284 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 6:17 AM Help all victims of terrorist attack Dear Mr. Zwick: The very humane Fund for relatives of victims of the September 11 terrorist attacks must include all relatives of all the victims. This importantly should include the partners and children of same sex unions. They suffer just as grievously for their deceased loved ones as do other survivors, and their need for assistance is just as great. Please do not give in to the importuning of callous homophobic groups and individuals who would have the Department of Justice limit compensation to survivors of heterosexual unions. They are interested in a political victory, not humane assistance. This Fund is intended for humane purposes; it is not a political statement, Mr. Zwick. Sincerely, Individual Comment Ithaca, NY 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 dojN000241.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. Wednesday, November 07, 2001 1:38 AM Sept 11th victim's fund Dear Bill, regarding the funds that were collected. I hear about the Red Cross screw up, what about the United Way? That's where I sent my money. As far as distribution, why can't a large financial accounting firm be brought in, work with a large bank-Chase Manhattan or Bank of America? Assist in setting up bank accounts for the victims. Assign 5 different areas of New York. Divide names A-G and H-L etc. No one branch or office would be overwhelmed. Have victims bring in past pay checks, pension information, death certificates for proof of spouse salaries. Then set up Trust funds with banks for whatever amounts their entitled to. Give each victim certain amount up front, for example: $5,000.00 - $10,000.00 then have a montly check sent to family each month after. Have bank oversee operation with financial firm and United Way or Red Cross. All that money would earn a lot of interest as well. Those organizations seem all confused about how to handle the situation. There's one possible solution that may work. Your a very powerful man, a lot of people listen and respect you including myself. Maybe these organizations could keep you informed each week or so with the results that have been made and you could pass it on to all the American's who generously gave. Thanks for all your good work and defending all whats good and right in America Individual Comment San Diego, CA 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 dojW000163.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. Monday, March 18, 2002 2:18 PM fund distribution is unfair, un-American As an American, I am outraged by the lack of respect and dignity the 9/11 fund is giving to gay and lesbian Americans who have been affected by the 9/11 tragedy. At a time when it has been crucial for Americans to stand together, the policies of the 9/11 fund seem to be divisive and politically motivated. It makes no sense to me that this fund is picking and choosing who is worthy of financial support from the government. How can one group of people be put ahead of another. To send the message that gay Americans are somehow less than other Americans, even illegal aliens, is unfair and divisive. We are a country that celebrates diversity, and now is not the time to render policy that will keep us divided. Everyone suffered an enormous loss from this tragedy, and it is not fair to punish gay Americans simply because gay and lesbian people cannot legally marry. Gay and lesbian Americans contribute in every way possible to this country, and we have families that need support just as heterosexual people do. I urge you to reconsider your discriminatory policy, and to distribute the money from the 9/11 fund to all families who were directly affected by this tragedy. We must all stand together as a country, and celebrate the diversity that makes us a great nation. Sincerely, Individual Comment Atlanta, GA 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 dojR001952.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. March 19, 2002 Kenneth L. Zwick, Director Office of Management Programs Civil Division U.S. Department of Justice Main Building, Room 3140 950 Pennsylvania Avenue Washington, DC 20530 RE: September 11 Victim Compensation Fund Dear Mr. Zwick: I am writing to express my sadness that you have made determined that the partners of gay and lesbian heroes of September 11 will not necessarily receive the same benefits as the spouses of heterosexual victims of the horrible terror attacks. It is my understanding that even fetuses and illegal aliens will be receiving benefits under this problem - you even promised to overlook federal law and NOT arrest and deport the families of illegal aliens, nor will the Government punish American companies that hired illegal a in violation of federal labor laws. But when it comes to gay and lesbian heroes of the day - who helped bring down the flight in Pennsylvania, who died in the line of duty when the first tower fell, and who was of the plane that crashed into the (there are many more) - we are told the law is the law and no exceptions can be made. If September 11 has taught us anything, it's that our patriotism and love of country transcend our differences and unite us all. We were told that September 11 was the day that "hyphenated-Americans" were no more, and rather than being Italian-Americans, African-Americans or gay-Americans, we were now simply Americans, all of us together as one American family. Apparently, that family just got a divorce. On behalf of the hundreds of gay and lesbians men and women who died, including , I urge you to reconsider this mean-spirited and divisive decision. I am sure that upon reflection, you will do the right thing, and fully include the partners of the gay men and women who died as patriots on September 11. Sincerely Individual Comment San Francisco, CA cc: President George W. Bush 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 dojR002910.