28 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. Friday, December 21, 2001 12:01 PM Please support All December 21, 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 Goffstown, NH September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2001-12-21 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 dojN000429.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. 2001-12-21 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. Thursday, December 06, 2001 9:21 AM Sept 11th compensation fund Dear Mr. Zwick, Please know that I support and urge you to support compensation for all victims and their relatives of the September 11th terrorist attack. I am 54 years old and have never felt so bonded to my country. I would be deeply disappointed to hear that you did not consider domestic partners in your compensation package. The profound pain and financial loss is as great for any gay and lesbian couple as heterosexual couple. I want my country to continue to grow in its openness to diversity so that I can feel that pride. Again, I urge the Justice Department to treat gay and lesbian couples as you would all others. Thank you, Individual Comment Lewisburg, PA September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2001-12-06 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 dojA001120.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. 2001-12-06 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 18, 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 Los Angeles, CA 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 dojA005408.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. Thursday, December 13, 2001 6:12 PM victim compensation Dear Justice Department staff: I support the fair and equitable compensation to all family members of victims of terrorists attacks- whether or not the victims are gay or heterosexual and whether the children are biological or not. Sincerely, Individual Comment Juneau AK 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 dojA001621.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. Thursday, January 31, 2002 9:11 PM New Vote.com votes as of 09:10 PM EST on January 31st, 2002 Dear September 11th Victim Compensation Fund, Vote.com is the Internet's most popular voting site. Millions of people regularly express their opinions and - in just one click - automatically send their views to important decision makers like you. Here are the latest votes on the question, SHOULD FAMILIES OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS WHO DIED ON 9-11 GET MONEY FROM THE FEDERAL VICTIMS' FUND?: YES: 116 votes NO: 916 votes Group Comment September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2002-01-31 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 dojP000315.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. 2002-01-31 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, January 09, 2002 2:48 PM Victim Comp Fund concerns 9Jan02 Concerns of Families of September 11 with DOJ's Interim Final Regulations Governing the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund Families of September 11 has serious concerns with the interim final regulations issued by the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Special Master to govern payments under the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund established by Congress as part of the Air Transportation Safety and System Stabilization Act, Public Law 107-42. Families of September 11 is a non-profit organization of injured victims and families of those killed in the recent terrorist attacks. We represent hundreds of victims' families from 26 states. The group's mission is to ensure that the victims' and families' interests are protected and to advocate public policies that will improve the prevention of and response to terrorism. More information is available at www.familiesofseptember11.org. Our primary concern with the interim final regulations is that DOJ has ignored the fundamental mandate of the Act to provide full and fair compensation to victims and their families and instead has concocted a bureaucratic response that bases compensation on irrelevant federal programs. The purpose of the regulations appears to be to hold down the amount of the awards, rather than to carry out the intent of Congress so clearly set forth in the law. We ask your help in urging DOJ to abandon its misguided proposal and to issue new regulations that fulfill, rather than flout, the legislative mandate of Congress. Background The Victim Compensation Fund was created by Title IV of the airline bailout bill passed by Congress shortly after the September 11 attacks. The Act gave the airlines $15 billion of taxpayers' money and capped the airlines' liability for the crashes at the limits of their insurance coverage. Thus the airlines face no out-of-pocket expenses for the widespread death and destruction caused by the crashes of their aircraft into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Acknowledging the fact that this airline liability cap severely restricted the victims' right to sue the airlines, Congress created the Compensation Fund to provide victims and their families with full payment for a wide range of specified non-economic damages (e.g., pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, loss of consortium between husband and wife, and more) and full restitution for economic damages (e.g., lost