650 20 70359 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 23, 2002 3:25 AM comment 9/11 victim compensation fund As a mother of a California Firefighter/Paramedic, "there by the grace of God go I". I think this fund should not just include those who sought medical treatment by 9/12/2001, but the many, many firefighters and others, be they construction workers or residents who have or will become affected by the toxicological nightmare within the confines of "Ground Zero" As a former federal worker, I was poisoned in my workplace by carbon monoxide & mercury, so I have an idea what lies ahead for these people. Do not have the Federal Government look the other way and deny the cause and effect of what exists. The scientific material "out there" is mostly population based, however as I am also the mother of a University Medical student, I can tell you that there will soon be research done on particulate matter and it's effects directly on individuals. Any personal injury lawsuit gives an amount of time from date of discovery of injury to sue. To withhold this from these victims would be cruel and heartless, for many like myself, will lose all ability to protect and serve or earn an income to support their selves and families. Your compensation seems to be based upon actuarial tables and appears to be equitable and fair for those who have lost loved ones and wish to proceed with their lives and an immediate cash settlement. But there must be an additional amount of some sort for "pain & suffering". I am of age to remember the beginnings of airline hijackers and the Federal Government as well as the Airline Industry are both to blame for what should have been a preventable disaster, due to indifference or greed respectfully. Individual Comment Citrus Heights CA September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2002-01-23 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 dojP000005.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. 2002-01-23 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, January 19, 2002 9:24 PM Re: Sept. 11 Fund To whom it may concern, I lost my Fiancee, on that dreadful day. And for you to put a price on his life is a real injustice. His job description didn't entail that someday he would lose his life. He paid into the system for a better future for him and our family someday. So why penalize "our hero" now. The generous people who donated money to this fund did it with an open heart, not thinking that it should be taxed. That was not the plan. Please reconsider, not just for the families but for the incredible people who have lost their lives. Sincerely, Individual Comment September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2002-01-19 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 dojN002083.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. 2002-01-19 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 12:16 AM (no subject) I am greatly disturbed that gay and lesbian partners of those who died on September 11 are not automatically going to receive the same benefits as heterosexual spouses. This is clearly an injustice to those gay heroes of the day. It is my understanding that even illegal aliens will be receiving benefits and furthermore I understand that federal law is being overlooked and not only won't the illegal aliens be arrested but will receive benefits. And futhermore I understand that American companies that have hired illegal aliens will not be punished for violation of fdderal labor laws. I am aware that &nbsp who helped bring down the flight in Pennsylvania, NY Fire Department &nbsp who died in the line of duty when the first tower fell and &nbsp who &nbsp of the plane that crashed into the Pentagon-all gay heroes of the day and many more will all be treated differently and that the law is the law and no exceptions can be made. All gay heroes should receive the same benefits as the families of heterosexual victims with no expcetions Sincerely, 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 dojR001300.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. Friday, December 21, 2001 5:59 AM Help same sex partners of 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 Nevada City, CA 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 dojN000224.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. email Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2001-12-21 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Department of Justice Emails Description An account of the resource The Department of Justice received more than 11,000 e-mails in response to the agency's public solicitation for comments upon its plans to distribute the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 established by Congress to benefit the victims of September 11 and their families. These e-mails have been organized here by date. September 11 Email September 11 Email: Body The basic content, as unstructured text; sometimes containing a signature block at the end. Thursday, December 06, 2001 5:47 PM September 11 Victim Compensation Fund Kenneth L. Zwick, Director Office of Management Programs, Civil Division U.S. Department of Justice Dear Mr. Zwick: I am writing in response to the Department of Justice's request for public comments regarding forthcoming regulations for implementing and administering the "September 11th Victim Compensation Fund". I strongly urge the Department of Justice to draft regulations ensuring compensation is available to ALL victims of the attack, including committed partners and non-biological children of gay and lesbian victims. The devastating grief and economic losses suffered by families of gay and lesbian victims were no less than that of other families. The terrorists drew no lines in choosing their victims, and the U.S. should draw no lines in compensating those who suffered the most personal of losses from this incident. All Americans who lost their lives on September 11th left behind loved ones. I urge the Department of Justice to honor these bonds by treating the families of gay and lesbian victims as you would any other. Sincerely, Individual Comment New Britain, CT September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2001-12-06 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource dojA001215.