318 20 12614 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Department of Justice Emails Description An account of the resource The Department of Justice received more than 11,000 e-mails in response to the agency's public solicitation for comments upon its plans to distribute the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 established by Congress to benefit the victims of September 11 and their families. These e-mails have been organized here by date. September 11 Email September 11 Email: Body The basic content, as unstructured text; sometimes containing a signature block at the end. Wednesday, March 13, 2002 9:36 AM 9/11 Fund To Discriminate Against Gays To Whom Ever, Please reconsider the decision to exclude the gay heroes of 9/11. The gay heroes and their significant others deserve just as much compensation as everyone else, after all, "they helped hatched a plan to thwart their captors." What kinds of demonstrations will be satisfying for decision makers to recognize gays as just as human as every other citizen in America? Mother of a victim of murder. 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 dojR000589.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. Saturday, March 16, 2002 2:42 PM Gay and Lesbian Partners of Victims I feel strongly that the partners of gay and lesbian victims of the terror attacks of  September 11th should not be singled out for special treatment when compensation funds are handed out.  Their relationships should be recognized and the surviving partners should be compensated along with the surviving partners of the other victims of that horrible day. It is time for Americans to unite and put aside our differences.  The days of politics of division and discrimination should be put behind us.  The gay and lesbian partners of the victims should not have their grief and loss compounded by their own government. Please reconsider this ill-conceived and hateful policy of leaving the surviving partners of gay and lesbian victims out in the cold. Sincerely, Individual Comment Placerville, CA September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2002-03-16 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource dojR001004.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. email Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-03-16 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Department of Justice Emails Description An account of the resource The Department of Justice received more than 11,000 e-mails in response to the agency's public solicitation for comments upon its plans to distribute the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 established by Congress to benefit the victims of September 11 and their families. These e-mails have been organized here by date. September 11 Email September 11 Email: Body The basic content, as unstructured text; sometimes containing a signature block at the end. Wednesday, December 19, 2001 9:15 AM please help! 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 Roslindale, MA 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 dojA002833.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. Saturday, March 16, 2002 5:19 PM Stop discrimination dear Fund, I am very angry at the fact that gay significant others are not receiving funds. It is very clear to me that your fund views gay Americans as secondary and not even qualifying as human. I am tired of paying taxes to this government who puts an entire class of humans as being unworthy of funds the world has contributed to help the surviving victims of the bombings. I hope you are men and women enough to fight this BS and to create equal treatment to all. Individual Comment Miami, FL September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2002-03-16 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource dojR001134.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. email Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-03-16 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Department of Justice Emails Description An account of the resource The Department of Justice received more than 11,000 e-mails in response to the agency's public solicitation for comments upon its plans to distribute the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 established by Congress to benefit the victims of September 11 and their families. These e-mails have been organized here by date. September 11 Email September 11 Email: Body The basic content, as unstructured text; sometimes containing a signature block at the end. Tuesday, November 06, 2001 2:00 PM Sept 11 fund & charity Be fair. Be practical. Don't enrich........and above all realize that this issue could reappear over and over again. This is most likely the first grouping of victims ( Sept 11th ) .We all realize it may well not be the last. I'd like to imagine there is an end in sight......but in reality, there will be more victims of terrorist acts even if in no way related to this source. It will be a precident and it will be a message to the public and the citizens. Here in Worcester, Massachusetts not long ago, we had a tragedy in which six firefighters died in one burning building. There was an outpouring of support and donations that came this way from around the world. I do not know if there was any government support through tax money given to the families.... but donations reached into the millions.....beyond 7 million for the six deaths. The Corporation that initiated the fund collection never realized the intense issues that would develope over how to distribute the money. If there is anything to learn from this incident, it's to be prepared before the money starts to arrive, with the guidelines..........and distribute only to DEPENDENTS of the deceased. Not grown children, not grown siblings with their own families, not mothers and fathers of adults now dead, not ex-spouses that have not had relationships with or been receiving support from. Only the dependent spouse and the young dependent children born to or adopted by.Those of us that made donations, charitable or paid taxes, as individuals or corporations intend to give relief from financial burdens in