106 20 12614 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Department of Justice Emails Description An account of the resource The Department of Justice received more than 11,000 e-mails in response to the agency's public solicitation for comments upon its plans to distribute the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 established by Congress to benefit the victims of September 11 and their families. These e-mails have been organized here by date. September 11 Email September 11 Email: Body The basic content, as unstructured text; sometimes containing a signature block at the end. Wednesday, December 19, 2001 12:07 AM urgent! December 19, 2001 Dear Mr. Kenneth Zwick, I write as a member of Amnesty International, a worldwide human rights movement committed to ensuring respect for the basic human rights of people without discrimination, in support of equal access to benefits under the September 11 Victims Relief Fund for all victims, regardless of sexual orientation or marital status. As you know, the United States has committed to uphold international human rights standards, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which prohibit arbitrary discrimination. As you consider rules for administering the relief fund, I ask that you apply basic international human rights standards, and the general principle of equality, by including among relatives eligible for compensation those who lost their life partners, as well as de facto parents or children, without regard to sexual orientation or marital status. The State of New York has already adopted such a policy, granting compensation benefits "on a showing of mutual interdependence with the victim, in recognition that anyone who shared with the victim living expenses, day to day activities and the emotional bonds of family deserves help in this time of need." Many lesbian and gay people were killed in the September 11th attacks. Since then, lesbian and gay surviving partners of those killed have had mixed results in obtaining equal treatment at the local level in the distribution of relief funds by private and state agencies. An inclusive policy on the part of the federal government would help establish an important principle for other such funds. In compensating victims, real justice will be served only when all families - and all types of families - impacted by the human rights tragedy of September 11 are treated with dignity and equality. Thank you for considering my concerns. I look forward to hearing from you about your efforts to ensure that all surviving victims of the September 11 attacks have equal access to the relief fund. Sincerely, Individual Comment Morristown, NJ September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2001-12-19 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource dojA002573.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. email Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2001-12-19 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Department of Justice Emails Description An account of the resource The Department of Justice received more than 11,000 e-mails in response to the agency's public solicitation for comments upon its plans to distribute the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 established by Congress to benefit the victims of September 11 and their families. These e-mails have been organized here by date. September 11 Email September 11 Email: Body The basic content, as unstructured text; sometimes containing a signature block at the end. Sunday, March 17, 2002 8:09 AM 911 Fund As a supporter of the gay & lesbian community, I refuse to accept the discrimination demonstrated by Congress on the issue of unfair distribution of compensation from the 911 Fund. I will work along side other supporters to effect a change in this policy. I am enraged that this inequality continues to manifest so blatantly in our society. It is my opinion that our lawmakers are hypocritical when they resist necessary changes in discrimination policies and on the other hand are fighting so hard to make our country safe from terrorism. Is it not terrorism to refuse equal rights to all U.S. citizens. I see terrorism as a crime of hatred. Under this definition, we may be witness to mass hate crimes committed every day because our government refuses to recognize the equality of all people. Our politicians are cowardly when they bend under the pressure of others despite what is right and just. It is my opinion that those that are not part of the solution are indeed part of the problem. Individual Comment September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2002-03-17 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource dojR001350.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. email Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-03-17 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Department of Justice Emails Description An account of the resource The Department of Justice received more than 11,000 e-mails in response to the agency's public solicitation for comments upon its plans to distribute the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 established by Congress to benefit the victims of September 11 and their families. These e-mails have been organized here by date. September 11 Email September 11 Email: Body The basic content, as unstructured text; sometimes containing a signature block at the end. Thursday, December 20, 2001 7:39 PM Federal Victims Compensation Fund Comments Dear Mr.Zwick: I am writing to express my disappointment with the rules outlined for the Federal Victims Compensation Fund. I was told that the purpose of this fund was to provide victims with an alternative to the long and costly litigation process. After reviewing the rules outlined by Mr. Feinberg, I determined that they clearly do not provide ANY financial assistance to my family. I do not have any problem with the calculation chart, but I do have a problem with the deduction of "collateral" resources. By deducting collateral resources from the calculated award, my family ends up with a negative balance which means we will not receive anything from the fund. The rules are also very confusing and misleading. What does this statement mean: "For victims who were married or had children, that minimum will be $500,000 -- meaning that that they will receive a combined total of at least $500,000 from our program, other state and federal programs, life insurance and other compensation (excluding gifts from charities)." I don't understand if the above statement means that my family will receive at least $500,000 (regardless of any collateral resources) or if we will receive nothing because the collateral resources are greater than the calculated award. I truly believe that if the fund rules are not adjusted to give an adequate payout to each family, then you will not have many people filing claims against your fund. This will lead to many people taking their chance in court with a lawsuit. Isn't this what you were trying to avoid in the first place? If so, you should attempt to fix the rules that govern this fund. You can start by taking out the "collateral resources" deduction. Thank You, Individual Comment Yonkers, NY September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2001-12-20 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource dojN000095.