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. Wednesday, December 05, 2001 3:47 PM Victims of 9/11/01 Dear Mr. Zwick, Please direct funds not only to "traditional" family members of victims...but also family members of Gay/Lesbian/Bisexual/Transgendered victims. These folks are victimized enough without adding this terrible national tragedy to their worries. The U.S. government is there for all citizens, equally, regardless of sexual identity. Regards, Individual Comment Chicago, IL September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2001-12-05 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 dojA000949.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. 2001-12-05 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 1:23 PM September 11 Victim Compensation Fund To whom this concerns: I applaud your efforts in creating the September 11th Fund to provide compensation for the losses of relatives of those who died, and those who were injured. Please be aware that many of the grieving families are committed partners or non-biological children of gay and lesbian victims of the terror attacks. The compensation given by this fund must also include families of these victims as well or the whole idea behind the fund will be promoting a gross inequity. I urge you to include among relatives eligible for compensation those who lost their life partners or de facto parents or children, regardless of sexual orientation and marital status. Thank you for your consideration. Individual Comment Sacramento, CA 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 dojA001378.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. Tuesday, December 04, 2001 11:54 PM 9/11 I urge you to ensure that partners in committed same sex relationships and children of gay and lesbian parents receive their fair share of government aid that has been designated for those who lost loved ones in the 9/11 attack. Their loss is as great as those in more "conventional" relationships, and they deserve compensation just as the others do. I hope you will do the right thing. Thank you. Individual Comment Santa Monica, CA 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 dojA000644.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. December 16, 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 Saint Louis, MO September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2001-12-16 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 dojA005320.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. 2001-12-16 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, March 13, 2002 9:59 PM Discrimination. It amazing me that it is felt that the lost is less meaningful or significant to the partners of the Gay Heroes. The word Disgrace comes to mind and tears almost come to my eyes. I hope you never feel the lost of your homosexual relatives. Yes, you do have many homosexual relatives whether you know it or not. Sincerely, Individual Comment 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 dojR000699.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. Thursday, January 17, 2002 8:46 PM EQUAL DISTRIBUTION OF FUNDS... With the deadline looming the families who lost loved ones on 9-11 to apply for federal funds, I am deeply concerned about a journalistic trend to categorize the families of those who perished during the terrorist attack as "greedy". As a survivor of a flood disaster who lost a loved one and received absolutely no help of any kind, financial or otherwise, from anyone, I could feel "resentful" or bitter about the federal assistance being offered to those who lost loved ones, but I do not, because I am viewing their plight from a LONG-TERM perspective. No one is addressing the fact that when a primary wage earner dies, the financial impact can last a lifetime. Rarely is a surviving partner capable of matching the earning lost AND raising the children (if any) AND bearing the emotional loss AND re-building her or his life. What may sound like a "lot of money" NOW will not necessarily be a lot of money stretched out over the long term. ALL of the families should be given an EQUAL AMOUNT of federal funds. This is not the IRS. This is not charity. This is the government's determined attempt to prevent the airlines from being sued into bankruptcy and still offer some compensation to the families who lost loved ones. Please remember that TWA as a business did NOT survive the crash of Flight 800. Pan Am as a business did NOT survive the crash of Flight 103. Even ValuJet did not survive the crash in the Florida Everglades. Thank you, Individual Comment Los Angeles, CA September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2002-01-17 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 dojN001957.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. 2002-01-17 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. 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 Ventura, 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 dojA003638.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 Albuquerque, NM 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 dojA001945.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. Wednesday, December 12, 2001 8:36 AM To whom it may concern - please know that many families' lives have been completely changed by the tradegy on September 11th - all kinds of families - no one's pain is less than any other's, so please make aid available to all including: 1. please 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. 