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. email Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2001-12-06 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Department of Justice Emails Description An account of the resource The Department of Justice received more than 11,000 e-mails in response to the agency's public solicitation for comments upon its plans to distribute the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 established by Congress to benefit the victims of September 11 and their families. These e-mails have been organized here by date. September 11 Email September 11 Email: Body The basic content, as unstructured text; sometimes containing a signature block at the end. January 15, 2002 Mr. Kenneth Feinberg, Special Master of the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 In Care of Mr. Kenneth L. Zwick, Director Office of Management Programs Civil Division U.S. Department of Justice Main Building, Room 3140 950 Pennsylvania Avenue Washington, DC 20530 Re: Comments on the Interim Rule of the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 Dear Mr. Kenneth Feinberg: I am writing to ask for your help to correct two inequities in the Department of Justice's Interim Final Rule for the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 that will result in many families receiving no compensation from the fund. This is because (1) the projected economic and non-economic loss figures are unrealistically low; and (2) the Fund reduces any award by the amount of money a victim family received from a "collateral source." When Congress passed the Air Transportation Safety and System Stabilization Act on September 22, 2001, it severely restricted September 11 victims' right to sue the airlines, which bear ultimate responsibility for the tragedy because of lax security procedures. In exchange for denying victim's right to sue, Congress provided the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001. The Fund is supposed to compensate the victims' for the types of losses that would have been recoverable in a lawsuit, but without the burden and delay of litigation. The Interim Rule/Regulation also describes the intention of the law: "The Fund is designed to provide a no-fault alternative to tort litigation for individuals who were physically injured or killed as a result of the aircraft hijackings and crashes on September 11, 2001"{Interim Rule/Regulation, Summary Paragraph A.1}. "The attached regulations have two objectives: (1) To provide fair, predictable and consistent compensation to the victims of September 11 and their families throughout the life of the program; and (2) to do so in an expedited, efficient manner without unnecessary bureaucracy and needless demands on the victims." {Interim Rule/Regulation, Supplementary Information.}. The Interim Final Rule fails to meet the intent of Congress, however, because many victims' families will net nothing after collateral source funds are subtracted from the already undervalued economic and non-economic loss projections. The Interim Final Rule understates economic loss by underestimating the lifetime earning potential of victims at all income levels. Noted economists at the National Association of Forensic Economists showed that the Interim Final Rule uses outdated statistics and inappropriate methods to arrive at low estimates of our loved one's future earnings. An analysis done by one of these economists showed that the actual earnings growth for firefighters is 27% higher than the DOJ estimate, the actual earnings growth of all college educated workers is 30% higher than DOJ indicates, and actual earnings growth for financial professionals is more than 100% higher than the DOJ estimate. The Interim Final Rule also falls short of Congress's goals for non-economic loss. The figure for presumed non-economic loss compensation of $250,000 plus and additional $50,000 for the spouse and each dependent is rationalized as being roughly equivalent to the amounts received by public safety officers who were killed while on duty, or members of the military who are killed in the line of duty while serving our nation. With all due respect to such public safety officers and military personnel, they choose to go into harm's way and their loss is not the result of corporate negligence. On the other hand, the September 11 victims are victims of negligent airline security. Perhaps more realistic guidance as to the value of non-economic losses recovered in other air crash and terrorism cases commonly result in awards of between $2 million and $5 million. A more reasonable projection of non-economic loss is probably somewhere between the current proposal and the historical litigation result. The Interim Final Rule reduces any compensation awards by the amount of any funds received from collateral sources, including life insurance. The Interim Final Rule does this because Congress included such a provision in the Air Transportation Safety and System Stabilization Act. That does not make it fair; that does not make it right. In many states, the law on "the collateral source rule" has