future income), minus collateral payments. In this way, Congress sought to ensure that the airlines' bailout would not be funded by the victims' families, who had already suffered the most from the horrible tragedy of September 11. Unfortunately, DOJ was unmoved by Congress's compassionate and reasoned approach and, perhaps goaded by the Office of Management and Budget, determined that it could abandon the statutory framework in favor of a bean-counting mentality that limits awards with no basis in law. Congress's unmistakable intent was not carried out by DOJ, and we need your help to correct these problems by January 22, 2002, the end of DOJ's comment period on the regulations. News media reports that families will receive an average of $1.65 million are inaccurate, because this estimate fails to account for deductions of collateral payments, such as life insurance and pension plans. Actual payments from the Fund would be substantially less, and many families would get nothing under the parsimonious interim final regulations because collateral payment deductions required by the statute would wipe out their entire award. (A recent New York Times article quoting the Special Master suggested that he was considering a minimum payment of $250,000, regardless of collateral deductions. This amount is still far too low to compensate for the damages the victims and their families have suffered.) The three primary defects in the interim regulations concern the valuation of non-economic damages, the calculation of economic damages, and the provisions for hearings. Proposed Non-Economic Awards Are One-Tenth Those Made in Comparable Cases The DOJ's proposed awards for non-economic damages ($250,000 per victim plus $50,000 for a spouse and each dependent) are only one-tenth the level paid in comparable cases. In other cases of airline crashes and terrorism, non-economic damage awards of $2 million to $5 million are typical, and much higher awards have been made in some cases. Moreover, Congress explicitly enumerated a broad range of non-economic damages for which victims and their families shall be compensated: physical and emotional pain, suffering, inconvenience, physical impairment, mental anguish, disfigurement, loss of enjoyment of life, loss of society and companionship, loss of consortium (other than loss of domestic service), hedonic damages, injury to reputation, and all other nonpecuniary losses of any kind or nature. Sec. 402(7). In the case of a victim killed in the attack, all of the above except physical impairment, disfigurement, and injury to reputation are applicable and payable to the victim's estate or (as in the case of loss of consortium and loss of society and companionship) to members of the surviving family. Thus there are at least eight relevant elements cited in the statute: (1) physical pain, (2) emotional pain, (3) suffering, (4) inconvenience, (5) mental anguish, (6) loss of enjoyment of life, (6) loss of society and companionship, (7) loss of consortium, and (8) hedonic damages, in addition to the catch-all "all other non-pecuniary losses of any kind or nature." In fact, Congress enumerated more kinds of non-economic damages than are normally paid in any single state jurisdiction. Thus, it would be reasonable to expect that payments made under the Victim Compensation Fund would be at least as high, if not higher, than previous awards for non-economic damages. As one example, in the case of the Lockerbie bombing, a spouse was awarded $5 million in non-economic damages. Under DOJ's plan for the September 11th Fund, a widow and two surviving dependent children would receive only $400,000, subject to reduction by the collateral offset provision. Shockingly, DOJ tacitly admits that it did not even look at the elements of non-economic damages that Congress required to be compensated. Rather, in the only justification for the presumed award, DOJ's notice states that "the $250,000 figure is roughly equivalent to the amounts received under existing federal programs by public safety officers who are killed while on duty, or members of our military who are killed in the line of duty while serving our nation." The regulation then cites to the statutory provision for a group life insurance program under which servicemembers can elect to purchase policies with a death benefit up to a maximum of $250,000, commonly known as the Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance (SGLI) program, and a newly amended federal statute under which the government pays to the families of fallen public safety officers $250,000-on top of any other amounts they may receive from other sources. Neither of these programs was intended to, nor does, compensate a victim's family for the full range of non-economic damages identified by Congress in the statute establishing the Fund. DOJ flouted Congress's specific mandate and instead replicated existing, inapposite, and limited federal death-benefit programs. The absurdity of DOJ's approach is illustrated by its reliance on SGLI as the basis for the amount awarded. If a serviceman killed at the Pentagon had elected the SGLI at $250,000, the offset of life insurance proceeds required by the Act would wipe out the non-economic damages entirely (unless there were a spouse or other dependents, at $50,000 each under the DOJ scheme). DOJ's approach therefore assumes that Congress intended the non-economic damages to be merely