331 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. Sunday, December 30, 2001 4:13 PM Compensation Comments Special Master Kenneth R. Feinberg September 11th Victim Compensation Fund U.S. Department of Justice 950 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, DC 20530 To Mr. Feinberg: I am writing to urge you to ensure fair treatment for all surviving families of the tragedy on September 11th, including the children and families of low-wage workers and gay and lesbian families. Under traditional rules based on lost wages, the survivors of a bond trader earning millions of dollars per year might receive thousands of times as much compensation as the survivors of a dishwasher in one of the restaurants destroyed. Justice requires looking far beyond the last paycheck to the inherent worth of all those killed, so that a high minimum compensation level is set to lessen the disparities. It would be a double blow to the survivors to first lose their loved one and then watch as most of the taxpayer money went to those who were already well off in the first place. The second major issue has to do with recognizing the legitimacy of gay and lesbian relationships and families. Gay and lesbian families are especially vulnerable when one partner is killed. Because the option of marriage is unavailable, these families may find themselves in the traumatic predicament of having to prove that their union is legitimate. Fortunately, both the Red Cross and the State of New York have already announced that they will not discriminate against gay and lesbian families. The Department of Justice should do the same. Thank you for considering my comments. I look forward to hearing how you will act on these very important issues. Sincerely, Individual Comment Los Angeles, CA September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2001-12-30 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 dojN001231.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. 2001-12-30 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 24, 2002 1:03 PM is an idiot The idea hat wants to give dollars to the families of illegals who were killed in the 9-11 attacks is SOOOOOO out of touch with the American pulse, it is pitiful. Why am I not surprised that this proposal is associated with ? Individual Comment September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2002-01-24 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 dojP000072.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. 2002-01-24 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 15, 2001 6:56 AM (no subject) Kenneth L. Zwick, Director Office of Management Programs US Department of Justice Dear Mr. Zwick: I am writing to you as a concerned citizen of this country. You have asked people to write to you to express their comments regarding compensation of September 11th victims and their families. I would ask you to 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. This US Government policy would 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 your consideration in this matter. Individual Comment Brick, NJ September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2001-12-15 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 dojA001996.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. 2001-12-15 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 28, 2002 3:40 PM Sept 11 Victims Fund Dear Mr. Zwick, Americans have endured losing spouses for centuries - to say that these people each should be given hundreds of thousands (or millions)of tax dollars because wild-eyed terrorists killed them instead of a robber in a bank, or a drunk on the road, cheapens the deaths that occur every day. What a pathetic bunch of greedy whiners. Individual Comment Burke, Va September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2002-01-28 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 dojP000244.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. 2002-01-28 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 10:37 AM gay and lesbian partners suffer too! Kenneth L. Zwick, Director I am saddened and ASHAMED that gays and lesbians are once again being treated as 3rd class citizens in our country. This hurts me as a human being, a citizen and a teacher. We are all Americans and all deserve to be treated with respect and dignity, especially during such a tragedy as the 9/11 bombings. I am ashamed of my country in our treatment of gays and lesbians. Other countries, especially in Europe have granted full human rights to gays and lesbians. Why does it take so long for our country to treat everyone fairly? WHY? I urge all AMERICANS to stand for liberty and justice for ALL. Individual Comment Seattle, Washington 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 dojR001377.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. Tuesday, March 12, 2002 11:45 AM Taliban is to women as victim fund is to gays??? Why are funds for 9-11 victims not being fairly distributed to the survivors and families of gay/lesbian victims? A gay man was one of the heroes that stopped a jet from destroying the U.S. Congress...the of one flight was gay..and two gay men were returning home with their newly adopted child before the aircraft was re-directed to the twin towers. Is this how we show what we think of these people's "relative" value as compared to heterosexual heroes? Have we learned nothing of the ultimate outcome of hate, discrimination, and marginalization of people due to prejudices? Why can't someone in government just have a simple leap of faith -- a leap of courage...regardless of the political fallout. The last time a man had the courage to buck the national sentiment the slaves were freed... If you really dislike gays that much..remember, the survivors may not be gay. DO THE RIGHT THING... I do expect a response Individual Comment Palm Desert, CA September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2002-03-12 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 dojR000411.