been well settled for over one hundred years. Under that rule, damages recoverable for personal injury or death, caused by the negligence of another, cannot be reduced because of compensation received by proceeds of an insurance policy. This is because the wrongdoer owes full compensation for the injuries inflicted by them and any payment by a collateral source in no way relieves the wrongdoer of their obligation. In this instance, the airlines and others at fault owe full compensation for the injuries resulting from their negligence. Any payment by a collateral source in no way relieves the airlines and others at fault for their obligation. This collateral source rule, which has been a fundamental part of tort victim compensation for over a hundred years, needs to be incorporated into the September 11 Victim Compensation Fund. The Interim Final Rule needs to be adjusted to provide fair, balanced and acceptable economic and non-economic loss projections. The economic loss charts need to be increased and expanded depending upon the deceased's job field. The non-economic loss amounts also need to be increased into a range that accounts for the tragic way in which these innocent victims died and the shattered lives they left behind. Collateral source recoveries need to be excluded from consideration by the Fund. Without these changes, the intent of Congress will not be fulfilled because there will be no reason for many of the September 11 victim families to participate in the Fund. Without these changes, it will be better for many victim families to take a chance at litigation rather than sign on to a Fund through which they will receive nothing but a waiver of their right to sue. Please rectify these inequities and do what is right for the victim families. Give the victim families a reason to participate in this Fund rather than litigate. Change the Interim Final Rule to provide economic and non-economic amounts at fair, balanced and acceptable levels; do not offset Fund awards by collateral source recoveriews; establish a fair appeal process. Finally, please include the specific calculation formulas, statistics and assumptions within the rule or the explanatory materials. Sincerely, Individual Comment Newbury Park, CA September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2002-01-15 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 dojN002615.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. 2002-01-15 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. Wednesday, November 28, 2001 5:09 PM Attn: Kenneth L. Zwick November 21, 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, D.C. 20530 As per the solicitation of the Justice Department for public input on the rulemaking decisions for compensation to families of victims of September 11, 2001, I am writing to express my opinion on the adoption of rules that are inclusive of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered people and their families who suffered from the attacks. I am in complete support of laws that include compensation for the above mentioned groups as survivors of the victims. Those who actually suffered losses as a result of the death of a loved one should share the right to compensation. I feel that this is the only humane response to what has happened. Thank you, Individual Comment September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2001-11-28 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 dojA000128.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. 2001-11-28 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 11:19 PM Not the same benefits for the partners of the gay and lesbians victims of the September 11 attack IS UNFAIR! 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 dojR001575.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. email Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-03-17 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Department of Justice Emails Description An account of the resource The Department of Justice received more than 11,000 e-mails in response to the agency's public solicitation for comments upon its plans to distribute the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 established by Congress to benefit the victims of September 11 and their families. These e-mails have been organized here by date. September 11 Email September 11 Email: Body The basic content, as unstructured text; sometimes containing a signature block at the end. Monday, March 11, 2002 1:49 PM Stop Discriminating Against Gays It is outrageous that partners of gay and lesbian victims of 9/11 are not being compensated by funds that are being distributed to other victims' families. In addition to the discrimination faced by gays and lesbians, and their prohibition from marrying, you are now adding insult to injury by preventing their families from receiving help that they need as much as any other family member. Please do the right thing, and include partners of all sexual orientations in the relief funds that are distributed to survivors of 9/11. Individual Comment Minneapolis, MN September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2002-03-11 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 dojR000090.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. 2002-03-11 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 2:38 PM 9/11/01 It seems to me that the funds should be divided equally, regardless of position, title or importance. If there were 6,000+- victims, then the funds should be divided by 6,000+-. Whether the victims were police, fireman or janitors, losing them devastated someone. Since when does one life equal more value than another? Individual Comment Seattle, WA September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2001-12-13 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource dojA001553.