illusory-to be given with one hand and then taken away with the other. Not only is this clearly incorrect-it flies in the face of basic principles of statutory construction. In short, it is the epitome of an arbitrary and capricious approach to implementing the Act. Presentations made at a recent meeting of the National Association of Forensic Economists support our contention that DOJ's presumed non-economic damage awards are unreasonably low. Another problem with respect to non-economic damages is the Special Master's insistence on using the probate laws of the various states to determine the distribution of the entire award among family members and other claimants. While appropriate for some damages (e.g., pain and suffering of the victim), this approach fails to recognize that other non-economic losses are incurred by specific claimants, not by the estate. For example, the surviving spouse suffers loss of consortium. Under the DOJ plan, payments for loss of consortium could be divided among the heirs and, where there is a will, might be awarded entirely to a claimant other than the spouse. While the Special Master reserves the right to overrule the probate courts, it is unreasonable to force a claimant to plead extraordinary circumstances and appeal to the Special Master to prevent such an inappropriate distribution of funds. DOJ's Plan Significantly Undervalues Economic Damages DOJ's proposed awards for economic damages significantly underestimate actual economic losses. We have asked DOJ and the Special Master for all of the assumptions and methodology used in calculating the "presumptive awards," in order to better understand and analyze them, because DOJ has provided only general guidance on how it determined these award levels. Even before we receive this detailed information, however, it is clear that there are major problems with DOJ's approach. The National Association of Forensic Economists recently participated in a conference at which experienced economists pointed out significant flaws in DOJ's methodology. For example, DOJ unnecessarily relied almost exclusively on federal government data that was out of date and inapplicable to the groups to which DOJ applied it. One forensic economist with experience in air crash cases (for both plaintiffs and defendants) indicates that actual life-cycle earnings for firefighters are 27% higher than the DOJ estimate, the actual life-cycle earnings of all college educated workers are 30% higher than DOJ indicates, and the actual life-cycle earnings growth of college-educated Securities and Financial Services workers is more than 100% higher than the DOJ estimate. Moreover, DOJ also seriously underestimates "real" (beyond inflation) increases in earnings by administrative support and clerical workers. Rather than utilizing aggregated national data, this experienced economist stated that the Special Master could use readily available data to create 8-12 prototype earning patterns, based on occupation and education, that would much more closely match the expected earnings patterns of the victims. In the case of high-income victims, the undervaluation of increases in compensation is exacerbated because the regulations arbitrarily cap a victim's income at $225,000 a year. Thus, DOJ starts off with an artificially depressed earnings level, and then uses unrealistically low models for projecting increases from that level. This cap, for which there is no justification in the statute, would result in some families receiving severely reduced compensation for their actual economic losses. The only justification DOJ has offered for capping incomes is that not doing so would result in awards greater than what the families "need." But DOJ has provided no explanation of how it determined these needs. The human cost of the income cap is that many widows and some widowers will have to sell their homes, deplete their children's college funds, give up their plans of being full-time parents while their children are young, and make other wrenching adjustments at a time when they already have more than enough burdens to bear. In general, there is a significant underestimation of promotions and other increases in earnings for victims. DOJ apparently relied on the Boards of Actuaries of the federal civil service and military retirement systems, which track federal worker incomes and pension requirements, not the higher-paying private sector career paths. Experts at the NAFE conference pointed out that data on federal workers is irrelevant for assessing private sector earnings projections. DOJ's error, coupled with its emphasis on past 3 years of income (which the Special Master "may average"), makes it appear that DOJ used a federal pension approach to ascertaining economic damages , rather than considering the likely income-earning potential of the decedent, as is routinely done in wrongful death cases. Sadly, this DOJ/OMB approach appears to be an attempt to distort the tort-based provisions of the Act into just another bureaucratic, formulaic, federal program based on concepts the agencies are already familiar with, rather than what the law requires. One economist dubbed the failure of DOJ to tailor its economic loss model to the actual circumstances of the victims the "Reverse Cinderella Effect" -- where DOJ is trying to make one shoe fit all of the feet. Other problems pointed out by the economists are the fact that the