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. 2002-03-12 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. Wednesday, December 05, 2001 1:02 AM September 11th Victim Compensation Program Kenneth L Zwick: It is with grave concern I write this letter. The tragedy of September 11th will never be forgotten. Let us never forget all that perished that day. It has been brought to my attention there is question, reservation, in fact, possible exclusion of victim relief funds to those gay/lesbian. One shouldn't have to be reminded the majority were citizens of the United States. That their sexual preference should have no bearing. They were someone's father, son, mother, daughter, loved one. Their loss, shouldn't be deemed lesser than any others. Do we now place a monetary value on a fellow human being? One group of people has more value than another? It is my greatest hope that you allow justice to prevail, that bias not become the focal point. If justice is not allowed to prevailed tragedy is compounded to travesty. Thank you for your consideration. Sincerely, Individual Comment Farwell, MI 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 dojA000652.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. December 13, 2001 Special Master Kenneth R. Feinberg September 11th Victim Compensation Fund U.S. Department of Justice 950 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, DC 20530 To Mr. Feinberg: I am writing to urge you to ensure fair treatment for all surviving families of the tragedy on September 11th, including the children and families of low-wage workers and gay and lesbian families. Under traditional rules based on lost wages, the survivors of a bond trader earning millions of dollars per year might receive thousands of times as much compensation as the survivors of a dishwasher in one of the restaurants destroyed. Justice requires looking far beyond the last paycheck to the inherent worth of all those killed, so that a high minimum compensation level is set to lessen the disparities. It would be a double blow to the survivors to first lose their loved one and then watch as most of the taxpayer money went to those who were already well off in the first place. The second major issue has to do with recognizing the legitimacy of gay and lesbian relationships and families. Gay and lesbian families are especially vulnerable when one partner is killed. Because the option of marriage is unavailable, these families may find themselves in the traumatic predicament of having to prove that their union is legitimate. Fortunately, both the Red Cross and the State of New York have already announced that they will not discriminate against gay and lesbian families. The Department of Justice should do the same. Thank you for considering my comments. I look forward to hearing how you will act on these very important issues. Sincerely, Individual Comment San Antonio,TX 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 dojA005232.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. Friday, December 21, 2001 11:22 PM Equal Rights for Gay/Lesbian Partners December 21, 2001 Dear Mr. Kenneth Zwick, I write as a member of Amnesty International, a worldwide human rights movement committed to ensuring respect for the basic human rights of people without discrimination, in support of equal access to benefits under the September 11 Victims Relief Fund for all victims, regardless of sexual orientation or marital status. As you know, the United States has committed to uphold international human rights standards, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which prohibit arbitrary discrimination. As you consider rules for administering the relief fund, I ask that you apply basic international human rights standards, and the general principle of equality, by including among relatives eligible for compensation those who lost their life partners, as well as de facto parents or children, without regard to sexual orientation or marital status. The State of New York has already adopted such a policy, granting compensation benefits "on a showing of mutual interdependence with the victim, in recognition that anyone who shared with the victim living expenses, day to day activities and the emotional bonds of family deserves help in this time of need." Many lesbian and gay people were killed in the September 11th attacks. Since then, lesbian and gay surviving partners of those killed have had mixed results in obtaining equal treatment at the local level in the distribution of relief funds by private and state agencies. An inclusive policy on the part of the federal government would help establish an important principle for other such funds. In compensating victims, real justice will be served only when all families - and all types of families - impacted by the human rights tragedy of September 11 are treated with dignity and equality. Thank you for considering my concerns. I look forward to hearing from you about your efforts to ensure that all surviving victims of the September 11 attacks have equal access to the relief fund. Sincerely, Individual Comment Walla Walla, WA 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 dojN000656.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. Saturday, December 22, 2001 8:49 AM equal access for gay and lesbian partners 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 New Bedford, MA 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 dojN000673.