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. email Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2001-12-13 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Department of Justice Emails Description An account of the resource The Department of Justice received more than 11,000 e-mails in response to the agency's public solicitation for comments upon its plans to distribute the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 established by Congress to benefit the victims of September 11 and their families. These e-mails have been organized here by date. September 11 Email September 11 Email: Body The basic content, as unstructured text; sometimes containing a signature block at the end. Wednesday, December 12, 2001 2:55 PM Sept. 11 TO: Kenneth L. Zwick, Director Office of Management Programs, Civil Division U.S. Department of Justice If it is United We Stand, then how can we be united when 10% of "our" population is denied basic civil rights and now disaster aid? That is wrong, and sends the message the the United stand is hollow, the "we" does not include those groups somebody doesn't like..... Like many Americans I am gay. Lesbian. With a partner of 25 years and a 20 year old daughter of our relationship. We pay our taxes, are good citizens and use our joint income to support ourselves and our daughter. We even fill out the federal college aid forms with both our incomes, altho it only asks for mother/father.... Aid to those harmed by the horrible events of Set. 11 need to be helped on the basis of need and not on factors like marriage or heterosexuality. We are discriminated against enough by "our" gov't. and this would only make things worse. Individual Comment September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2001-12-12 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource dojA001511.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. email Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2001-12-12 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Department of Justice Emails Description An account of the resource The Department of Justice received more than 11,000 e-mails in response to the agency's public solicitation for comments upon its plans to distribute the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 established by Congress to benefit the victims of September 11 and their families. These e-mails have been organized here by date. September 11 Email September 11 Email: Body The basic content, as unstructured text; sometimes containing a signature block at the end. Tuesday, January 01, 2002 11:02 AM a plea for fairness January 01, 2002 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 Antonio, TX September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2002-01-01 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 dojN001271.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. 2002-01-01 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 11:46 PM Victim Compensation Sir/Madam I do use those words hesitantly, because I feel that if I use those terms it is to someone that would deserve some respect. That is something that I am not willing to do at this time. It is a shame that you would choose not to give benefits to those who lost a partner during our attacks. What you are doing to those who did loose a partner during the 9/11 attacks is not any different then those who attacked us. They did not have any care for those they killed, and our government does not care for those that lost a partner in the attack. They are being attacked twice, once by the Taliban and once by our own government. Those who attacked the hijackers and brought the planes down as heroes did so because they love this country. They did not ask themselves, well the government disregards us as people so should I do anything to help them. They did it because for their respect for there country and to save many more lives by keeping them from getting to there intended target. I know that it would be hard for anyone to understand, but those who lost a partner also lost someone that was assisting in paying bills, mortgages, food, etc., just as anyone who lost a spouse also lost someone that was assisting in paying bills, mortgages, food etc. I would have thought that after the attacks that we as a nation would get past the whole homosexual issue. If you as a law maker are uncomfortable with the whole homosexual issue then you need to get out of government and find something else to do. You are in government as a law maker to help our nation, not to choose and decide just because you are uncomfortable with different groups of people to make laws. Everyone should be entitled to the same benefits as the person next to them. I will end this with the unhappy notion that we have people making laws or helping others because it will benefit them and not help the victim. Individual Comment 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 dojR001289.