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. email Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2001-12-20 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Department of Justice Emails Description An account of the resource The Department of Justice received more than 11,000 e-mails in response to the agency's public solicitation for comments upon its plans to distribute the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 established by Congress to benefit the victims of September 11 and their families. These e-mails have been organized here by date. September 11 Email September 11 Email: Body The basic content, as unstructured text; sometimes containing a signature block at the end. December 13, 2001 Special Master Kenneth R. Feinberg September 11th Victim Compensation Fund U.S. Department of Justice 950 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, DC 20530 To Mr. Feinberg: I am writing to urge you to ensure fair treatment for all surviving families of the tragedy on September 11th, including the children and families of low-wage workers and gay and lesbian families. Under traditional rules based on lost wages, the survivors of a bond trader earning millions of dollars per year might receive thousands of times as much compensation as the survivors of a dishwasher in one of the restaurants destroyed. Justice requires looking far beyond the last paycheck to the inherent worth of all those killed, so that a high minimum compensation level is set to lessen the disparities. It would be a double blow to the survivors to first lose their loved one and then watch as most of the taxpayer money went to those who were already well off in the first place. The second major issue has to do with recognizing the legitimacy of gay and lesbian relationships and families. Gay and lesbian families are especially vulnerable when one partner is killed. Because the option of marriage is unavailable, these families may find themselves in the traumatic predicament of having to prove that their union is legitimate. Fortunately, both the Red Cross and the State of New York have already announced that they will not discriminate against gay and lesbian families. The Department of Justice should do the same. Thank you for considering my comments. I look forward to hearing how you will act on these very important issues. Sincerely, Individual Comment Albany, CA September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2001-12-13 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource dojA004148.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. email Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2001-12-13 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Department of Justice Emails Description An account of the resource The Department of Justice received more than 11,000 e-mails in response to the agency's public solicitation for comments upon its plans to distribute the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 established by Congress to benefit the victims of September 11 and their families. These e-mails have been organized here by date. September 11 Email September 11 Email: Body The basic content, as unstructured text; sometimes containing a signature block at the end. December 13, 2001 Special Master Kenneth R. Feinberg September 11th Victim Compensation Fund U.S. Department of Justice 950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20530 To Mr. Feinberg: I am writing to urge you to ensure fair treatment for all surviving families of the tragedy on September 11th, including the children and families of low-wage workers and gay and lesbian families. Under traditional rules based on lost wages, the survivors of a bond trader earning millions of dollars per year might receive thousands of times as much compensation as the survivors of a dishwasher in one of the restaurants destroyed. Justice requires looking far beyond the last paycheck to the inherent worth of all those killed, so that a high minimum compensation level is set to lessen the disparities. It would be a double blow to the survivors to first lose their loved one and then watch as most of the taxpayer money went to those who were already well off in the first place. The second major issue has to do with recognizing the legitimacy of gay and lesbian relationships and families. Gay and lesbian families are especially vulnerable when one partner is killed. Because the option of marriage is unavailable, these families may find themselves in the traumatic predicament of having to prove that their union is legitimate. Fortunately both the Red Cross and the State of New York have already announced that they will not discriminate against gay and lesbian families. The Department of Justice should do the same. Thank you for considering my comments. I look forward to hearing how you will act on these very important issues. Sincerely, Individual Comment San Diego, CA September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2001-12-13 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource dojA001925.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. email Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2001-12-13 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Department of Justice Emails Description An account of the resource The Department of Justice received more than 11,000 e-mails in response to the agency's public solicitation for comments upon its plans to distribute the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 established by Congress to benefit the victims of September 11 and their families. These e-mails have been organized here by date. September 11 Email September 11 Email: Body The basic content, as unstructured text; sometimes containing a signature block at the end. Saturday, December 22, 2001 9:20 AM to Kenneth L. Zwick, Director Kenneth L. Zwick, Director Office of Management Programs U.S. Department of Justice Fax (301) 519-5956 E-mail victimcomp.comments@usdoj.gov Dear Mr. Zwick, I am a member of Amnesty International, a worldwide human rights movement committed to ensuring that the basic human rights of people are respected without discrimination. International human rights standards including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights prohibit arbitrary discrimination and the US government is obligated to respect these rights. We therefore request that the Justice Department, consistent with such international human rights standards, and the general principle of equality, include among relatives eligible for compensation those who lost their life partners as well as de facto parents or children, without regard to sexual orientation or marital status. We ask the Justice Department to follow the positive example of New York state in granting compensation benefits "on a showing of mutual interdependence with the victim, in recognition that anyone who shared with the victim living expenses, day to day activities and the emotional bonds of family deserves help in this time of need." We remind Justice Department officials that real justice is only served when all families - and all types of families - impacted by the human rights tragedy of September 11 are treated with dignity and equality. We thank you very much for the attention. Regards, Individual Comment September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2001-12-22 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource dojN000619.