the present tense and in the forseeable future. We intended to assist with debts incurred from past circumstances and circumstances surrounding September 11th. We did not intend to create a community of millionaires and do not expect our tax dollars or charitable donations to create such. We fully expect to give comfort and relief in a very even handed and well thought out manner guided by those who now control those funds and have access to all necessary information. My fear would be that the Fund regulators and the government agencies holding the tax dollars will feel compelled to distribute all of the money now. Those of us who were able to donate this time and have jobs and businesses at present may not be in such positions next time a disaster or terrorist act occurs. SO SPEND AND DISTRIBUTE WISELY, especially the taxes of which you speak. There are many deaths which occur on a day to day basis, which do not make the headlines, and many families are left behind in poor financial situations......no donations come their way, little relief is offered. Do count other income before tax dollars are spent, whatever that income may be and where ever it may be coming from, and find a way to be fair in the relief and support offered. Our hearts and thoughts are with them in their grief.....we should not take advantage of each other in any situation. Individual Comment September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2001-11-06 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 dojW000106.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. 2001-11-06 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. Wednesday, December 19, 2001 10:49 PM Support Equal Access to Crisis Relief Benefits for Surviving Gay and Lesbian Partners! 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 Eden Prairie, MN 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 dojA003879.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 5:30 PM This discrimination makes ma ASHAMED to be American This IS NOT fair, just or moral 9/11 FUND UNFAIR TO GAYS 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 dojR001503.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, December 19, 2001 5:58 AM Equal Rights for All in this time of Crisis 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 Francisco, 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 dojA002522.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. January 16, 2002 Kenneth L. Zwick, Director Office of Management Programs Civil Division U.S. Department of Justice Main Building, Room 3140 950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20350 Re: Comments on September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 Dear Mr. Zwick: Our firm represents members of the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association of the City of New York. Since September 11th our firm has had extensive contact with family members of New York City Police Officers lost in the line of duty on September 11th. We have also had extensive contact with Police Officers injured on September 11th and Police Officers who suffered injury after September 11th. The Following comments on the Interim Final Rules are submitted by this law firm based upon conversations with injured police officers and family members of deceased police officers. We also pose questions with respect to the limit on civil action and the extent of the waiver a claimant will be required to execute. Comments: Pension Funds and Life Insurance Benefits as a "Collateral Source" 1. We urge the Special Master to amend the Interim Final Rules and eliminate both pension funds and life insurance benefits from the definition of "collateral source" The inclusion of these benefits has a particularly harsh affect upon the families of New York City Police Officers who died in the line of duty on September 11th. While the all overall goal of the Fund is to treat all citizens equally, the Rules ignore the fact that members of the uniform service held dangerous and hazardous jobs before September 11th. New York State law recognized this fact by providing a full pension to be paid to the survivors of police officers killed in the line of duty. Furthermore, a "pension is not a death benefit per se but is a benefit for the enjoyment of life after one has completed his or her working life. Members of the pension system did not enter into it with the expectation of the funds being paid out to their survivors but to be paid to them as an additional source of income upon their retirement. The Interim Final Rules, by treating pension funds as a "collateral source" and therefore as a death benefit, defeats the primary purpose of a pension as being a retirement benefit. Additionally, due to the dangerous and hairdo duties of a police officer's work, their life insurance coverage would be higher than most civilian workers. Police officers through their union have traditionally carried a higher amount of life insurance coverage than their fellow citizens. The Final Rules must give recognition to the different positions by police officers and other members of the uniformed services who perished while saving the lives of thousands of their fellow citizens. Therefore, we recommend that both pension funds and life insurance benefits be removed from the "collateral sources" definition. Set-Off of Awards from Public Safety Officers Benefit Program 2. The following language is used in the Supplementary Information sections as part of the statement of the Special Master, concerning Noneconomic losses: The regulations therefore set a presumed award for noneconomic losses sustained. For those victims who died as a result of the September 11th aircraft crashed, the presumed noneconomic losses will be $250,000, plus and additional $50,000 for the spouse and each dependent of the deceased victim. That $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 See 38 U.S.C. 1967(military personnel); 42 U.S.C. 3796 (Public Safety Officers Benefit Program). The latter figures -- $50,000 for the spouse and each dependent-- include a noneconomic component of "replacement services loss." The direct inclusion in the Interim Final