2. please follow the example already set by New York Governor Pataki 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." thank you for all that you are doing to offer assistance to those so greatly in need. Sincerely, Individual Comment Columbia, PA September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2001-12-12 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 dojA001499.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. 2001-12-12 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, December 10, 2001 12:21 PM Comments, VictimComp Please see attached letter. Thank you, Attachment 1: December 6, 2001 Kenneth L. Zwick, Director Office of Management Programs, Civil Division U.S. Department of Justice Dear Mr. Zwick: I am writing in response to the Department's request for public comments regarding the forthcoming regulations for implementing and administering the "September 11th Victim Compensation Fund." 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. It is unquestionable that the devastating grief and economic losses suffered by the families of gay and lesbian victims are no less than that of other families. Just as the terrorists drew no lines in choosing their victims, our country must draw no lines in compensating those who suffered the most personal of losses from these horrific attacks. Many Americans lost their lives on September 11th, each of whom left behind loved ones. I urge the Department to honor these bonds by treating the families of gay and lesbian victims as you would any other. Sincerely, Individual Comment New York NY September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2001-12-10 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 dojA001425.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. 2001-12-10 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 6:54 PM Protect Traditional Marriage Mr. Kenneth Zwick Office of Management Programs Department of Justice Washington, DC Dear Mr. Zwick: I want to express my opposition to any effort by the federal government to provide 9-11 victim compensation funds to "domestic partners" of unmarried survivors of the terrorist attack upon our nation. Funds disbursed through the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 should only go to the surviving family members of those who died on 9-11. Funds must go to the widows, widowers, orphans, and other blood-related or adopted members of the family--not to unmarried sexual partners of those who died. To provide funds to "domestic partners" is to undermine the traditional definition of marriage and family to include any number of sexual liaisons between same-sex or opposite-sex unmarried couples. Many homosexuals and swinging heterosexuals, for example, engage in sex with multiple partners. Do we provide funds to each of the sexual partners? Where do we draw the line on how many "domestic partners" a person may have? Homosexual activists are exploiting the 9-11 tragedy by asking the federal government to redefine what constitutes a legitimate "family" under the law. In fact, homosexual activist, writing in Out magazine has openly called for the subversion of the concept of marriage between a man and a woman. He has urged homosexuals to fight for the legalization of homosexual marriages and once legalized to "redefine the institution of marriage completely . . . . to debunk a myth and radically alter an archaic institution. . . . The most subversive action lesbians and gays can under take--and one that would perhaps benefit all of society--is to transform the notion of 'family' entirely." If the DOJ provides funds to "domestic partners," it will be helping accomplish his goal: That of redefining marriage and altering what he calls an "archaic institution." We also oppose September 11th Funds going to the estates of the deceased instead of to their surviving family members. No one can know for certain where these funds will end up if they are deposited in the estate of a person who has died. The person may have willed his estate to a terrorist, racial hate group, or even to an organization like the North American Man-Boy Love Association. No one will know unless each person's will is examined by a DOJ lawyer. The money should go to the surviving family members of the deceased, not to the estate or to the surviving "domestic partner." Individual Comment Los Alamitos, 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 dojA001627.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. Sunday, March 17, 2002 12:27 AM Sept 11 fund What an outrage! I am not Gay or a Lesbian but I am an American Father of three, and I am outraged at the attempts of your fund to exclude these people or their spouses. This is just one more item I have cataloged to go along with all the other items of this administration using selective decrimination since Sept 11. I voted for George Bush Jr. but like hundreds I have spoken to we will not vote Republican again. You may as well continue to loot the American economy at the expense of our people but it will be short lived. Republican policy = Political suicide... I can't find one person who voted for Bush who will repeat it... now send that to the Oval office when it's poll time. One last thing... where are all these supporters of George Bush? P/s: I live in Texas by the way... 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 dojR001303.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. Monday, February 25, 2002 6:08 PM New Vote.com votes as of 06:08 PM EST on February 25th, 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, DOES THE GOVERNMENT'S AID PROGRAM FOR FAMILIES OF SEPT. 11 VICTIMS GO FAR ENOUGH?: YES: 14 votes NO: 2 votes Group Comment September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2002-02-25 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 dojP000560.