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. email Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2001-12-22 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Department of Justice Emails Description An account of the resource The Department of Justice received more than 11,000 e-mails in response to the agency's public solicitation for comments upon its plans to distribute the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 established by Congress to benefit the victims of September 11 and their families. These e-mails have been organized here by date. September 11 Email September 11 Email: Body The basic content, as unstructured text; sometimes containing a signature block at the end. Tuesday, December 18, 2001 10:38 PM Victims Relief Fund December 18, 2001 Dear Mr. Kenneth Zwick, I write as a member of Amnesty International, a worldwide human rights movement committed to ensuring respect for the basic human rights of people without discrimination, in support of equal access to benefits under the September 11 Victims Relief Fund for all victims, regardless of sexual orientation or marital status. As you know, the United States has committed to uphold international human rights standards, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which prohibit arbitrary discrimination. As you consider rules for administering the relief fund, I ask that you apply basic international human rights standards, and the general principle of equality, by including among relatives eligible for compensation those who lost their life partners, as well as de facto parents or children, without regard to sexual orientation or marital status. The State of New York has already adopted such a policy, granting compensation benefits "on a showing of mutual interdependence with the victim, in recognition that anyone who shared with the victim living expenses, day to day activities and the emotional bonds of family deserves help in this time of need." Many lesbian and gay people were killed in the September 11th attacks. Since then, lesbian and gay surviving partners of those killed have had mixed results in obtaining equal treatment at the local level in the distribution of relief funds by private and state agencies. An inclusive policy on the part of the federal government would help establish an important principle for other such funds. In compensating victims, real justice will be served only when all families - and all types of families - impacted by the human rights tragedy of September 11 are treated with dignity and equality. Thank you for considering my concerns. I look forward to hearing from you about your efforts to ensure that all surviving victims of the September 11 attacks have equal access to the relief fund. Sincerely, Individual Comment Grand Rapids, MI September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2001-12-18 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource dojA002417.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. email Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2001-12-18 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Department of Justice Emails Description An account of the resource The Department of Justice received more than 11,000 e-mails in response to the agency's public solicitation for comments upon its plans to distribute the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 established by Congress to benefit the victims of September 11 and their families. These e-mails have been organized here by date. September 11 Email September 11 Email: Body The basic content, as unstructured text; sometimes containing a signature block at the end. Tuesday, January 08, 2002 12:25 AM Comments on compensation Fund Hi, I am am the daughter of one of the older and lower income victims of the wtc incident. I am attched a letter I put together in response to the current fund propsal. please consider my arguments. I can be reached at &nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp or &nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp. I shall await a response regarding these concerns. If you wish to email me, do so at &nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp Individual Comment REGARDING PROPOSED COMPENSATION FUND &nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp- WTC Victims Daughter Bronx, NY To: Kenneth Zweck HI, my name is &nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp (age: 23) and I am a family member of one of the victims of the World Trade Center Tragedy. My father, &nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp , was a &nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp for &nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp on the &nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp floor of the first hit tower. He leaves behind four children and a spouse. My purpose in writing this letter is to strongly state my frustration and anger regarding the proposed Compensation Fund proposed by Kenneth Feinberg and to seek representation for families in our situation. Since the events of Sept. 11th, it has been my familys unfortunate circumstance to be at a disadvantage when decisions are made regarding how much financial assistance our family should receive. The problem at hand is as follows: My fathers age (56) and low income status. While this may seem like it is not a problem, it has been turned into one. You see, because my father is older and makes less than the average individual that passed away, we have been placed into a formula that shows that we should receive 1/3rd of what, on average, other families receive. This situation has been a constant obstacle since the events of September 11th. It began with the Red Cross and continued through to Feinbergs proposed compensation fund. In proposing the fund, Feinberg states that he will not play Solomon in deciding the amounts that families should receive in regards to pain and suffering. What he fails to recognize is that that is exactly what he has done; however, in a different context. He does so in a context that poses advantage to the wealthier and younger individuals and neglects the fact that the older lower income employees died the same way. He gives consistent reference to his attempts to decrease the disparity of the fund when it comes to the income of the employee, but lower and older income families (again, both characteristic of my father) see NOTHING BUT DISPARITY. Everyone keeps talking about United We Stand and equality since Sept. 11th , but situations like this make me feel that there is none of that. If that in fact did exist, this problem wouldnt exist. As an article once read, If