Rules of the Public Safety Officer Benefit Program, 42 U.S.C. 3796 gives us cause for pause. A reading of the Special Masters statement coupled with the actual Interim Final Rules indicates that the amounts of awards received from the program by survivors of police officers killed in the line of duty or injured would be set-off because they would have received an award under this federal benefits' fund. The Final Rules must include language which specifically exempts any type of set-off concerning police officers and other public safety officers who would have received an award under the Public Safety Officers Benefit Program. If the Fund rules remain silent, an interpretation of the rules would tend to further the belief that police officers and other members of the uniformed service are being penalized because of the dangerous and hazardous nature of their job and they and the surviving families are being treated unfairly. Furthermore, 104.47 definition of collateral sources includes "death benefit programs" surviving family members and injured police officers will be treated unfairly under the Final Rules of the Fund. Limitations on Civil Actions: 3. Concerning 104.61 Limitations on Civil Actions, we recommend that the date of March 21, 2002 be changed to at least December 21, 2002. Requiring the withdrawal of any pending civil action prior to the Fund making even one award or determination does not give either the claimant or attorneys a chance to evaluate the effectiveness of the Fund as an alternative to the courts. By extending the date to December 21, 2002 you would allow close to seven months of information to be absorbed by all concerned and allow for an informed decision as to whether or not a claim should be made to the Fund. Proof of Physical Harm 4. The request concerning treatment by a medical professional within 24 hours is far too restrictive and does not take into account the impact the attacks had upon the victims and society as a whole. Some injuries would not have manifested themselves within the required period of time. This requirement also fails to take into account a victim's need to reunite with her or his family or the fact that many victims have ignored or minimized their real injuries in light of the horrendous events they had witnessed. Regarding police officers and other uniformed service workers the proof of physical harm requirement should be satisfied by submission of medical records and/or a designation of a Line of Duty injury from the respective departments. The period of time concerning the injury should be also extended from 96 hours to at least 168 hours. The search and rescue efforts at the World Trade Center during the week following the attacks never diminished. The hope of finding victims alive was never lost until weeks after the attack. Question and Comment: 5. With regard to the issue of waiver of civil actions we raise the following issues which must be answered: Our firm has filed a number of "Notices of Claim" concerning the City of New York's failure to provide proper equipment to New York City police officers assigned to the World Trade Center area and other locations, including the Fresh Kills Landfill. Some of these officers have experienced physical injury(mainly pulmonary) as a result of New York City's negligence. Some of these same officers were also injured during the rescue and recovery efforts as the World Trade Center and may be eligible to make a claim to the Fund. Additionally, the police officers who were injured on September 11th may have also been exposed to toxins and other carcinogenic substances which may not reveal themselves as a health concern for many years to come. Our question is: If a police officer makes a claim to the Fund for physical injury suffered on September 11th (i.e.: broken arm, hand or foot) and subsequently finds our years later to have developed lung cancer, will he or she have waived his/her rights to bring a civil action against to the City of New York, Port Authority or a private plaintiff concerning their exposure to these toxins and carcinogenic substances or agents. Our comment and suggestion is that any waiver or realease executed by a claimant receiving an award from the Fund should be limited to waive their right to a law suit for the particular injuries known at the time they execute the waiver. This would preserve any future claims concerning their exposure to toxins and carcinogens which could prove to give rise to serious health risk 10 to 20 years from now. Conclusion: We submit these comments and questions in an effort to assist the Special Master in formulating the Final Rules for the distribution of awards from the Fund. While these comments are limited to specific and technical areas, we would urge the Special Master to talk with some of the actual potential claimants prior to establishing the Final Rules. Our firm is ready and willing to reach out and provide the Special Master with first hand experiences concerning injured members of the New York City Police Department. Please do not hesitate to contact us hsould you wish to take us up on this offer. Very truly yours, Comment By: Worth, Longworh, Bamundo & London, LLP New York, NY September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2002-01-16 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 dojN002388.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. 