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. email Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2001-12-22 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Department of Justice Emails Description An account of the resource The Department of Justice received more than 11,000 e-mails in response to the agency's public solicitation for comments upon its plans to distribute the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 established by Congress to benefit the victims of September 11 and their families. These e-mails have been organized here by date. September 11 Email September 11 Email: Body The basic content, as unstructured text; sometimes containing a signature block at the end. Wednesday, December 19, 2001 9:14 AM Equal Treatment for all family members of September 11 victims 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 Tuscaloosa, AL 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 dojA002829.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. email Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2001-12-19 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Department of Justice Emails Description An account of the resource The Department of Justice received more than 11,000 e-mails in response to the agency's public solicitation for comments upon its plans to distribute the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 established by Congress to benefit the victims of September 11 and their families. These e-mails have been organized here by date. September 11 Email September 11 Email: Body The basic content, as unstructured text; sometimes containing a signature block at the end. Sunday, March 17, 2002 4:56 PM We believe that that the partners of the gay and lesbian victims of 9/11 should receive EQUAL payments from the Compensation Fund!!!!!! Signed 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 dojR001490.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, March 13, 2002 6:55 PM Discrimination? John McCain, Senator from Arizona has spoken publicly regarding the John Ashcroft statement that Gays and Lesbians do not qualify for assistance from the 9/11 fund. That is outrageous and to even speak about our fellow Americans, who have served this country well and volunteered time and money to assist victims and survivors is a crime against American citizens. This Bush administration is already taking away the rights of the average American and the people think he is doing something good for them. If the Federal Government is going to discriminate against Gays and Lesbians they should impeach Dick Cheney as his daughter is a card carrying Lesbian, and has her mothers complete support. Newt Gingrich has a Lesbian sister, and Bush accepted campaign contribution form the Log Cabin Republicans, which is a Gay male organization of professional businessmen. Ashcroft is a Pentecostal by faith and I strongly object to his faith and his complete disregard for civil rights. Its time to impeach Bush and his cabinet and start taking care of America and not Bush and his friends. 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 dojR002114.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. Tuesday, December 04, 2001 11:20 PM Help ALL Victims Of Sept. 11 In late September, President Bush and the Congress authorized the creation of the "September 11 Victim Compensation Fund" to provide assistance to the surviving victims of the attacks and the "relatives" of those who died. The Department of Justice is in the process of writing the regulations that will govern implementation of the Fund and has invited public comments to guide this process. Sadly, there are those on the Radical Right who would like to see the surviving partners and children of gay and lesbian victims excluded from the benefits of the Fund. SUCH CRUEL AND REPREHENSIBLE VIEWS MUST NOT PREVAIL! I urge you to write regulations governing the "September 11 Victim Compensation Fund" that ensure that compensation is available to all surviving families of those killed, INCLUDING the committed partners and non-biological children of gay and lesbian victims. Individual Comment 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 dojA000639.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 13, 2001 Special Master Kenneth R. Feinberg September 11th Victim Compensation Fund U.S. Department of Justice 950 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, DC 20530 To Mr. Feinberg: I am writing to urge you to ensure fair treatment for all surviving families of the tragedy on September 11th, including the children and families of low-wage workers and gay and lesbian families. Under traditional rules based on lost wages, the survivors of a bond trader earning millions of dollars per year might receive thousands of times as much compensation as the survivors of a dishwasher in one of the restaurants destroyed. Justice requires looking far beyond the last paycheck to the inherent worth of all those killed, so that a high minimum compensation level is set to lessen the disparities. It would be a double blow to the survivors to first lose their loved one and then watch as most of the taxpayer money went to those who were already well off in the first place. The second major issue has to do with recognizing the legitimacy of gay and lesbian relationships and families. Gay and lesbian families are especially vulnerable when one partner is killed. Because the option of marriage is unavailable, these families may find themselves in the traumatic predicament of having to prove that their union is legitimate. Fortunately, both the Red Cross and the State of New York have already announced that they will not discriminate against gay and lesbian families. The Department of Justice should do the same. Thank you for considering my comments. I look forward to hearing how you will act on these very important issues. Sincerely, Individual Comment San Pedro, 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 dojA003938.