a kid is thirsty, you give him a glass of water… you do not ask if he is a rich kid or a poor kid! This fund places families at the lower end of the spectrum in a situation where they feel compelled to accept whatever is given through the fund. What I mean by this is, take my mom for example, she is 47 years old and basically with no option but to accept the fund because a lawsuit would take 10- 15 years to come to a conclusion, if not more. Assuming she did win a lawsuit, what is any financial compensation to her when she is in her 60s.? Money means nothing to her at that age. At the same time a lawsuit would mean many years of financial struggle because we are of lower income. I feel that when this fund was being thought out, these stipulations were known and taken advantage of and so the result of it was offering less to families who would have almost no choice but to accept the fund. I fail to mention that it is almost ridiculous that IF my mom choices to accept this fund, she signs away her rights to sue with an estimated assumption of the total she will get from it. So , she wont even know exactly how much she is getting. Sadly enough, I am sure that there are lower income families who have seen this $1.6 million average publicized and have signed away to this fund under the sad assumption that that is what they will receive only to find out later that it is not . Later…. and too late when they cannot change there minds or sue! Since Sept. 11th occurred and different funds were set up, lower income families have had no real direct voice or representation on their behalf. Many do not have the education or knowledge to know where to go, many do not speak English. Navigating the system is difficult! I myself have sent letters only to receive no response! We have no means to determining a good lawyer from a bad one and no direction as to where to go and vent our frustration. This is a problem. As I write this, I have been told that revisions are being made to the proposed fund. However again, the voices of those being heard when these revisions are being taken into consideration are the voices of the higher income families. It is those voices, of the families that possibly received between $150,000 - $350,000 of life insurance, that are listened to because those families do not want their life insurances deducted from the fund (another item of the fund which I disagree with). However, the cries of those who received little or no life insurance go unheard. This can be because they are unspoken, again, as many families do not know where to go and state their frustration in these scenarios. My father had a life and a horrific tragic unimaginable death in the face of those terrorist attacks. He worked 1 floor above the &nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp employees that made possibly 3 times the amount that he did. Should that even matter? Either way you look at it, while we all have differences in our lifestyles, we are all one in life and death. Why should my mother receive 1/3rd of the average. It is a ridiculous and insulting concept to even set forth when considering what happened to each one of those individuals that passed away. This fund has been handled as if it were a lawsuit, taking lost wages and potential earning power into consideration. This is not a lawsuit nor is it a normal lawsuit scenario so my mind goes blank in wondering why it continues to be handled as one. To the best of my knowledge, the main purpose of the fund, contrary to what feinberg states is to attract the families so that the issues of security negligence (to name one) are not taken to court and jeopardizing the airline industry. Instead it does the opposite, angers and insults the families making them want to sign lawsuit papers even faster. I also find it insulting that it mentions the deduction of pensions, life insurance, and workmans death benefits from the fund. My father worked 30 years of his hard life in the &nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp &nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp restaurant in order to receive petty $107 monthly estimate that will go to my mom. Again, 30 YEARS!!! Why should the concept of having what he worked hard for be taken from our potential benefit through this fund , despite how minimal or great the amount may be. Overall, I would like you to consider this; The higher income, more prestigious wealthier families affected by 9/11 are upset at what the fund offers them in light of the family member they lost. If they are complaining, just imagine how we feel being in this situation of constant neglect from organizations such as Red Cross and by this fund. In writing this, again, I hope to reach out and find representation for families in this situation such as ours. My anger is strong but yet I fell defenseless and at a dead end when it comes to seeking assistance in stating my views and concerns and making them known. Any assistance or advice you can offer me would be greatly appreciated. I will desperately await a response from you in regards to this crucial matter. I can be reached at the above address or at &nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp. Your time is greatly appreciated but more importantly, your help is greatly needed. Thank You and Regards, Individual Comment September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2002-01-08 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource dojN001428.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. email Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-01-08 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Department of Justice Emails Description An account of the resource The Department of Justice received more than 11,000 e-mails in response to the agency's public solicitation for comments upon its plans to distribute the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 established by Congress to benefit the victims of September 11 and their families. These e-mails have been organized here by date. September 11 Email September 11 Email: Body The basic content, as unstructured text; sometimes containing a signature block at the end. Tuesday, January 22, 2002 1:19 PM Just Say "NO" to illegal alien compensation! I am appalled that our government is actually planning on compensating illegal aliens for the WTC attack -- the irony is almost overwhelming considering causation. These are N-O-T immigrants but criminals, according to federal law, who have violated our national sovereignty! The funds should go instead to legal immigrants and citizens who had the right to be in that building in the first place. Every time we reward illegality it just encourages more of the same. There are almost 11 million illegal aliens in this country already who consume dwindling resources and create additional expensive infrastructure which we can ill-afford in a recession with rapidly rising poverty. Another few years of this and we can just change our motto from "America the Beautiful" to "America the Third World Dumping Ground". Individual Comment Fiddletown, CA September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2002-01-22 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource dojN002042.