2002-01-16 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. Tuesday, December 18, 2001 11:06 PM Tena wants justice for ALL December 18, 2001 Dear Mr. Kenneth Zwick, I write as a member of Amnesty International, a worldwide human rights movement committed to ensuring respect for the basic human rights of people without discrimination, in support of equal access to benefits under the September 11 Victims Relief Fund for all victims, regardless of sexual orientation or marital status. As you know, the United States has committed to uphold international human rights standards, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which prohibit arbitrary discrimination. As you consider rules for administering the relief fund, I ask that you apply basic international human rights standards, and the general principle of equality, by including among relatives eligible for compensation those who lost their life partners, as well as de facto parents or children, without regard to sexual orientation or marital status. The State of New York has already adopted such a policy, granting compensation benefits "on a showing of mutual interdependence with the victim, in recognition that anyone who shared with the victim living expenses, day to day activities and the emotional bonds of family deserves help in this time of need." Many lesbian and gay people were killed in the September 11th attacks. Since then, lesbian and gay surviving partners of those killed have had mixed results in obtaining equal treatment at the local level in the distribution of relief funds by private and state agencies. An inclusive policy on the part of the federal government would help establish an important principle for other such funds. In compensating victims, real justice will be served only when all families - and all types of families - impacted by the human rights tragedy of September 11 are treated with dignity and equality. Thank you for considering my concerns. I look forward to hearing from you about your efforts to ensure that all surviving victims of the September 11 attacks have equal access to the relief fund. Sincerely, Individual Comment Portland, OR 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 dojA002432.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. Wednesday, December 19, 2001 1:25 PM please provide equal access to benefits for gay and lesbian victims of 9/11 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 Mountain View, 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 dojA003312.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. email Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2001-12-19 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Department of Justice Emails Description An account of the resource The Department of Justice received more than 11,000 e-mails in response to the agency's public solicitation for comments upon its plans to distribute the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 established by Congress to benefit the victims of September 11 and their families. These e-mails have been organized here by date. September 11 Email September 11 Email: Body The basic content, as unstructured text; sometimes containing a signature block at the end. Wednesday, December 19, 2001 4:10 PM Support Equal Access to Crisis Relief Benefits for Surviving Gay and Lesbian Partners 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 Freehold, NJ September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2001-12-19 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource dojA003507.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. Thursday, March 21, 2002 5:03 PM You're discriminating too? I'd like to express my outrage over the fact that the families of gays and lesbians who died on September 11th are not receiving the compensation that other families are. I thought this tragedy had served to break down barriers of ignorance and hate in this country. I guess I was wrong. I thought we were all equals, all Americans. Now I'm not proud to be one. Individual Comment New Jersey 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 dojR002563.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. 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 Evanston, IL 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 dojA002292.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, January 16, 2002 8:03 PM Comment on the Interim Final Rule Kenneth L. Zwick Director, Office of Management Programs Civil Division U.S. Department of Justice Main Building, Room 3140 950 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, DC 20530 RE: Public Comment of on behalf of (victim's wife) on the Interim Final Rule and Request for Comments, September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001, 28 C.F.R. Part 104 [Civ 104p; AG Order No. 2541-2001] RIN 1105-AA79 I. Commenter's Interest in Commenting I am writing on behalf of myself and my daughter to comment on the Interim Final Rule implementing the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 (hereinafter, the "Fund"), which was established by the Air Transportation Safety and System Stabilization Act (hereinafter, the "Act"). My son-in-law of fourteen years, , was standing watch as the on September 11, 2001 and lost his life in the Pentagon attack. My Daughter, who is now left to raise and support two children under the age of five alone due to the attack, is also now struggling with the decision as to whether or not to participate in the Fund. As my daughter and I struggle to understand the full implications of participation in the Fund, it is clear to us that many important issues regarding application of the Interim Final Rule (hereinafter, the 'Rule") to military victims are not adequately addressed by the Rule. I comment in order to identify several of these issues and to urge that these issues be clarified in the final rule. I am sure that many families of military personnel lost at the Pentagon share the concerns that are addressed below. We appreciate your consideration of our comments and we hope that by clarifying these issues in the final rule military families will be better able to make a decision regarding Fund participation. II. The Nature of the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund At the outset, I would like to express our family's gratitude for the Fund. On September 11 our family and our nation suffered a devastating blow. We are comforted by our government's response and we would like to express our appreciation for the promptness by which the Rule was promulgated. At the same time, however, it must be recognized that the Act is unprecedented in American history Never before, to my knowledge, has the United States government simultaneously limited a potential wrongdoer's liability and then made the victims choose between using the United States judicial system - without knowing the extent of this government-mandated limited liability - or