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. 2002-02-25 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, February 22, 2002 5:12 PM Comments from some Internet postings February 22, 2002 Kenneth L. Zwick, Director Office of Management Programs Civil Division U.S. Department of Justice Main Building, Room 3140 950 Pennsylvania Avenue Washington, DC 20530 Dear Mr. Zwick: A fraud is being perpetrated on the American People. The September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 has been hijacked by the [in]Justice Department for its own ends while preparing to give perhaps half of the intended recipients of the fund no money at all. I do not know if one of the hidden objectives is to simply discourage participation in the Fund, especially by those who would be the most costly to the Fund. How else can one explain the enormous number of material objections to the Final Interim Regulations which at every turn pick and choose the lowest possible entitlement and the lowest possible payout. This can't be explained by sheer incompetence alone, for just by chance the plan would have missed some ways of making a reduction or left a reasonable award alone, but no, each and every opportunity has been seized! In order to carry out this fraud the victims of the act have to be neutralized -- hence the Victims and the Heroes 9/11 are being slandered in a disinformation campaign authored by &nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp . I bring up a case in point : In an unsigned editorial of the 10th of February, the Chicago Tribune published a PR piece that might as well have come straight from the desk of &nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp . He claims to be appalled by the cry of greed on the part of the uninformed public, while still repeating the deceptive "$1.65 million average award" figure, this time not even adding the fine print "before deductions." The article states that some of us [ the victims] have said that this is not enough, but what I hear is that many say that the $1.65 million figure is meaningless. A significant number of families will get zero ("$0") under the final interim rules. From a show of hands it appears that about half of the families in one meeting which I have attended, expect to receive nothing from the Fund, myself included. Are we wrong to complain? The headline of the piece is "Putting a price on a life" but the reader has to wait for the closing punch line for the answer that "There is no dollar value of a human life" but $250,000 is the best we can come up with. We are told to believe it makes no sense to look at the history of "tort" law where slip and fall injuries routinely run past that figure, major surgical procedures and rehabilitation can exceed this and today the cost of raising and educating one child through college exceeds $300,000. The government's position is like saying the value of a Van Gogh masterpiece is a little less than the cost of the canvas, turpentine and oil paint used to produce it. The article alleges that " that Congress clearly intended the fund as a safety net for those who did not have substantial life insurance or other assets" but I can not find any language in the law or implementing instructions that corroborates this assertion; the law does state, however, that its purpose is "to provide compensation to any individual ... who was physically injured or killed" This is not a welfare program. In fact, if the intent of the law were to narrow the gap between the have and have nots, this peculiar implementation by the Special Master exacerbates the gap by artificially capping all non-economic losses which include the extraordinary pain and suffering of being incinerated alive, to the cost of painting supplies, if you will. We are reminded that "[o]f course, no one is forcing the families to take the money and forfeit the right to sue" but, the Special Master spends 15 minuets of his presentation telling us that the government has stacked the deck by capping the liability of the airlines and giving itself the option of being first to recoup from the airlines insurance any payments made from the Victims' Fund. Under the present final interim rules, the government payout is estimated to be as low as $2 billion after deductions and that the entire sum could be recovered from the airlines insurance. So much for the Special Master's "generosity argument." Perhaps most disappointing is the way the &nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp promotes &nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp pillaging of the victims in these airy PR pieces distorting the truth. He considers his job as "10 percent lawyer, 40 percent rabbi, 50 percent shrink." I would gladly exchange this for a 100% honest man. -- The feelings of bitterness run deep on both sides of the issue as these excerpts from an on line bulletin board attest: [Comment 1] I am the surviving spouse of someone who was killed in the attack on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. Now, months after the event, I know that many Americans are still very concerned about me. I am writing this to put their minds at ease. Don't worry about me. I'm doing just fine! I'm a celebrity. You've probably seen me on TV. And best of all, I hit the lottery on September 11th. Not the Big one (I was thinking like $10 million, but it seems that there were way too many winners that day) but, hey, $1.6 million, works for me. You figure a plane crash-has to be worth at least $5 million. Terrorist action-$5million is almost