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. email Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-01-22 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Department of Justice Emails Description An account of the resource The Department of Justice received more than 11,000 e-mails in response to the agency's public solicitation for comments upon its plans to distribute the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 established by Congress to benefit the victims of September 11 and their families. These e-mails have been organized here by date. September 11 Email September 11 Email: Body The basic content, as unstructured text; sometimes containing a signature block at the end. January 18,2002 By FAX and Regular Mail Mr. Kenneth L. Zwick, Director Office of Management Programs Civil Division U.S. Department of Justice Main Building, Room 3140 950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20530 Dear Mr. Zwick: As you know, the Interim Final Rule implementing Public Law 107-42 (the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001) has been published for comment at the U.S. Department of Justice website. By this letter, I submit to you my comments on certain aspects of the Interim Final Rule. My concern focuses on a potentially serious ancillary result which may adversely affect a number of claimants who file claims against the Fund. Specifically, the wording of the Interim Final Rules appears to be at odds with the wording of the Eligibility Form (DOJ Form SM-001). In the Interim Final Rule, "Subpart F - Limitations" and Section 104.61 of such Subpart state that"...upon the submission of a claim under the Fund, the claimant waives the rightto file a civil action (or to be a party to an action) in any terrorist-related aircraft crashes of September 11, 2001..." [emphasis supplied] However, item 2 of "Section IV - Advance Benefits' of the Eligibility Form, in which the claimant acknowledges waiving the right to file a civil action, also states "Please note that this Waiver of Rights could apply to therights of individuals other than the claimant." [emphasis supplied] Thus, unlike the Eligibility Form, the Interim Final Rule makes no reference to potential rights of individuals other than the claimant, or to the waiver of such rights. I believe that this difference of language is critical, and must be harmonized either by modifying the Eligibility Form, expanding the language of the Interim Rule, or making both of these changes. Permit me to illustrate my concern by using a hypothetical example. Suppose a World Trade Center decedent is survived by a wife, no children, and the decedent's parents. Further suppose that the wife has been judicially appointed as the sole legal representative of the decedent's estate. As I understand New York law, the provisions of EPTL 5-4.4(a) would entitle the parents as deemed distributees to share in damages obtained in a wrongful death action brought by the wife as fiduciary. This result would occur even though, for purposes of intestacy, the widow would be the sole distributee. Therefore, once the wife makes a claim against the Fund, she presumably forecloses any possibility that the parents would have had to either commence a wrongful death action or to share in damages obtained in such action. The Eligibility Form is seemingly innocuous in its statement that the waiver of rights could apply to the rights of individuals other than the claimant. I submit that if the claimant wife is a lay person and has no legal counsel (or even for that matter if she has such counsel), the wife and/or her counsel could readily gloss over any implications of the Eligibility Form's statement upon reading it. Would it not be preferable to give the wife and/or her counsel actual notice in the Eligibility Form that those "individuals other than the claimant" could include the decedent's parent or parents? Otherwise, unless she received a written release from the decedent's parent(s), the claimant wife could end up defending a subsequent lawsuit brought against her by such parent or parents, asserting that she had no legal authority to waive the rights of the parent(s) or to preclude them from bringing a wrongful death action on their own. Of course, this hypothetical example assumes that the claimant wife can legally waive the rights of any third person who is not a signatory to the Eligibility Form. I suspect that this issue will ultimately be determined by a Federal court. The wife is arguably not the agent (actual or under apparent authority) of the decedent's parent(s). It is true that the wife as sole fiduciary in my hypothetical would have the exclusive legal ability to bring a wrongful death action, for the benefit of the decedent's distributees (see EPTL 5-4.4), and may thereby be able to derivatively bind the parents to a waiver by claiming under the Fund. However, it is theoretically possible for the parents rather than the wife to become legal representatives of the estate and thus bring a wrongful death action on their own. Based upon the foregoing, I propose the following: 1. Section 104.61 of "Subpart F - Limitations" of the Interim Final Rule should be modified to add this language in bold type at the end: "This waiver of rights could apply to the rights of individuals other than the claimant, such as a parent or parents of the deceased, who may be able to share in wrongful death damages pursuant to applicable state law. Claimants should consult with counsel prior to submitting a claim under the Fund." 2. Item 2 of "Section IV - Advance Benefits" of the Eligibility Form should be modified to expand the existing language to read as follows, all in bold type:"Please not that this Waiver of Rights could apply to the rights of individuals other than the claimant, such as a parent or parents of the deceased, who may be able to share in wrongful death damages pursuant to applicable state law. Claimants should consult with counsel prior to submitting a claim under the Fund." Thank you for providing the opportunity to make this submission. Respectfully yours, Individual Comment September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2002-01-18 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource dojN002660.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. email Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-01-18 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Department of Justice Emails Description An account of the resource The Department of Justice received more than 11,000 e-mails in response to the agency's public solicitation for comments upon its plans to distribute the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 established by Congress to benefit the victims of September 11 and their families. These e-mails have been organized here by date. September 11 Email September 11 Email: Body The basic content, as unstructured text; sometimes containing a signature block at the end. Saturday, March 16, 2002 1:21 PM i think its awful so why dont you all support the victims and there familes even if they were GAY? why make difference i feel sorry for you people Individual Comment issaquah,wa September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2002-03-16 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource dojR000902.