filing a complaint in the hopes of receiving just compensation from a governmentagency operating under rules that are somewhat ambiguous and whose decision is not subject to judicial review. I am not an attorney, but I question how such a system can be Constitutional. Nonetheless, this is the system in which we must operate. Against this backdrop, I believe that it is your duty to clarify implementation of the program-including the items addressed below-to the maximum extent humanly possible. Accordingly, we respectfully request that you clear up the issues discussed below when promulgating the final rule. III. Specific Comments A. Pre-Filing Presumed Award Determination. The Act requires that each claimant waive the right to sue "upon the submission of a claim." A significant problem with the current Rule is that it lacks any mechanism for the determination of the presumed award applicable to a particular claimant before such claimant has filed an actual claim for compensation under the Fund. A few presumed award tables have been promulgated, but given that the Rule fails to address how many common compensation circumstances will be treated under the collateral source rule, the publication of several presumed award tables does not provide sufficient information upon which claimants can make a reliable determination of the presumed award applicable in a particular case. Thus, the current Rule forces claimants - i.e., September 11th victims and their families- to "gamble" with their future by filing a claim (and thereby forever waiving any judicial review of their claim) in the hopes that they will receive a just award determination from the Fund administrators. Such a situation is not required by the Act. Indeed, there is nothing in the Act which would prohibit the Special Master from implementing a procedure by which a particular claimant's relevant information could be submitted before a claim is filed and then the claimant notified of his or her applicable presumed award. I urge the Special Master to adopt in the final rule a procedure for the determination of the presumed award applicable to a particular claimant before a claim is filed. To be effective, the final rule would have to required that if a claimant utilized the pre-filing presumed award determination mechanism, the actual presumed award used after the claimant filed a claim would be at least as great as the pre-filing determination. B. Veterans Administration Payment to Dependent Children. Dependent Children of military members Killed in the September 11th attacks are eligible for monthly compensation from the Veterans Administration (until age 18 or 21). One question that should be resolved when promulgating the final rule is whether these payments will be tested as collateral compensation - to the claimant -- and, if so, exactly how such payment will be valued. The plain language of the Act requires that Veterans Administration payment to dependent children not be counted as collateral source compensation. More specifically, the Act requires the Special Master to reduce compensation from the Fund "by the of the collateral source compensation the claimant has received or is entitled to receive." This concept is echoed in the comments to the current Rule: " Moreover, because the collateral offset only applies to collateral source compensation that the claimant has received or is entitled to receive...," Because dependent children who are not the named legal representative of a victim are not claimants under the definitions set forth in the Act (and Rule), the final rule should explicitly provide that Veterans Administration payments to dependent children who are not the named personal representative will not be counted as collateral source compensation and offset against Fund compensation to claimants. In my opinion, it is only fair that these Veterans Administration payments should be treated the same as payment from charitable organizations, which the Special Master has determined will not count as collateral source compensation, in order not to further penalize victims of the Pentagon disaster more than other victims of September 11 attacks. I do not mean to distinguish between, as everybody involved has suffered a tragedy, but it should be recognized that many charities--and indeed perhaps the best-known television fund raising event - will provide relief only to the victims of the World Trade Center attack. Thus, exempting charitable contributions from the collateral source rule will, generally speaking, be more advantages to victims of the World Trade Center attack. Given this, it would seem fair that Veterans Administration payments to dependent children of military victims also not be treated as collateral source compensation, especially when the plain meaning of the Act would exempt such payment from the collateral source rule. C. Unearned Military Retirement Pay. The Act Specifies that pension funds are collateral source compensation and thus deductible from any compensation under the Fund. How will unearned military retirement benefits be treated under the program? More specifically, many active duty and reservist victims of the Pentagon attack were not yet eligible for military retirement pay. Thus, those victims were not receiving such pay and their families will never receive such pay now that those victims are deceased. But those payments should be considered as supplemental information with respect to future income of the deceased members, as these members would have become eligible for such payment in time. The final Rule should explicitly provide for the treatment of unearned military retirement pay. D. 401(K) Funds. The Act specifies that pension funds are collateral source compensation and thus deductible from any compensation under the Fund. The Special Master's FAQs indicate that 401(K) balances will not be treated as collateral source compensation if such balances resulted from the employee's contribution. How will the Special Master treat 401(k) balances in which both the employee and employer contributed? I believe that the final rule should specify that such balances should also not be treated a collateral source