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. Monday, January 14, 2002 2:00 PM Comments to Interim Final Rule Attached please find my comments to the Interim Final Rule. > ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------ Attachment1: January 14, 2001 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: Comments to the Interim Final Rule First of all I would like to thank you and your staff for taking on this very difficult task and trying to do the right thing by all of the parties involved. As we all know, no amount of money could come close to adequately compensating the families of victims for what they are going through. The victim compensation fund (the Fund) is an attempt to provide for fair and just compensation outside of lawsuits. It is far from a free lunch though. The Airline Stabilization Act (the Statute) put severe limitations on a victim's ability to recover from the airlines and from other negligent parties. The Statute was conceived by Congress as a way of ensuring that the airlines are not brought to financial ruin by the immense litigation that would follow this attack. Such litigation and the financial collapse of the airlines would have had a devastating affect on the US economy. The resulting business slowdown would have deprived the US Treasury of significant tax receipts equal to many times more than the cost of this Fund. Because of this fact, the existence of the Fund will, without a doubt, save the taxpayers a significant amount of money. After a thorough review of the proposed interim rule, I have the following comments: 1. Calculation of Non-Economic Loss. It appears that the interim final rules ignored the Statute in determining non-economic losses. While it is impossible to scientifically calculate the proper amount to award for non-economic losses, the amount of presumed non-economic loss of $250,000 plus $50,000 for each of the victim's spouse and dependants is not in concert with the Statute. The Statute passed by Congress and signed by the President defined non-economic losses in twelve categories, including losses for: - physical and emotional pain, - suffering, - inconvenience, - physical impairment, - mental anguish, - disfigurement, - loss of enjoyment of life, - loss of society and companionship, - loss of consortium (other than loss of domestic service), - hedonic damages, - injury to reputation, - and all other non-pecuniary losses of any kind or nature. There is no mention in the final interim rule of any of these specific losses that the Statute requires to be awarded. The Statute did not say that victims would only be awarded the same amount as 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. The victims of September 11 were not public safety officers or members of the military killed in the line of duty. They were clerks, waiters, accountants, office workers and executives who were murdered when innocently going to work one Tuesday morning in September. They were murdered for what they symbolized, America's freedom and economic success. They were murdered because of a failure by the airlines, security firms and the government to put adequate safeguards in place to properly protect the nation's air transportation system. Congress decided that it would be in the best interest of the nation to prevent the collapse of the airline industry by limiting lawsuits brought by victims, and these victims are entitled to receive compensation in line with what Congress spelled out in the Statute. The amounts received by public safety officers or military members referred to in the interim rules are in the form of life insurance. The amount of this life insurance is totally unrelated to pain and suffering, mental anguish and other non-economic losses and was not arrived at by weighing all of the factors that the Statute lists. Although Congress could easily have written the Statute to state that non-economic awards should be comparable to awards given to public safety officers or the military, it chose not to do so. Rather Congress specifically spelled out the factors that should be considered in determining the amount of non-economic damages. Yet, the interim final rules chose to ignore these factors and substitute the judgment of Congress with this comparable to the military calculation. It should also be noted that (i) life insurance payout to public safety officers and members of the military are not contingent upon the deceased or his family giving up his right to sue for wrongful death (ii) the life insurance payout to public safety officers and members of the military are not reduced by collateral sources including the amounts of any additional life insurance that such public safety officers or members of the military may have purchased on their own behalf, and (iii) the life insurance payout is made whenever a public safety officer is killed while on duty regardless of the cause of death, regardless of how much suffering was involved, and regardless of who was at fault. Since life insurance, pensions and other collateral sources are deducted from amount paid to September 11 victims under the Statute, many victims will receive substantially less from the Fund than a public safety officer or member of the military would receive under that federal statute. There is no doubt that a jury would award a significantly higher amount for non-economic damages in a court action (Courts have awarded higher amounts than this to people who were burned by spilling cups of hot coffee on themselves). In many cases the September 11 victims suffered indescribable pain, agony and mental anguish for prolonged periods of time (up to several hours). All of this time the victims were aware that they were going to die a horrible and painful death. I understand that it would be difficult to address non-economic pain and suffering on a case-by-case basis as who is to say which victims suffered more than others. I think the rules are correct in having a set amount for all victims. However, the amount needs to consider the factors set forth by Congress in the Statute. One way to come up with an amount for non-economic damages is to take an average of what was awarded by juries in cases where victims suffered greatly for prolonged periods of time, knowing that their fate was to die within hours. Each of the factors that Congress included in the Statute must be considered in arriving at a fair amount to award for non-economic damages. Increasing the amount of non-economic damages would help to solve two other criticisms of the interim rules. (1) it would help to close the gap in awards between highly compensated individuals and lower compensated individuals, and (2) it would increase the gross amount of the awards prior to deducting life insurance and other collateral sources of income making the fund a more viable alternative to many that would otherwise file law suits. A significant increase in the non-economic awards would go a long way toward bringing the interim final rules into concert with the Statute passed by Congress. 