guaranteed. Two Americans killed by Palestinian terrorists while riding a bus in Israel got $10M each. Think about Lokerbie. How about $5million for 2nd and 3rd degree burns of a single arm caused by an exploding cappuccino machine? But, like I said, there were just too many winning tickets, that day. A regular plane crash is no problem. It's a statistically predictable event. Nobody ever envisioned that those holy messengers of Allah would greatly enhance the probabilities, or perhaps we simply chose to be blind. Anyway, as I said, a regular crash now and then is expected. Its part of the business. Think about it, drop one every now and again, 200 souls at a cost of $5 to $10 million apiece, no problem, its covered by the insurance carriers. Hell, it's a sound business practice, they even have a name for it. It's called "cost effectiveness". After all, its cheaper to pay the premiums than it is to provide the proper protection. For months after drawing the winning ticket, I'm on a roll. I'm on CNN, Fox News, CNBC, the network news channels, radio, the internet, you name it. I'm the focus of international attention. Everyone feels what I feel. We're with you, they say. Nothing's too good for you. They open up their hearts and their wallets. God bless them, they give more than a billion dollars freely. I even managed to get some of that. Just enough to get by, but so what, I have the winning ticket. My daughters and I may go live in the south of France (I just love St. Tropez in the summer). I call my lawyer. It's time to cash in my ticket. Bad news, there are too many winners, more than 3,000 at $5 to $10 million apiece. We'll bankrupt the airlines. "Who cares", says I, "we'll take the planes, the real estate and whatever else we can get". "No", says Uncle Sam, "we must save the Airlines". "Good", I say, "you save them so I can sue them". "No again", says the Uncle, "you can't sue, we've got it rigged in such a way that even if you are successful in your lawsuit, we will make sure that you don't get any more than the amount that we decide you should have". I reply, "But what about the constitution, what happened to 'due process'?" "Don't worry about that stuff", he says, " I'll cash your winning ticket, trust me". "Okay", I say, "give me my 10 big ones and I'll be on my way". Now you have to understand my Uncle, he cares about me very deeply and would do anything for me but $10 million is a little too steep, even for his deep pockets. So, "how much?", I ask, hoping for at least $5 million. "Well", says the Uncle, "You have to understand I'm going to give you your prize as soon as you sign on the dotted line, no waiting. No fuss, no muss, no bother! For this extraordinary service you're going to have to take a bit of a discount" (always ready to make a deal, my Uncle). But, "How much?" I repeat. "Don't worry", he says, "just sign on the dotted line and I'll tell you. You know that I will be fair and just, trust me". Seeing that I am a little wary, he whispers in my ear, "Look, this is a kind of 'take-it-or-leave-it' type thing, but I'll tell you what I am going to do because I feel what you feel. I will bring in my army of accountants, have them sharpen up their pencils and come up with formula to pay off all the winners. And to ensure that the deal is fair and just, I will have them compile a chart so that each lucky winner can find his particular ticket number on the chart and get a good idea of what the amount will be before you sign away your rights. Trust me, we're family. I feel what you feel. When I get the chart, I look up my numbers. Let's see, widow with two children, husband, 40 years old with average earnings of $80,000 a year gives me $1.6 million ($1,583,484 to be exact, but who's counting?). It's not $10 million but still, not bad. Okay, sign me up, I'll be down to pick up the check in the morning. "Glad to see you" says my Uncle," just sign this paper waiving your right to sue and I'll write your check". He must see my hesitation because he puts on that warm friendly grin of his and says, "You know you can trust your dear old generous Uncle Sam". "Okay", I say. I sign the paper and he gives me a check for $223,975. "What's up with this?", I ask "in all of the other similar cases involving airplanes and/or terrorists, if you settle for $5 million you get $5million or if you settle for $2 million, that's what you get.. How did my $1.6 million shrink to $224 thousand"? Uncle Sam, never at a loss for words, explains it to me like this, "Well, you see this is a special situation, saving the airlines is an expensive proposition, so my accountants with their very sharp pencils have determined that you don't really need all that money. In order to make it fair and just, they have come up with this really neat and novel way to reduce your winnings by a series of deductions called "collateral offsets". I telling you, they really sharpened up those pencils! Bless their hearts. Doesn't it make you proud to be an American?" "Those nifty little collateral offsets work something like this. We calculate that over your lifetime you and your children will receive the equivalent of around $500,000 in monthly social security benefits. You will also receive workers compensation payments of $400 a week which totals to a present value of around $350,000 over your remaining life. Also because your husband had a life insurance policy and a 401 (k) plan you will also receive a lump sum payment from these items of around $500,000" (Too bad I didn't know about this during the years that we were scrimping to pay for these things, but, hey, that's water under the bridge). So they're taking $1,350,000 away from my winnings, its okay, its for a good cause, we must all join