supplemental Security Income benefits, and
- Requires the Attorney General to certify to the Ways and Means Committee and Finance Committee that Social Security has been notified of all those whose benefits should be terminated due to participation in Nazi persecutions and requires the Commissioner of Social Security to certify that benefits were terminated.
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