Former Senator Jay Rockefeller dies in the US at 89 — Jerusalem Post

Former West Virginia Senator Jay Rockefeller IV has died in Washington, United States. He was 89 years old. This was reported by the Jerusalem Post, citing The Washington Post. The politician’s family did not disclose the cause of death.

Rockefeller was a Democrat and represented West Virginia in the US Senate for five six-year terms. Before being elected senator in 1984, he served two terms as the state’s governor. The politician also chaired Senate committees on intelligence, veterans’ affairs, and commerce, science and transportation.

Work on healthcare policy

During his political career, Rockefeller advocated expanding access to healthcare for low-income people, supporting miners and veterans, as well as anti-poverty programs. In the Senate, he helped shape a program launched in 1997 under which the US federal government helps states provide health coverage to millions of uninsured children.

He supported President Bill Clinton’s unsuccessful initiative for nearly universal health insurance in the 1990s, and later President Barack Obama’s healthcare system reform, signed into law in 2010. In 2013, Rockefeller announced that he would not run for a sixth Senate term.

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Criticism of the Iraq War

In 2002, Rockefeller supported the authorization to use force against Iraq, after which the US-led invasion began in 2003. He later expressed regret over the vote and said in 2004 that he would have voted against it if he had known then what became known later.

In 2008, the Senate Intelligence Committee, then chaired by Rockefeller, released a report. It stated that the administration of President George Bush and other senior officials had exaggerated intelligence regarding Iraqi weapons of mass destruction and Baghdad’s ties to the Al-Qaeda network. Rockefeller said that presenting these threats as one led the country into war on false grounds.

Jay Rockefeller was the great-grandson of oil magnate John D. Rockefeller. He was born in New York, graduated from Harvard University, and served in a national service program in rural areas of West Virginia from 1964 to 1966. Rockefeller was married to public television executive Sharon Percy Rockefeller and had four children.