2. Calculation of Income. For purposes of determining economic losses, a victim's base compensation appears to be his or her pre-tax earnings for the three-year period 1998-2000, including salary and bonus plus certain employer benefits. Why would the formula choose to use 1998 and ignore the victim's most recent salary in 2001? Most of the victims were employed for nine out twelve months in 2001 and it would be easy to extrapolate the victim's full 2001 salary. In many cases it would seem that the 2001 salary would be more indicative of a victim's actual earning potential than his or her 1998 salary would. This is particularly true for younger victims who in most cases would have a much higher salary in 2001 than in 1998. Which year is more relevant? In the case of many of the victims, certainly the 2001 salary is more relevant. The regulations should be amended to allow the claimant to have the option to use either 1998 or 2001 in the three-year average. This can be done by amending the second and third sentences of Part 104.43 of the regulations pertaining to salary to read: The Decedent's salary/income in 1998-2001 shall be evaluated in a manner that the Special Master deems appropriate. The Special Master may, if he deems it appropriate, take the higher of (i) an average of income figures for the three years 1998 through 2000, or (ii) an average of income figures for the three years 1999 through 2001. The regulations also need to be a little more clear on what certain employer benefits means. It would seem that all employer costs associated with compensating the victim should be considered a part of his or her compensation. This would include employer premiums paid for health insurance, dental insurance, life insurance, and workers' compensation insurance. It should also include employer contributions to a victim's pension plan or 401K plan. These types of payments are no less a part of compensation than a victim's salary was. 3. Victims Engaged to be Married. The treatment of victims who were engaged to be married at the time they were killed on September 11 is not addressed in the interim final rule. Fiancées appear to have no standing under the fund, even though they were often the person who was the closest person to the victim and the person whose life was affected the most dramatically. In addition, the compensation charts (particularly the calculation estimating how much of his compensation a victim would have personally consumed) assume that the victim would not have kept his or her promise to marry. If a victim was married without children the interim rules calculate his or her economic loss using a consumption factor that is based on the victim sharing his earnings with his spouse. Meanwhile, a person who is unmarried is deemed by the charts to have consumed almost all of his earnings himself. This is so even though the victim is engaged to be married and planned to have children, and would not have consumed all of his income himself. While it is speculative to estimate the number of children, if any, that a victim would have had, it is not speculative to assume that the victim would have gone through with his or her promise to marry and thus have a lifetime of mutual support. If a victim was engaged to be married the chart showing Married Decedent with No Dependent Children should be used. The fact that September 11 cut short the lives of some of the victims at a time when they had not yet completed their plans to wed should not create an assumption that the victim's future personal consumption would have been that of a single person. While overall, I think the interim final rules represent a good effort to treat victims fairly, I believe the above changes will solve some of the issues that remain and bring the rules more into line with the provisions of the Statute. Thank you for considering the above comments. Individual Comment Concord, MA September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2002-01-14 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 dojN001588.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. 2002-01-14 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Department of Justice Emails Description An account of the resource The Department of Justice received more than 11,000 e-mails in response to the agency's public solicitation for comments upon its plans to distribute the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 established by Congress to benefit the victims of September 11 and their families. These e-mails have been organized here by date. September 11 Email September 11 Email: Body The basic content, as unstructured text; sometimes containing a signature block at the end. Monday, March 18, 2002 10:33 AM Shameful To whom it may concern, As an American and contributor to the 9/11 fund, I am outraged that you are excluding some victims from getting financial assistance. When I contributed to the fund, I contributed for ALL the victims, not just straight victims, white victims, black victims, illegal alien victims.........ALL VICTIMS. Gay victims families should also be assisted. When I heard that these victims would not be helped, I felt sick in my stomach.I would never contributed to your fund if I thought you were going to abuse it in this manner. FOR THE MEMORY OF: And so many more... Individual Comment 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 dojR001738.