together to save the airlines. I had to agree, what with the $800 a week that I am going to get from Social Security and Workers compensation combined, along with the life insurance and 401(k) proceeds, I really don't need much more to exist. I think that if I start drawing down on the principal of the life insurance settlement, I can probably continue to pay my mortgage. And I also have the $224,000 that my dear old Uncle so generously gave me. So you can see it didn't turn out so bad, in fact it was a real windfall. My Uncle told me that he was happy for me and happy to be so fair and just. He said it all worked out pretty well because the $224,000 was only slightly less than the amount that he gives to military personnel who are killed in the line of duty. I tried to explain that my husband was not a military man and he didn't sign up for hazardous duty pay. He was only a computer programmer sitting at his desk when a Boeing 767 landed on him and burst into flames. He said, "No matter. A life is a life, take the money with my blessing. I thanked him for his generosity. I know that he truly feels what I feel. So, that is the story of how I became a high flyer. No, that's a poor choice of words since I know that I will never fly again. Rather, that is the story of how I became a real high roller. But speaking of flying, this story has a double happy ending in that the airlines will keep on flying and I 'm proud to have contributed $1,350,000 to that cause. Please don't be envious of my good fortune. The chances are pretty good that you can be a winner just like me. After all, airport security is about as bad now as it was on September 11th and terrorists seem to be everywhere and nowhere. Don't worry, the chances are better now than they have ever been that someone you love will be dispatched to the promised land in a plane crash or some act of terrorism. Bingo, $224,000 and life in the lap of luxury will be yours. Allah be praised, America is truly a great country. Trust me. Heartfelt thanks to my dearest Uncle Sam. God bless America. [Comment 2] Please send this to the New York Times. [Comment 3] Everyone needs to see this. you must send this to every newspaper in the city (and the country) this was SO well said [Comment 4] Actually I'm glad I read that, because I thought the relatives where getting more money than the average plane crash victim and soldier. Now I know that they are getting about what a plane crash victim or a widow/widower of military personal gets, if a little less. But why from the Feds? Because the airlines don't want to pay. Of course, then there is no incentive to bother with more security at airports and they continue to lobby for more loop-holes to 'delay' implementation. The airlines will just let the Feds pay for not only compensation, but the security too. How convenient for them. I say lets let a whole new set of airlines take over the nations skys, I couldn't care if the old ones go under. If there is a market, someone will fill it. America will not come to an end because 3000 people sued three airline companies who still doesn't care to offer safety and has been fighting it since before Lockerbie But back to the survivors. It all sounds like the math is close to typical. But lets hold up one minute here! The original article in this thread didn't address that huge fund that the Red Cross (RC) is managing. So, not only does some random person in N.J. get what a soldier gets, but they get to ask the RC for anything else. But no, its a better windfall than that. Everything that is a cost to the victims gets sent to the RC for 'help' and then the $$ from the feds comes just for having been related to a victim. All without the trouble of a lawyer nor any time contributing to helping to establish in a court who is responsible for security at airports. So we have, Airlines getting bailed out by the Feds with no incentive for airlines to take charge of improving their security situation. Plus, accident survivors get more money than they need from both charity and the government. Sorry, the whole thing is the wrong way to go. I'm glad I didn't give more than a few bits of loose change to the money strapped Red Cross for this fund, just so they can be in a weird situation of trying to raise money for disaster work, but have 10's of millions of dollars targeted for a particular group that is already getting lots of money from other sources. My suggestion to the survivors? Apply for every cent you can from the RC Fund, then donate it back to the Red Cross, because they certainly need the money and the tax deduction more than everyone else since between your private resources, the Feds and the Red Cross Fund you are now guaranteed to have a multimillion dollar bank account when this is all over. Signed, -"no fan of compensation from the Red Cross or the Feds" [Comment 5] I am outraged at that last post. I had to read it twice to actually believe that someone could be so closed-minded and ignorant to write such a thing. First of all, lets get one thing straight, these people are not "accident survivors" because this was no accident. The 4 hijacked planes killed about 3,000 people that morning did not do so accidentally. This was an attack on our country. The airlines were asleep at the switch (I'd like to know who was on a coffee break when 4 planes disappeared from the radar screen all at the same time), we are not suing the airlines because the government does not want them to be sued, they are not being held accountable because the government does not want them to be held accountable. It will cost too much money, and no one really cares all that much, lets be honest. Everyone wants to be able to fly somewhere for $2 round trip, what