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. email Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-03-16 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Department of Justice Emails Description An account of the resource The Department of Justice received more than 11,000 e-mails in response to the agency's public solicitation for comments upon its plans to distribute the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 established by Congress to benefit the victims of September 11 and their families. These e-mails have been organized here by date. September 11 Email September 11 Email: Body The basic content, as unstructured text; sometimes containing a signature block at the end. Wednesday, December 19, 2001 12:50 PM Please respect all losses December 19, 2001 Dear Mr. Kenneth Zwick, I write as a member of Amnesty International, a worldwide human rights movement committed to ensuring respect for the basic human rights of people without discrimination, in support of equal access to benefits under the September 11 Victims Relief Fund for all victims, regardless of sexual orientation or marital status. As you know, the United States has committed to uphold international human rights standards, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which prohibit arbitrary discrimination. As you consider rules for administering the relief fund, I ask that you apply basic international human rights standards, and the general principle of equality, by including among relatives eligible for compensation those who lost their life partners, as well as de facto parents or children, without regard to sexual orientation or marital status. The State of New York has already adopted such a policy, granting compensation benefits "on a showing of mutual interdependence with the victim, in recognition that anyone who shared with the victim living expenses, day to day activities and the emotional bonds of family deserves help in this time of need." Many lesbian and gay people were killed in the September 11th attacks. Since then, lesbian and gay surviving partners of those killed have had mixed results in obtaining equal treatment at the local level in the distribution of relief funds by private and state agencies. An inclusive policy on the part of the federal government would help establish an important principle for other such funds. In compensating victims, real justice will be served only when all families - and all types of families - impacted by the human rights tragedy of September 11 are treated with dignity and equality. Thank you for considering my concerns. I look forward to hearing from you about your efforts to ensure that all surviving victims of the September 11 attacks have equal access to the relief fund. Sincerely, Individual Comment Mansfield, PA September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2001-12-19 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource dojA003272.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. email Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2001-12-19 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Department of Justice Emails Description An account of the resource The Department of Justice received more than 11,000 e-mails in response to the agency's public solicitation for comments upon its plans to distribute the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 established by Congress to benefit the victims of September 11 and their families. These e-mails have been organized here by date. September 11 Email September 11 Email: Body The basic content, as unstructured text; sometimes containing a signature block at the end. Wednesday, December 19, 2001 12:54 PM equal support now! December 19, 2001 Dear Mr. Kenneth Zwick, I write as a member of Amnesty International, a worldwide human rights movement committed to ensuring respect for the basic human rights of people without discrimination, in support of equal access to benefits under the September 11 Victims Relief Fund for all victims, regardless of sexual orientation or marital status. As you know, the United States has committed to uphold international human rights standards, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which prohibit arbitrary discrimination. As you consider rules for administering the relief fund, I ask that you apply basic international human rights standards, and the general principle of equality, by including among relatives eligible for compensation those who lost their life partners, as well as de facto parents or children, without regard to sexual orientation or marital status. The State of New York has already adopted such a policy, granting compensation benefits "on a showing of mutual interdependence with the victim, in recognition that anyone who shared with the victim living expenses, day to day activities and the emotional bonds of family deserves help in this time of need." Many lesbian and gay people were killed in the September 11th attacks. Since then, lesbian and gay surviving partners of those killed have had mixed results in obtaining equal treatment at the local level in the distribution of relief funds by private and state agencies. An inclusive policy on the part of the federal government would help establish an important principle for other such funds. In compensating victims, real justice will be served only when all families - and all types of families - impacted by the human rights tragedy of September 11 are treated with dignity and equality. Thank you for considering my concerns. I look forward to hearing from you about your efforts to ensure that all surviving victims of the September 11 attacks have equal access to the relief fund. Sincerely, Individual Comment Boulder, CO September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2001-12-19 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource dojA003280.