compensation because the employer's contribution should be treated as part of the employee's compensation. E. Airline Liability Limitation. The Act limits the liability of airlines to the maximum limit of each airlines's liability insurance limit. But individual claimants have no way of determining what such limits are, short of filing a lawsuit and conducting discovery. I am not sure whether this is within the Department of Justice's power; however, I believe, that, if possible, part of the final rule should require those airlines involved to disclose the limitation of liability that they will assert in court so that victims trying to decide whether to participate in the program will know what limitations will apply for the airlines should the dispute end up in litigation. I believe that this requirement of airline disclosure is only fair, after all, the airlines are getting a tremendous advantage from the Act in that their liability is capped. It would thus seem not at all be unreasonable to require the airlines to disclose their liability limits. F. Salary increases and inflation factor. Referring to the "Calculation of Economic Loss" procedure outlined in Section II of the "Presumed Economic and Non-Economic Loss Table" publication attached to the Interim Final Rule, in Step 2 of the procedure certain wage growth assumptions are applied to the three-year earnings calculation in Step 1. Individuals between 31 and 50 years of age are assumed to have received wage increases of 5.1% per year, and this figured is described as including a 0.5% above inflation salary increase and a 1.5% merit increase for workers in this age bracket. In Step 4 of the same procedures, an inflation factor of 5.13% is applied to future estimated earnings in order to calculate a present value. As the 5.13% inflation factor is greater that the 5.1% salary increase factor, it appears that a straightforward application of this procedure results in negative constant-dollar salary growth for all individuals in this age bracket. At the open forum in Crystal City on January 16, 2002, Special Master Feinberg, in response to this comment, stated that this interpretation is incorrect. Please correct and/or clarify this procedure to properly indicate what the true salary growth estimates are. G. Worklife Estimates. Referring again to the "Calculation of Economic Loss" procedure outlined in Section II of the "Presumed Economic and Non-Economic Loss Tables" publication attached to the Interim Final Rule, estimates of working lifetime are defined by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, "Worklife Estimates" publication. The only available publication entitled "Worklife Estimates" from the Bureau of Labor Statistics is a 1986 document that bases its finding on 1979-1980 labor force data. It may be generally assumed that working lifetimes have increase over the 20 years since this data were taken, and thus the use fo such vintage data will underestimates the working lifetimes of persons in 2001 and in turn underestimate their total future earnings. The final rule should accurately cite and make available updated worklife estimated from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and discontinue use of 1979-1980 labor force data. Respectfully submitted, Individual Comment Catonsville, Maryland September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2002-01-16 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 dojN002405.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. 2002-01-16 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Department of Justice Emails Description An account of the resource The Department of Justice received more than 11,000 e-mails in response to the agency's public solicitation for comments upon its plans to distribute the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 established by Congress to benefit the victims of September 11 and their families. These e-mails have been organized here by date. September 11 Email September 11 Email: Body The basic content, as unstructured text; sometimes containing a signature block at the end. Wednesday, December 19, 2001 10:01 AM Crisis Relief Benefits for Same-Sex Partners 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 Chicago, IL 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 dojA002920.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. email Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2001-12-19 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Department of Justice Emails Description An account of the resource The Department of Justice received more than 11,000 e-mails in response to the agency's public solicitation for comments upon its plans to distribute the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 established by Congress to benefit the victims of September 11 and their families. These e-mails have been organized here by date. September 11 Email September 11 Email: Body The basic content, as unstructured text; sometimes containing a signature block at the end. Friday, December 21, 2001 7:02 AM Justice help all terrorist victims 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 Beacon 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 dojN000337.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. Monday, January 21, 2002 2:49 PM Victim Compensation Fund Dear Mr. Feinberg, My name is . I am the mother of two small children, ages 5 and 10. My husband, , was taken from us as a result of the unspeakable horror that occurred on September 11, 2001. was only 39 years old, just entering the prime of his life. He was a wonderful husband and father, working very hard, commuting from our home in South Jersey to New York City every day, to make sure we enjoyed a comfortable existence. We took great comfort in knowing he was always there for us. No amount of compensation could ever restore the life we shared with or remove the devastation we experience every day because of his absence. However, without financial assistance to replace the income we all depended on, our suffering will be even worse. There is great confusion and debate as to the extent of the compensation being offered to the