worklife estimates used by DOJ are seriously outdated, particularly for women. DOJ's aggregation of this outdated data means that its worklife estimates are low for both men and women, thus underestimating awards for both genders. There is also a serious underestimation of the economic value of household services performed by victims, particularly women. These, along with the use of pre-tax discount rate, further widen the gap between DOJ's flawed approach and a proper valuation of economic loss. DOJ Makes a Mockery of the Right to a Hearing A particularly insidious notion inherent in the interim final regulations is that a family's award may be increased above the "presumptive" award only by a showing of "extraordinary circumstances"-beyond those suffered by other victims or victims' families. This makes the hearing or appeal to the Special Master a mere charade. DOJ has constructed a scheme that provides extremely low awards to those who lost loved ones due to the extraordinary events of September 11, and then declares that only in cases that are extraordinary, beyond those already extraordinary events, will awards be increased. This is virtually an impossible standard to meet, especially in light of the Special Master's statements that he cannot and will not make "Solomon-like" distinctions between the suffering of individuals or families. The problem is that the presumptive award levels are so low, they do not compensate the families adequately for the extraordinary suffering they and their loved ones endured and continue to endure. Absent a change in the regulations, these award levels will not be increased to reflect the compensation contemplated by the Act for the actual damages suffered by each victim and family. What is extraordinary is the suffering inflicted on all of the victims and their families on September 11-not differences in degrees of suffering among them. Victims aboard airplanes suffered through a kidnapping/highjacking and horrific plane crashes. Victims at the World Trade Center suffered through the trauma of the plane crash and a raging fire (so intense and unbearable that some victims thought it better to jump 100 stories to their certain death than to endure the fire), and others suffered from the unthinkable collapse of the massive towers upon them. Victims at the Pentagon suffered a horrible death from the impact of the plane into their "secure" offices or by burning in the raging inferno of jet fuel. Family members themselves have had to endure the inescapable coverage and regurgitation of these events on TV, in the newspapers, and even in ordinary discourse with neighbors, acquaintances, and others. It is fundamentally unfair for DOJ to trivialize the extraordinary suffering of each victim and family (for example, by valuing non-economic damages at 10% of the level of compensation in comparable cases and valuing economic damages at less than 50% in some cases) and then to state that only upon distinguishing a claim from all of the other claims that are also undervalued by DOJ will an award be increased. Instead, the standard should be that DOJ compensate each victim and family for the types of damages enumerated by Congress at levels comparable to those recoverable in the tort system the Fund was designed to replace. Conclusion During the 30-day comment period, Families of September 11 will work with DOJ and the Special Master to try to improve the payment levels to reflect the provisions of the Act. Your assistance will be most helpful in persuading DOJ and the Special Master to follow the Act. If the interim final regulations are not substantially changed by DOJ, the victims' families may have to challenge the regulations in court in order to ensure compliance with the law. And many families, seeing no adequate remedy from the Fund, may decide to sue the airlines and others, despite the handicap of the liability limits. DOJ can and should avoid such unfortunate confrontations by recognizing the need to make significant revisions to conform the regulations to the statutory requirements. Please urge DOJ to do so, and eliminate the need for the families to go to court in order to implement the clear congressional intent for fair, compassionate compensation. Specifically, we want DOJ to (1) increase its non-economic loss award by an order of magnitude (from 10% to 100%), to properly reflect the damages that Congress has determined are compensable, (2) correct the methodological flaws in its calculation of economic damages and use accurate, up-to-date data in making those calculations, and (3) recognize that a claimant should not have to show "extraordinary circumstances" to increase the "presumed award," but rather, should only have to show that the "presumed award" does not accurately reflect the damages incurred by the victim and his or her family. We strongly believe that if the nation can find $15 billion to bail out the airlines, which may have been responsible for the attacks because of lax security, it can provide the full amount necessary to fairly compensate the families of the innocent victims of the attacks. Thank you in advance for your assistance on this pressing matter. Comment by: Families of Septempber 11 September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2002-01-09 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 dojN002503.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. 