do you expect, you get what you pay for. These courageous Americans are not being given "more money than they need", they are being given less than 1/8 of what other real airplane 'accident' victims have been given in the past and told that that is all that they deserve for watching their loved ones murdered on international television. All in the interest of preserving the airline industry. This was terrorism, it happened here because our government thought that we were invincible, well, these families are paying the price for years of bad government policies. And still, they are not being treated fairly. If you can't see that then its because you just don't want to. Second of all you need to understand that the Red Cross fund is a charity, it was given out of the kindness of the hearts of the American people, and for that the families are grateful &nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp. If you paid attention to any of the families on the news you would have heard them thanking the American people for grieving with them, and for opening their hearts and giving to them. But, I don't think that you listened because you were too busy taking note of square footage, are you jealous, did you really read the first message in this thread? Listen up, no one is becoming a millionaire from the red cross fund. [Comment 6] Let me just state one unemotional fact to correct your assessment of what those affected by 9/11 are receiving from the American Red Cross. Yesterday, the head of the American Red Cross held a press conference where he stated that on average families will receive $108,000 from the Red Cross as a result of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Please note that $108,000 does not equal $1,000,000. As well, this piece of legislation that includes the Victims' Compensation Fund was passed on 9/22/01. I'm sure at that time (only 11 days after the attacks), many of the victims' families held some kind of hope that their loved ones would be found alive or were in deep mourning over their losses. No reason to attack these families...they never asked for this fund. Lastly, this past week a woman sued Starbuck's because a cappuccino maker exploded,severely burning her hand. She was awarded approximately $3 million because of this. Please understand the situation before you comment. Thank you. [Comment 6] I believe that some of the WTC Fund backlash is being cause by misleading or outright erroneous statements carried in the news media. The first is that the estimated average payments will be $1.65 million a person. The fact is that no detailed estimates can be made until the amount of pensions, life insurance and social security is known and it is not clear from the Masters' statements whether or not he reserves the right to reduce the proposed amount by charitable deductions. The one thing that is clear is that the $ 1.65 million can not be the average payout. So why publish it? To win the spin war? Another misleading statement is that the fund represents the generous gift of the tax payers. There is a general misunderstanding of the reason the Victims' Fund was established. It was established to bail out the airlines, not because of generosity to the victims. The Fund is part of the airline bailout bill which gave $15.5 billion to the airlines and takes the extraordinary step of denying, (after the fact no less) the victims the right to sue for damages. Many folks might feel that this, probably unconstitutional, law really doesn't change much because we know that Osama is at fault. Yes, he should be sued for every last penny he has, but, others parties may bear a significant level of responsibility, which would have been addressed in courts of law had this right not been abolished. Even though courts can make mistakes and can be misused in abusive ways, they would allow the victims to redress their grievances. The threat of airline hijackings has been around for a long time and, by now, one would think that the airplanes would have been designed to be more hijack resistant, . . . sealed cockpits, . . . to be smarter . . . eye scans etc. Likewise, the air control systems did little or nothing to discourage or detect the hijacking of four airlines. The airport security systems seemed to be more for show than to serve as a reasonable deterrent. And it has come to light that our Federal crime prevention agencies had left much to be desired. It seems our government agencies and many others may bare part of the blame. Yet its is almost as if the &nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp is taunting or jeering at the victims that the Airline bailout bill has left the them with no choice but to take it or leave it. The distribution of the fund can be improved in several ways. The element of the Fund which represents the economic damages should be awarded on the basis of what a reasonable court might award. I would expect that these awards would be conservative but awarding at 10 cents on the dollar is something else. If the "bereavement" component were increased so that it becomes the most significant portion of the award, gaps between well off and struggling families would be narrowed. In addition I believe that this component should also be shared with parents and siblings as well as spouses and children. If necessary, laws might have to be changed to reflect the human dimensions of 9/11 This is not to say that I am ungrateful for the unprecedented donations to the Red Cross and many other charitable funds; if it were not for these gifts my mother would be looking at eviction. What I am saying is that the Fund is a business deal done to avoid crushing the airlines with lawsuits over their negligent failure to