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. email Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2001-12-19 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Department of Justice Emails Description An account of the resource The Department of Justice received more than 11,000 e-mails in response to the agency's public solicitation for comments upon its plans to distribute the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 established by Congress to benefit the victims of September 11 and their families. These e-mails have been organized here by date. September 11 Email September 11 Email: Body The basic content, as unstructured text; sometimes containing a signature block at the end. Friday, December 07, 2001 5:58 AM concerning regulations governing the "September 11th Fund" Kenneth L. Zwick, Director Office of Management Programs, Civil Division U.S. Department of Justice Dear Mr. Zwick: I appreciate very much the chance to share my comments concerning regulations governing the "September 11th Fund", as recently requested by the Justice Department. I strongly urge the Department to draft regulations that ensure compensation is available to all victims of the attack, including the committed partners and the non-biological children of gay and lesbian victims. In this time of grief for our nation, I feel that it is necessary for our government to lead the way in supporting unity and tolerance. Gay and lesbian families, which consist of committed partners, sometimes raising children, function just as all American families do: they depend on one another for emotional and financial support. The terrorist attacks have destroyed the family support systems of everyone involved, and all victims are in need of help. By supporting all of the families devastated by these attacks, the "September 11th Fund" will not only show boundless compassion, but will quicken the healing of our citizens and children, and our nation. I urge the Department to honor all families damaged by the attacks on September 11, 2001, showing no discrimiation against gay and lesbian victims, just as they would not discriminate against people of color or families with different religious backgrounds. Sincerely, Individual Comment Mount Dora, FL September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2001-12-07 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource dojA001257.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. email Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2001-12-07 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Department of Justice Emails Description An account of the resource The Department of Justice received more than 11,000 e-mails in response to the agency's public solicitation for comments upon its plans to distribute the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 established by Congress to benefit the victims of September 11 and their families. These e-mails have been organized here by date. September 11 Email September 11 Email: Body The basic content, as unstructured text; sometimes containing a signature block at the end. Tuesday, December 18, 2001 2:55 PM Concern for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered survivors To whom it may concern: I urge you to provide full compensation to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered partners of the victims of the World Trade Center tragedy and that you treat all victims with dignity and equality. Please tell me how you intend to address this issue. Sincerely, Individual Comment September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2001-12-18 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource dojA002195.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. email Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2001-12-18 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Department of Justice Emails Description An account of the resource The Department of Justice received more than 11,000 e-mails in response to the agency's public solicitation for comments upon its plans to distribute the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 established by Congress to benefit the victims of September 11 and their families. These e-mails have been organized here by date. September 11 Email September 11 Email: Body The basic content, as unstructured text; sometimes containing a signature block at the end. Tuesday, December 04, 2001 7:32 PM Just Compensation to All Survivors December 4, 2001 Office of Management Dept of Justice Dear Mr. Zwick: I write in support of offering benefits and reimbursement to the surviving domestic partner and any children of gay or lesbian victims of the September 11 tragedy. There are already enough horror stories of people being denied any recognition of their relationship to their loved ones killed in this act of terrorism. Need we add more suffering to their lives by denying them the recognition and just compensation needed for them to reorder their lives? The City of New York and the State of New York have set an example of what is the right and decent thing to do in this matter. I hope and trust that the Dept. of Justice will follow this good example and show the world that the American people unite in times of suffering and hardship. It would be terribly ironic and the worst possible message to send if the Dept of Justice decided that discrimination based on religious prejudice should govern acts of charity and justice for the survivors of a tragedy motivated by the same kind of self righteous religious fanaticism. We are a people of diverse ethnic, religious and political persuasions and backgrounds. In such circumstances it is only just that we be generous to all our people. That is our greatness as a people and I trust the Dept. of Justice will make us proud of our heritage by acting generously and compassionately toward all the survivors of the tragedy. Sincerely yours, Individual Comment Storrs, CT September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2001-12-04 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource dojA000513.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. email Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2001-12-04 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Department of Justice Emails Description An account of the resource The Department of Justice received more than 11,000 e-mails in response to the agency's public solicitation for comments upon its plans to distribute the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 established by Congress to benefit the victims of September 11 and their families. These e-mails have been organized here by date. September 11 Email September 11 Email: Body The basic content, as unstructured text; sometimes containing a signature block at the end. Tuesday, March 19, 2002 11:28 AM AMERICAN OR UN-AMERICAN - 9-11 VICTIMS & FAMILIES I AM OUTRAGED THAT YOU WOULD CONSIDER TREATING ANY VICTIM OR VICTIM'S FAMILY OR PARTNER OF THE 9-11 TRAGEDY DIFFERENT THAN ANY OTHER VICTIM OR VICTIM'S FAMILY OR PARTNER. I THOUGHT WE WERE ALL AMERICANS!!!!!!!!!!!! ALL victims, victims' partners & families MUST be compensated and no one should be discriminated against. We MUST NOT discriminate against gays and lesbians or their families - this is UN-AMERICAN. If two people of the same sex desire to be together, that is their personal choice and it is none of our business; they are AMERICAN FIRST - regardless of their sexual preference. I CANNOT EXPRESS HOW OUTRAGED I AM THAT YOU WOULD CONSIDER DISCRIMINATION AGAINST ANY VICTIM, VICTIMS' FAMILIES OR PARTNERS BECAUSE OF THEIR SEXUAL PREFERENCE. WHAT IF YOU WERE ONE OF THE VICTIMS? HOW WOULD YOU WANT YOUR PARTNER AND FAMILY TREATED. TAKE SOME TIME AND THINK ABOUT THIS. I will be one very disappointed American - if you do discriminate against gays and lesbians and their partners and families. What is American coming to - What happened to Freedom of Choice? Individual Comment September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2002-03-19 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource dojR002167.