2002-01-09 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, March 13, 2002 8:50 PM Kenneth Feinberg I am outraged that you are discriminating against gay and lesbian partners of the September 11th disaster. Why are their families less worthy? Individual Comment Merion, PA September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2002-03-13 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 dojR002123.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. 2002-03-13 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. Sunday, December 09, 2001 3:19 PM for shame or to paraphrase the attorney, mr. walsh at the infamous mccarthy army hearings when, he brought the hearings to a abrupt ending and a vote against the raving sen. mccarthy who was attacking a young attorney who was jewish, by asking the senator, if he had no shame. look it up it's a great moment in history. and while we are looking at history. let us paraphrase a great philosopher, who warned those that forget the past are bound to repeat it's mistakes. all victims of 9/11/ need be remembered. the dead have no color no gender no sexual pref. so take care of everyones loved ones, don't tarnish such a hidious, gut wrenching, day in our country's history further. Individual Comment September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2001-12-09 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 dojA001382.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. 2001-12-09 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 1:15 PM Equality & Non-judgmentalism 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 Louisville, 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 dojA003295.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, January 27, 2002 11:22 PM Comment on 9/11 victim compensation I have been thoroughly disgusted by the behavior of many of the victims' families. Congress has set a terrible precedent by providing these funds; many others deserve help too, but the government shouldn't be doing this for just one group of people, nomatter how horrible their losses (does Congress or the vocal victims remember there are such people as the 40 million with no medical insurance?). Instead of being grateful for the private generosity of the American people and being grateful they will be the beneficiaries of large life insurance policies or other assets that are to be deducted from the $1.6 million average government payments (YES, we DO understand that not everyone is getting that much and many of us think your charity payments should also be deducted from the government payments) so many of these family members, such as Mr. , have behaved like avaricious game-show contestants. When did they even grieve??? And, for siblings and parents of victims, who presumably were not dependents of those killed, to feel such entitlement is especially disgusting. Individual Comment September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2002-01-27 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 dojP000214.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. 2002-01-27 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 3:43 PM RE: Reply from Special Master We know that you have an arduous task ahead of you. There have been ancillary victims of that disaster and I woulld respectfully ask that you refer the subject of compensation or aid for the children/and or families of those serviceperson who died in Afghanistan or who were seriouslyinjured(i.e.the marine who lost his leg;the families of those who were killed or injured by friendly fire-the bomb victims in the air raid attack,the seamn who drowned in the Persian Gulf)tp the President or whomever may be able to consider this constructively. Individual Comment Las Vegas, Nevada 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 dojN000013.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. Thursday, March 21, 2002 6:48 PM Fair and Just Compensation I understand that compensation will not be accorded those who are life partners, gays or lesbians. Why do you have a choice with money when they did not have a choice about their death? Americans contributed to the fund fully so that all those effected by 9/11would be cared for. That is everyone. I ask that all be compensated and that you do not discriminate. 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 dojR002575.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. Saturday, November 17, 2001 10:45 AM comments on the regulations for the victim compensation fund Kenneth L. Zwick, Director Office of Management Programs, Civil Division U.S. Department of Justice Main Building, Room 3140 950 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, D.C. 20530 Dear Mr. Zwick: Thank you for the opportunity to comment in advance of the rulemaking now ongoing with respect to the September 11 Victim Compensation Fund of 2001. I am an attorney in private practice in New Jersey. I represent one family of a citizen murdered at the World Trade Center and thus have followed the passage of the law and the commentary thus far with respect to the regulations which will implement the Law. There are several areas of concern which I submit should be addressed. First, it was clearly the intent of Congress and the President to establish a fund which would fully economically compensate those victims and families directly affected by the attack. The regulations must make clear that economic