make good faith attempts to deter hijackings. It should not crush the victims in order to accomplish its objective. [Comment 7] WTC Families Want Fairness, Not Riches Much that has been written about families seeking compensation under the Sept. 11 Victim Compensation Fund is based on misinformation and misunderstanding. E.R. Shipp's piece in the Daily News on Jan. 20, characterizing the families as greedy, was one. I would like to bring some clarity to our position. The public has been led to believe that families will receive an average of $1.6 million. That figure is before offsets. Most families will receive considerably less. Fully a third are projected to receive nothing. Far from reaching $6 billion in payouts, economists project the cost will be about $2 billion - much less than $10 per taxpayer. The legislation that created the fund awarded the airlines $5 billion for their losses and another $10 billion for other benefits, yet the press and public have made no outcry against this. The victims were innocent of blame. Can the same be said of the airlines? And let it not be forgotten that the victims were taxpayers, too - many at the high end - and so the accusation that the money is a gift is inaccurate. The airlines were not the only businesses protected. Aircraft manufacturers, the World Trade Center buildings' owner - the Port Authority - and others whose negligence may have contributed in some way to Sept. 11 all were afforded protection. Some members of Congress have said this was done because no one was at fault but the terrorists. The families ask, how did Congress make that determination Sept. 22, without benefit of any investigation? Whether there was negligence remains to be seen, but by capping their liability, Congress and the businesses who asked for protection made a tacit admission that negligent conduct on a number of fronts was likely. Families regard the fund, in part, as an admission of our government's culpability. For this reason, and because their right to litigate was impaired by the bailout, families believe that Congress felt an ethical need to create the fund and a need for families to be fairly compensated under its provisions. But the legislation was poorly drafted and rushed through without benefit of public hearings. As a result, families find themselves caught in the middle of several controversies. Some members of the public regard the fund as a safety net, yet the legislation's stated purpose is to compensate the victims and be a substitute for litigation. It could be assumed, therefore, that victims would be awarded amounts that have some relation to conventional lawsuits. In fact, the wording tracks with conventional wrongful-death and survival statutes. Yet the special master, Kenneth Feinberg, has taken it upon himself to minimize the amounts at every conceivable opportunity. The public wonders why the families challenge these rulings. We do so because we believe they do not follow the letter of the law and override the legislative intent. We did not draft this law; we do, however, feel justified in asking for an objective, rather than punitive, interpretation. One controversy is Feinberg's ruling that noneconomic damages (pain and suffering, emotional distress, loss of companionship, loss of enjoyment of life) be limited to $250,000. Although it's difficult to place a value on these elements, families are deeply offended by this sum. It fails to acknowledge the horrible deaths suffered by the victims. It fails to recognize the terrible impact that death has on the survivors, who must face the future without a father, a daughter, a wife. And because of the offsets, for so many families, even this component is reduced to near zero. The fund is not a safety net when it grants large sums to families who were not dependent on the victim in contrast to widows with children. This is not about greed, it's about equity. In light of this, some families have proposed that the same amount should be awarded across the board. This solution has a certain appeal. Truly, a life is a life, and the suffering is something the families all share equally. But sadly, the law as written probably doesn't allow for this option. The families aren't expecting large awards, but simply are asking for an accurate interpretation of the law on economic damages and also an equitable - and compassionate - assessment of noneconomic damages. And be very sure of this: no matter what the award, any victim's family would gladly trade places with those members of the public who have been so critical. We would give anything to be where they are, instead of where we are. If only we could. I believe you have one more chance to get it right, if not this will become the Teapot Dome Scandal of the Bush Administration. Individual Comment Newton MA September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2002-02-22 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 dojP000589.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. 2002-02-22 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. Sunday, March 17, 2002 8:20 PM Americans united Since we are all Americans please receive this memo as such. The surviving partners/spouses of ANY Americans killed in the 911 tragedies deserve compensation, (monetarily) regardless of sexual orientation. Thank you, Individual Comment Gansevoort,Ny 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 dojR001546.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. Saturday, December 22, 2001 1:37 AM Thank you December 22, 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 Chapel Hill , NC 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 dojN000621.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