victims' families from the Victim Compensation Fund and I have recently been advised that strong (and costly) legal representation will be the only way for victims to receive an equitable distribution. I hope you will agree that this should not be the case. In this highly litigious society, and I have never been the type of people to rely on litigation to gain a competitive edge or to become unjustly enriched. I firmly believe that the goal of the compensation offered by the Fund should be to allow each victim's family to continue living in roughly the same manner to which they were accustomed before September 11, 2001, no more, no less. Obviously, this is no easy task. However, I am very concerned about a number of issues related to the interim final rules that appear to run contrary to the intent of the Fund's purpose. First and foremost, if the Fund is supposed to present a favorable alternative to costly, uncertain and time-consuming litigation, it is incomprehensible to me that a claimant would have to waive the right to litigate before knowing the exact amount to which he or she would be entitled under the Fund. I personally believe that for many claimants, a lot of confusion would be eliminated, and perhaps the need for legal representation removed, if each was to receive a calculation showing the amount of award and precisely how it was determined under the rules. Then, having been given a reasonable amount of time to evaluate the award, the claimant would chose whether to accept it and waive the right to litigate, appeal the determination on the basis of extraordinary circumstances, or reject it, thereby opting for litigation. Concerning the method of calculation, I cannot personally speak to the inequities of using national economic statistics, as opposed to area-specific data, nor to the use of caps and offsets, except to reiterate that whatever methodology is used should have the result of allowing each claimant family to continue to exist in roughly the same manner it did before September 11, 2001. I believe this was the intent of the Fund and I pray that you will do whatever is necessary to achieve this result. Sincerely, Individual Comment Sewell, NJ September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2002-01-21 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 dojN002181.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. 2002-01-21 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. Friday, January 18, 2002 4:19 PM My comments to "The Federal Victims(Heroes) Compensation Program" My comments regarding the Federal Victims(Heroes) Compensation Fund are as follows: 1) The $250,000 non-economic payout is way too low. My sister was only 31 years old and was the mother of a 10-month old little boy. He will never get the chance to even know his mother. 2) The charts that are being used to calculate the economic payout are extremely outdated. Today, women work much longer then they did when these charts were formulated. Also, work performed in the home needs to be calculated in to the formula as well. 3) The fact that payments such as Life Insurance and Social Security Survivor's benefits are subtracted from the total is insane. In reference to the Social Security Benefits, it's like the government is giving with one hand and taking back with the other! In reference to the Life Insurance, why should people be penalized for the foresight of their loved ones? 4) Also, the fact that you have know way of knowing what your final payment will be until after you sign up for the program, thereby, giving up your right to sue if the total is too low is ridiculous. You should know exactly what your options are so that you can make an educated decision. You're talking about people's lives here! I attended the rally in the Park Avenue Armory last night and everyone in attendance, and I'm sure many people who were not able to attend, have many of the same grievances. In fact, Governor Pataki, Mayor Bloomberg and many other government officials voiced the same concerns. If this program is truly meant to compensate the victims or victims' families, these grievances should be seriously taken into consideration. As it is now the Federal Victims Compensation Program is an injustice and a disgrace. If Mr. Feinberg truly cares about the families he will take the time to hear what we have to say and make the necessary changes so that the Federal Victims Compensation Program meets the needs of all those concerned and, in doing so, honors the memory of all those lost on September 11th. Thank you. Individual Comment Middle Village, NY September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2002-01-18 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource dojN002036.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. email Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-01-18 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Department of Justice Emails Description An account of the resource The Department of Justice received more than 11,000 e-mails in response to the agency's public solicitation for comments upon its plans to distribute the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 established by Congress to benefit the victims of September 11 and their families. These e-mails have been organized here by date. September 11 Email September 11 Email: Body The basic content, as unstructured text; sometimes containing a signature block at the end. Thursday, December 13, 2001 8:49 PM To Each as Each Has Need Kenneth L. Zwick, Director Office of Management Programs, Civil Division U.S. Department of Justice Dear Mr. Zwick: As I insisted with my donation to the American Red Cross, so I insist that my government distribute to each as each has need regardless of sexual orientation, and including "partners" whether gay or not. I know how hard it is to lose someone one loves but is not "married" to. Fortunately, family and friends shared in my loss, and cared for the same loved one. Our government must be no less generous. Sincerely, Individual Comment San Francisco 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 dojA001646.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