loss will be treated as it would in any lawsuit- that is, complete recovery for that item of loss must be made to those who choose to forego their right to litigate and to subrogate their civil right (at least with respect to all tortfeasors other than the terrorist murderers). Thus to place any cap, announced or unannounced in the regulations would be to thwart the intent of the legislation and to create challenges to awards and to the law's constitutionality. It is only fair to give the "personal representative" the ability to be assured that a decision to enter the fund, with all its implications for the government (avoiding long expensive and contentious litigation, clogging of the civil courts and national discord over the treatment of the victims and their families as well as the subrogation rights the government has preserved) and for citizens, will not be undermined or result in litigation for a choice ill made. Additionally, as many "personal representatives" will be seeking and getting legal advice (both 'free' and paid for) the regulations must be clear enough that competent advice regarding the weighty decision can be made and can stand in the light of hindsight, which is surely to occur if the Fund is not viewed as providing complete and fair compensation. Second, with respect to non-economic loss, it is being repeatedly promised by Congressional members and legal "experts" that the intent of that portion of the Act refers to not only the decedent or the injured party but the survivors as well. As I am sure you are aware, different state laws could create differing claims in this regard. Thus this item must be treated in a liberal fashion without disparate treatment depending on where one lives. Whatever the final shape of the regulations, it must be clear what is available and what is being given up, in exchange for the submission of a claim to the Fund. Because the law dictates that other compensation be deducted from awards, it must be made clear that the cost of obtaining whatever is considered 'other compensation', including at least premiums paid for life insurance be deducted from calculations before any award is reduced. Additionally, "other compensation" must be adequately defined and limited to items such as actual pay received from employers and not charity received or governmental entitlements paid. I urge you to include some form of appellate review of any decision of a Hearing Officer by the Special Master at least in the final regulations. There is a perception that because some of the losses to be covered will be large, there may be a hesitancy to award complete relief. But clearly the intent of the Fund is to do so and your regulations must make clear that nothing other than that result will obtain. Additionally, the assertion that economists are not necessary to file a claim is not in the best interests of those claimants without to ability to present the issues inherent in an economic loss presentation. Finally,affording those who wish it a hearing with testimony is essential for the appearance of fairness, actual fairness, and the potential for providing some limited form of closure for our fellow citizens most directly and brutally affected by this tragic event. Thank you for your attention and consideration. Individual Comment Cranford, NJ September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2001-11-17 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 dojW000371.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. 2001-11-17 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. Monday, March 18, 2002 10:47 PM 9/11 Fund Exclusion of Gays I wish to express my outrage that gay and lesbian partners of those who died on September 11 are not going to receive the same benefits as heterosexual spouses. FOR THE MEMORY OF: And so many more... Don't let their deaths be in vain. Sincerely, Individual Comment Chicago, Illinois September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2002-03-18 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 dojR001806.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. 2002-03-18 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. Wednesday, December 19, 2001 3:22 AM grief and loss have no boundaries excluding same sex partnerships 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 San Jose, CA 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 dojA002495.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 4:27 PM 911 fund DISCRIMINATION HOW DARE YOU say that gays and lesbians didn't suffer as much as everyone else in the attaks of 911!! You make a lot of us feel EMBARRASSED AND ASHAMED to be American. Need we remind you that several of the people who were acclaimed as "heroes" in those attacks were gay? Now you have the AUDACITY to say that you don't give a shit that they died for our country?!?! It's a good thing that gays and lesbians OBVIOUSLY care more about our country than YOU do. Individual Comment Laguna Beach, CA 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 dojR001478.