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. Saturday, March 16, 2002 1:37 PM Compensation for gay & lesbian survivors Hello, My name is &nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp and I am a social worker and psychotherapist in Nebraska. I am very upset that the 9/11 victims who happened to be gay or lesbian are not recognized as fully as the heterosexual victims. I write this because the heterosexual survivors will be compensated for losing their heterosexual loved one's but the partner of a gay or lesbian 9/11 victim do not receive that same right to compensation. Please reconsider this because illegal aliens and unborn babies have more rights to this compensation than a gay or lesbian partner of a victim. The death of any American heroe should not be discriminated against basedon race, creed, religious beliefs, or sexual orientation. The homosexual victim's life is just as equal to the heterosexual victim. ALL the victims spouses, significant others, and families mourn the death of their own heroe; thus, please do not ignore the gay or lesbian individual in grief based on who he or she loved. I do believe this policy is UnAmerican and an outrage that needs to be corrected ASAP. Would you deny compensation to those survivors of black, Jewish, or any other minority victim based on their differences? America would have just 100 years ago, have we not learned our lesson on hatred? Please honor all of the 9/11 victims and their survivors by choosing the honorable and American action of compensating the victims' loved ones, ALL of those they loved. Individual Comment 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 dojR000921.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, April 02, 2002 10:56 AM Public Comment Kenneth L. Zwick, Director Office of Management Programs Civil Division U.S. Department of Justice Main Building, Room 3140 950 Pennsylvania Avenue Washington, DC 20530 Dear Mr. Zwick I have read proposed regulations and the commentary concerning eligibility procedures for compensation under the victim compensation law. I am writing to urge you to change the approach concerning the designation of personal representatives to enforce and receive compensation as a result of the September 11 events. The creation of the fund to manage airline liabilities, give sure compensation to victims and avoid diversions of effort into investigations of possible fault and legal liability are all worthwhile, but do not adequately explain the best reason for this fund - to allow the entire country, in some measure, to shoulder the burdens of this attack, and make tangible measure that this was an assault on the entire country. This means that the hallmark of the administration of the fund needs to be practical justice and fairness, not tied to idiosyncratic issues of local law and certainly not subject to varying outcomes based on extraneous circumstances. Unfortunately, the proposed approach fails these elemental questions of fairness. You should adopt a federal standard, and use a broadly inclusive federal definition of the critical person - the personal representative. In particular, you should recognize the dignity and effect of long-standing domestic partnership relationships, including gay and lesbian relationships. The proposal intends to use state law to find persons entitled to compensation and use state law definitions, or equivalents, to define the person entitled to administer compensation - the personal representative. This would lead to varying results, even withi a state. In Maine, for instance, creditors, including contractors, may qualify as personal representatives of an estate. Domestic partners may register as long term contracting parties in Portland, Maine's largest city, but not elsewhere. Some county jurisdictions routinely approve adoption of children by gay couples, while others have never done so. Personal representatives may be nominated in a will. Claims for wrongful death are maintained under Maine law by the Personal Representative for the benefit of the heirs, not the devisees of a will. This means the Personal Representative who is a domestic partner may not be entitled to any portion of a claim, which must be distributed to sometimes distant relatives instead. The claims fund proceeds for an eligible individual are reduced by collateral sources - these claims, for disability or death insurance, survivor benefits, etc. are often contractual in nature with a named beneficiary. The interplay of this with all of the other factors means that individuals would have varying motivations to shop for forums where they are advantaged in some way. There are probably places in America which still define either domestic partner or gay/lesbian relationships as meretricious or even illegal. Millions of children are born each year in unmarried relationships. Allowing the varying details of state and local laws to dictate how the national purposes behind the victim compensation fund will function is not sound. The domestic partners and children of these murdered Americans deserve to come first. No one was heard to quibble about their martial status or living arrangements when so many of them sacrificed their lives to save others. Comment By: James F. Cloutier, Esq. City Councilor Portland, Maine September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2002-04-02 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 dojR002876.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. 2002-04-02 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 24, 2002 4:45 AM Discriminatory Treatment As this 21st century commences it is inappropriate to discriminate against homosexuals based on their state of being. 9/11 victims' survivors are as real, hurt and suffering as everyone else in this tragedy. Shame on you for a policy of discrimination against them! You really should know better in representing policy of the United States of America. Individual Comment September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2002-03-24 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 dojR002670.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. 