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. email Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-03-19 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Department of Justice Emails Description An account of the resource The Department of Justice received more than 11,000 e-mails in response to the agency's public solicitation for comments upon its plans to distribute the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 established by Congress to benefit the victims of September 11 and their families. These e-mails have been organized here by date. September 11 Email September 11 Email: Body The basic content, as unstructured text; sometimes containing a signature block at the end. Thursday, March 21, 2002 4:56 PM Re: 9/11 FUND UNFAIR TO GAYS WHAT THE HELL IS THE DIFFERENCE IF THE LIFE LOST WAS HETEROSEXUAL OR GAY, WE ARE ALL HUMAN. ARE YOU TRIVIALIZING THE LIFE OF A GAY PERSON VERSUS THAT OF A HETEROSEXUAL. WHEN IS THIS KIND OF DISCRIMINATION GOING TO STOP? HOW CAN YOU EVEN BEGIN TO THINK ALONG THESE LINES? GAYS PAY THE SAME TAXES AS EVERYONE ELSE BUT YOU WANT TO CUT THEM OFF WHEN THEY DIED LIKE EVERYONE ELSE IN THIS TRAGEDY. GAYS HAVE LOVING PARTNERS, BROTHERS, SISTERS, MOTHERS AND FATHERS, WHEN IS THIS COUNTRY GOING TO STOP SENDING A NEGATIVE IMAGE TO THESE FAMILIES. THIS IS A TRAVESTY TO SINGLE OUT GAY PEOPLE THAT DIED IN THIS TRAGEDY AND SAY THEY ARE NOT WORTH THE SAME AS SOMEBODY ELSE BECAUSE OF THEIR SEXUAL ORIENTATION. WHEN IS THIS COUNTRY GOING TO WAKE UP AND TREAT EVERYONE EQUAL??? Individual Comment September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2002-03-21 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource dojR002562.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. email Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-03-21 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Department of Justice Emails Description An account of the resource The Department of Justice received more than 11,000 e-mails in response to the agency's public solicitation for comments upon its plans to distribute the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 established by Congress to benefit the victims of September 11 and their families. These e-mails have been organized here by date. September 11 Email September 11 Email: Body The basic content, as unstructured text; sometimes containing a signature block at the end. Wednesday, December 19, 2001 10:02 AM Equal assistance December 19, 2001 Dear Mr. Kenneth Zwick, I write as a member of Amnesty International, a worldwide human rights movement committed to ensuring respect for the basic human rights of people without discrimination, in support of equal access to benefits under the September 11 Victims Relief Fund for all victims, regardless of sexual orientation or marital status. As you know, the United States has committed to uphold international human rights standards, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which prohibit arbitrary discrimination. As you consider rules for administering the relief fund, I ask that you apply basic international human rights standards, and the general principle of equality, by including among relatives eligible for compensation those who lost their life partners, as well as de facto parents or children, without regard to sexual orientation or marital status. The State of New York has already adopted such a policy, granting compensation benefits "on a showing of mutual interdependence with the victim, in recognition that anyone who shared with the victim living expenses, day to day activities and the emotional bonds of family deserves help in this time of need." Many lesbian and gay people were killed in the September 11th attacks. Since then, lesbian and gay surviving partners of those killed have had mixed results in obtaining equal treatment at the local level in the distribution of relief funds by private and state agencies. An inclusive policy on the part of the federal government would help establish an important principle for other such funds. In compensating victims, real justice will be served only when all families - and all types of families - impacted by the human rights tragedy of September 11 are treated with dignity and equality. Thank you for considering my concerns. I look forward to hearing from you about your efforts to ensure that all surviving victims of the September 11 attacks have equal access to the relief fund. Sincerely, Individual Comment Decorah, IA September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2001-12-19 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource dojA002925.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. email Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2001-12-19 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Department of Justice Emails Description An account of the resource The Department of Justice received more than 11,000 e-mails in response to the agency's public solicitation for comments upon its plans to distribute the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 established by Congress to benefit the victims of September 11 and their families. These e-mails have been organized here by date. September 11 Email September 11 Email: Body The basic content, as unstructured text; sometimes containing a signature block at the end. December 13, 2001 Special Master Kenneth R. Feinberg September 11th Victim Compensation Fund U.S. Department of Justice 950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20530 To Mr. Feinberg: I am writing to urge you to ensure fair treatment for all surviving families of the tragedy on September 11th, including the children and families of low-wage workers and gay and lesbian families. Under traditional rules based on lost wages, the survivors of a bond trader earning millions of dollars per year might receive thousands of times as much compensation as the survivors of a dishwasher in one of the restaurants destroyed. Justice requires looking far beyond the last paycheck to the inherent worth of all those killed, so that a high minimum compensation level is set to lessen the disparities. It would be a double blow to the survivors to first lose their loved one and then watch as most of the taxpayer money went to those who were already well off in the first place. The second major issue has to do with recognizing the legitimacy of gay and lesbian relationships and families. Gay and lesbian families are especially vulnerable when one partner is killed. Because the option of marriage is unavailable, these families may find themselves in the traumatic predicament of having to prove that their union is legitimate. Fortunately both the Red Cross and the State of New York have already announced that they will not discriminate against gay and lesbian families. The Department of Justice should do the same. Thank you for considering my comments. I look forward to hearing how you will act on these very important issues. Sincerely, Individual Comment Bainbridge Island, WA September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2001-12-13 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource dojA001789.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. email Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2001-12-13