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. Wednesday, November 07, 2001 6:42 PM wtc area business I have just returned from my first trip to Washington DC. I went as a part of a group of approximately 50 people representing small business owners in Lower Manhattan. We broke into groups of 5-10 and spoke to various Congressman to put a face and if necessary introduce the reality of the disaster in relation to post 9/11 impact on small business. The impetus for this trip is that though much assistance has been trumpeted in the press for "WTC victims". None of the solutions offered addressed the need of small business. The terrorists chose the most concentrated business district in America. Garbage Cleanup the government is addressing. Human loss of life the government can do little for. The main challenge in post disaster assistance for this unprecedented attack is business. And the government has not met the challenge. Government categorizes small business as 500 employees or less. I call small business (and so categorize it in this writing) 25 employees or less. This category of small business is what makes up >75% of the entire US economy. This category is the backbone of the American dollar. This category was the invisible skeleton of the body called Lower Manhattan. A small business owner, (being told to those who are not one), wears many hats, does whatever is necessary to keep the operation rolling, is the equivalent of many corporate departments rolled into one person. Most small businesses have thin margins, and very tight cash flow. The drive and stamina of the business owner pushes, on a daily, weekly, monthly and yearly basis, to provide a living for the owner and the employees. But there is little room for mistake. There is no room for interruption in either customers or income. It is a deck of cards that requires constant attention. And it is these millions of fragile micro-organizations that keep the economy ecosystem humming. 15,000 of these business exist below 14th St. in Manhattan. 1100 of these businesses exist in the area immediately surrounding the WTC. 50 of them existed in the WTC. The WTC no longer exists. The area immediately surrounding the WTC is closed as a crime scene. Peripheral circles around the area have a fraction of foot traffic, tourism, and business that existed pre 9/11. Thousands of residents that inhabited the WTC area were homeless for weeks, and many are beginning to move out. Each of these three area circles represent a different level of disaster. All three contain victims of the events. To date, most of these victims, labeled small business owners, expected direct financial assistance in order to continue to survive and rebuild, but got none. There was a suicide attack. Many died. Now there are wounded soldiers lying injured. There are various levels of hurt. Some need immediate surgery, some immediate blood transfusion, some are dehydrated and need liquids, some bandages, etc. The commander, aware of the situation immediately dispatches a truck filled with medical supplies and personnel. It gets to the scene. The wounded soldiers, professionally trained in self-support, quietly and patiently await their turn for emergency treatment. And the driver, lieutenant and medic begin arguing how to administer what to who, when. Minutes go by. Soldiers begin dying. Some that were simply wounded begin getting infected. But the argument continues. The soldiers, who assumed they were getting immediate medical assistance begin moaning, griping. But the dispatched personnel demand patience that will allow judicious, responsible disbursement of supplies. And they continue to withhold the supplies. More soldiers die. Many are beginning to lose the necessary strength and hope to survive until they get the blood transfusion. Small Business owners, are by design a quiet independent, autonomous, self-healing non-group. A serious clump of them just got attacked by a suicide bomber. President Bush authorized $20,000,000,000 to assist in their area's recovery. And the governmental machine in Washington has not appropriated or disbursed one penny of that yet. They are arguing if, how, when, what and where. They are playing catch with a blood bag in front of a soldier who lies at their feet, bleeding to death. Does one, look down at a soldier bleeding profusely, and begin a scholarly debate whether it is a waste of effort and blood, because the guy might end up dying later? Does one hold meetings when in an emergency room faced with heavily wounded people? Doctors are trained and board certified for various levels of service. There is regular medical services, checkups, scheduled operations, and there is emergency treatment. When in a emergency room faced with many heavily wounded people one acts fast and professionally, making quick decisions, hoping and assuming that past training and experience will guide the process. Government officials are chosen for various levels of service. There is regular business. Regular Politics. And there is emergency situations. The government has, to date, failed to do their job in this emergency situation. Rather than to act as the experienced professional temporary healer with quick efficient decisions and assistance, it has provided noisy distraction, silence of action, confusion, and a horrific prevention and delay of assistance. Is this simply a portrayal that nothing can get done without a powerful lobby, even emergency assistance? Did we elect leaders incapable of acting in due proportion and diligence to that dealt? Are they really that short-sighted not to understand the unchecked impact that continues to ripple outward? Did 9/11 show that our leadership is as generally as weak and ineffective as it seemed on 9/11? I prefer to believe otherwise. I