House Minority Leader Bradley H. Jones, Jr. (R-North Reading) issued the following statement today in response to recent reports that suspected marathon bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev received public assistance benefits from Massachusetts:
“I have been in contact with officials at the Executive Office of Health and Human Services (HHS) as a result of the recent Boston Herald article in which it was reported that Tamerlan Tsarnaev and his family received public assistance benefits from Massachusetts.
In my conversation with representatives at HHS I asked that they please look into the type of benefits received by Mr. Tsarnaev and his family, as well as the amount of benefits received by those individuals. Furthermore, I requested that the Department of Transitional Assistance verify that all family members met eligibility requirements when applying for public benefits.
The findings of the investigation are vitally important in assuring that taxpayer subsidized benefits are being acquired and used in an appropriate manner.”