2002-03-24 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. Tuesday, March 19, 2002 7:40 AM 9/11 comp fund I am your son, your brother, your father, grandfather, your uncle, your cousin, your minister, your police, your serviceman, your firefighter, your attorney, your doctor, your nurse, your rabbi, and, your priest. And I am outraged that the moneys we have contributed to help ALL people who lost their partner during the September 11th. attacks are selectively being distributed with discrimination against Gay and Lesbian. I urge you to have a compassionate heart and remember that someone you love could have been a victim that awful day. September 11 must teach us that our patriotism and love of country transcend all differences and bring us closer together. We were lead to believe that 9/11 was the day that all Americans are just "Americans". No more Italian-Americans, African-Americans, or Gay-Americans, just Americans. As part of the 'American' Family, we have a right to equal consideration for all partnerships. Do the right thing and relinquish discrimination of collected moneys to your fellow Americans. Individual Comment September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2002-03-19 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource dojR002056.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. email Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-03-19 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Department of Justice Emails Description An account of the resource The Department of Justice received more than 11,000 e-mails in response to the agency's public solicitation for comments upon its plans to distribute the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 established by Congress to benefit the victims of September 11 and their families. These e-mails have been organized here by date. September 11 Email September 11 Email: Body The basic content, as unstructured text; sometimes containing a signature block at the end. 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 September11th, 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 Portland, OR 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 dojA004392.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. email Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2001-12-13 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Department of Justice Emails Description An account of the resource The Department of Justice received more than 11,000 e-mails in response to the agency's public solicitation for comments upon its plans to distribute the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 established by Congress to benefit the victims of September 11 and their families. These e-mails have been organized here by date. September 11 Email September 11 Email: Body The basic content, as unstructured text; sometimes containing a signature block at the end. Wednesday, December 19, 2001 9:44 AM equal access to benefits 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 Tonkawa, OK 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 dojA002888.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. VIA FACSIMILE January 22, 2002 Kenneth Feinberg, Special Master Aviation Victims' Compensation Fund 78 Third Avenue Suite 2202 New York, NY 10017 Dear Mr. Feinberg: Regarding the proposed salary formula for the Aviation Victims' Compensation Fund, one of our members who perished in the World Trade Center has a circumstance which if not addressed would negatively impact her family's compensation. The victims, the mother of three- year-old twins, and her husband had made a decision that while the children were young, she would work a reduced schedule. Her employer the Port Authority had a "job-sharing" arrangement wherein she worked only twenty hours a week. To the best of my understanding, prior to the children's birth she had worked a forty-hour traditional full-time schedule. If the formula does not take into account this was not a permanent situation and after the children are older she would have returned to a forty-hour schedule doubling her current earnings, the base for her calculation will be half of what she would have earned once returned to the full time schedule. In addition to this particular situation, we do have concerns over the disparity in the final payout when using the proposed formula that relies on the current earnings as the base. It is hard to imagine that there could be such a wide margin in the compensation for a "stockbroker" and one of our victims who may have left small children behind. The impact on the families is the same: they have lost a person who is in the long and short run irreplaceable, Each family should receive the help they need and be justly compensated. As one of our surviving spouses said, there is no way to really make this right, but having financial burdens relieved goes a long way to start. He is currently not working as a result of his wife's death, so he can be with his three year old twins to allow all three of them to heal. So in this circumstance, not only have they been deprived of their loved one and her earning power, they have been deprived of his earnings as well. And as we all know, once you get off the "career track" it is difficult to get back on and make up those years lost. I hope these concerns will be considered when the final determinations are made on the distribution of funds. If you have any questions regarding this, please contact me at or via email at Sincerely, COMMUNICATIONS WORKERS OF AMERICA AFL-CIO, CLC Women's Activities and Community Service Washington, DC September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2002-01-22 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource dojN002556.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. email Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-01-22