think Congressman and senators are experienced, intelligent professionals. They can focus, and act quickly. But they live in a cocoon called the Capitol. Well. NYC downtown small business calling the Capitol. Stop playing government, and do it for real. The Feds should set up a fully staffed, with a fully wired-to-government-computer system office IN downtown NY, exclusively setup to ensure that every small business that existed before 9/11 gets what it needs (pure, no-strings-attached grant money to start with) to stay in operation until this area gets refreshed. That location should be the mother lode that gets all pertinent info, eliminating filling out the same info repeatedly. Directing apropriate programs and solutions to and thru the many well-meaning and diverse assistance organizations. Compiling, directing, dispensing. Rapidly and efficiently. Disaster Emergency Relief. Not anything else. And do it today. Another soldier just died, and 3 more citizens ran away. Hello? Individual Comment September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2001-11-07 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 dojW000208.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. 2001-11-07 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. Thursday, March 21, 2002 4:16 PM what part of equal sounds like special to you? Dear Sir, I was inspired to write after learning that gay Americans once again do not have the same rights as any other American, or even the unborn, or even non-Americans. Dead is dead, and everyone who left behind a loved one should be entitled to the same benefits as afforded to every one else. As always, gay people ask to be treated fairly, and it is interpreted as some kind of special request. No matter what excuses may be manufactured to deny these survivors, the bottom line is the same; It is still ok to discriminate in America, as long as it is against a "homo." Good day, Individual Comment Phoenix, AZ 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 dojR002557.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 26, 2001 7:55 AM Comments To whom it may concern, First of all, I commend the government for establishing this fund and for trying to help the victims' families. Secondly, I appreciate the enormous tasking this may be. However, the formula that has been designed is seriously flawed. Why should a victim's family be punished by taking into account their loved one's life insurance policies. This victim's fund is in part for lost wages, pain and suffering, etc. However, it is also a form of punitive action against American Airlines and the government itself for not preventing this from happening. The government did not assist my fiance' in paying her monthly premiums for her insurance policy, so why should that policy even be mentioned in regards to a terrorism settlement from the government. The U.S. wastes billions of dollars each year all around the world and even paid millions to the Chinese families who were killed when we bombed their embassy in Yugoslavia. However, according to the chart and taking into account her life insurance policies, her family would receive only $400,000. A figure she would have easily made within the next 8 years with someone who had a Master's Degree in physical therapy. As a former insurance adjustor, I have negotiated settlements for more than $400,000 from a car accident! And that was truly an accident, not an act of war! I believe the life insurance policy provision should be dropped and the minimum payment to a victim's family should be at least $1 million. The U.S. Government and American Airlines have paid a lot more, for a lot less, in too many instances to even mention. McDonald's paid more than that for hot coffee. And just for the record, I have told her family that I will not accept $1 from her death. I have also told her family, in my opinion, that I would NEVER give up my right to sue the government or American Airlines for $400,000. It would cost American Airlines and the government more than that just to defend itself in court based on a lawsuit on &nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp behalf by itself. Respectfully, Individual Comment September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2001-12-26 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 dojN000919.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. 2001-12-26 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, March 29, 2002 2:50 PM Discrimination plain and simple! As an American citizen, I am embarrassed and ashamed by the final ruling by the Justice Department. As a gay male, I am outraged. Everyone waves the flag proudly and talks about how this event has pulled ALL Americans together like never before. How sad that this is nothing but propaganda and fantasy. We obviously AREN'T all together and equal. Here's some reality for you, Mr. Ashcroft. , a hero who helped thwart the terrorists on the flight that went down in PA..was GAY. He helped save who knows how many of his fellow Americans. Countless other gays and lesbians persihed in the attacks. How are they and their loved ones repayed by our 'great country'?....With a HUGE smack in the face. Individual Comment September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2002-03-29 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 dojR002820.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. 2002-03-29