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. email Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-03-18 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Department of Justice Emails Description An account of the resource The Department of Justice received more than 11,000 e-mails in response to the agency's public solicitation for comments upon its plans to distribute the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 established by Congress to benefit the victims of September 11 and their families. These e-mails have been organized here by date. September 11 Email September 11 Email: Body The basic content, as unstructured text; sometimes containing a signature block at the end. Wednesday, March 13, 2002 7:02 AM Important - 9/11 Fund not fair in distribution of funds to Gays! President Bush, I am forwarding the message below along with my own message to you of this terrible injustice. I am an expatriate working and living in the UK along with a small group of Americans on 9/11. I am a very proud American and soon found that displaying patriotism for my country helped ease the pain. Among our little group of Americans was , sender of the below message, and his partner that displayed their patriotism as well as any American AND TEXAN anywhere. Yes, they are gay, but so what? They at least have the courage to stand up for what is right, and I want you Mr. President, to know that my wife and I are with and this cause 100%. To deny anyone what they deserve from the 911 tragedy because of the way they have chosen to live is outrageous and as criminal as the tragedy itself. Your actions since 911 have made me very proud to be an American, but I urge you and the 911 Fund folks to please take the next step, get a grip, face the real world and stop this bigotry. Thank you for listening, Individual Comment 9/11 Fund to Discriminate Against Gays About.com - US Politics March 11, 2002 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 dojR000562.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. 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 Neosho, MO 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 dojA004904.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, February 27, 2002 11:28 AM Fund Yesterday I saw American flags that were so hard to get last year are now selling in food stores in the area at half price. Sweat shirts and other flag items also have been reduced. I stopped and looked and started to cry. Is America forgetting or has everyone gotten all the flags they needed and wanted. That thought was with me all day yesterday. Is the country forgetting to some degree what happened to our sons and daughters on September 11th? My son was killed at the World Trade Center. We are his parents and he has both grandparents and a brother. He was married and had three children. What of our lives? As parents we grief each day. We struggle through the day. Tasks that were simple have now become projects. Projects have become impossible to do. As a small business owner my business is down because who wants a crying salesman at their doors. Pills now get me through the day. Pills get me through the nights. This is what our lives have become. We go for counselors and also a support group each week. My doctor wants me to see a psychologist to review the pills I now take. One of them, he thinks, gives me nightmares. Just try to picture you child is in a glass building. There is fire all around him. He is trying to reach out to me and I try to reach him. The skin is burning off his face. Try that and see how you would feel in our shoes. I feel that my business that I have will die because of the pain that I have. I have been told a few things about parents and there children. First that the second year is worst than the first year. They also say that it takes about five years till you get to your new normal. No one knows what effect 9/11 will have on us. There has never been anything like this so who knows. I am almost sixty and this is my life. There are days where we want to just crawl in to a hole and die. We go on because we have wife's and other children who without I would not go on. We are the forgotten people because we are not the next of kin. We are hurting and over time we will still have our pain. Parents are always parents. What we want we cannot have. We want our children back. My son said to me "don't worry about your old age. If you need me I will be there for you'. I laughed when he said that a few years ago." What we have is our ruined lives ahead of us. We will need help for the rest of our lives. Parents will need medical help over many years. What we need will cost money. Where will it come from? What do I do when my business fails because I am not the same person as I was before September 11th? The Victims Compensation fund should look at parents and provide us with money to help us over the years to come. We need this. Money should not be taken away from our children's wives. Right now you have caused us to a lifetime of pain and suffering. If the fund does not address our needs then when our son's wife signs up for the plan we as parents will not be getting any help for the years we have left.. We the parents are mostly in our 60"s. We do not have time for lawsuits. We need help. Thanks for listen to us. Individual Comment Morganville, NJ September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2002-02-27 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource dojP000564.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. 2002-02-27