672 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. Friday, March 22, 2002 7:27 AM Discrimination is Un-American The 911 fund should honor all Americans, gay or straight!!!!!! Individual Comment September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2002-03-22 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 dojR002614.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. 2002-03-22 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. Tuesday, March 19, 2002 3:45 PM 9/11 fund unfair to gays I am extremely upset and outraged that your group would not extend the same benefits to lesbian and gay partners of victims who died on 9/11 as are being provided to heterosexual partners, fetuses, and illegal aliens. How is it that you manage to draw the line with lesbian and gay partners in an effort to negate those relationships, even when you know nothing about them. No one seems to be worrying about the heterosexuals involved and the relationships they had. There are even identified lesbian and gay heroes for that terrible day and they have become important along with every other type of hero on 9/11, yet their partners are suddenly pushed into the background and not given benefits because others feel it is their right to discriminate against lesbians and gays. Someday, when reason and compassion prevail, this insanity and extreme prejudice will be seen in the same light as earlier prejudice and discrimination against other minorities. Until then, I protest this injustice and add my voice to those of others feelings disenchanted and outraged by this latest attempt to invalidate our efforts and further discriminate against lesbians and gay men. Individual Comment Clinical Psychologist 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 dojR002214.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. Saturday, January 12, 2002 3:01 PM unfair laws As a Republican voter, I am appaled at the unfair nature of this bill. How can you reward people that were not as fiscally responsible as others? Are some lives worth more than others in your eyes?? This bill is soooo unjust. I can't believe the government would even cosider such a bill. What are you thinking????? Individual Comment September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2002-01-12 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 dojN001571.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. 2002-01-12 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. Thursday, December 06, 2001 8:56 AM Let's Be Fair Dear Mr. Zwick, I have heard that surviving lesbian and gay partners and non-biological children of these partners may be excluded from the Victims' Compensation Fund, which has been set up as a result of the 9/11 disaster. I cannot believe this could be true (gay people grieve as much and have lost as much by losing a a partner as straight people, and certainly their children are as devastated). However, if this represensible idea has any truth to it at all, I urge you and your colleagues to rethink this. Let us not sink to the level of prejudice practiced by the terrorists. Sincerely, Individual Comment Ridgefield, 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 dojA001115.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. Wednesday, November 21, 2001 8:42 AM Sandler O'Neill & Partners, LP. Mr. Zwick Attached is Sandler O'Neill & Partners, L.P. ("SOP") response to the Notice of Inquiry and Advanced Rulemaking published on November 5, 2001 in the Federal Register. Our main office was located on the 104th floor of Two World Trade Center in New York. SOP is a full service investment bank and broker dealer that prior to September 11, 2001, had 148 employees in New York and an additional 23 employees in four smaller offices throughout the country. SOP lost sixty-six employees and four guests in the terrorist attack. Before the airplane crashed into Two World Trade Center, approximately twenty employees on the 104th floor who had been in the office had left the building. Another twenty-five employees witnessed the events unfold from the street as they arrived for work. No SOP employees on the 104th floor at the time of the second crash survived. At this time, only twelve of the SOP victims have been found and positively identified. Thank you for the opportunity to submit our comments. If you have any questions you can contact me at Attachment 1: November 16, 2001 Kenneth L. Zwick Director Office of Management Programs Civil Division U.S. Department of Justice 950 Pennsylvania Avenue Washington, D.C. 20530 Dear Mr. Zwick We are writing to provide Sandler O'Neill & Partners, L.P. ("SOP") response to the Notice of Inquiry and Advanced Rulemaking published on November 5, 2001 in the Federal Register. Our main office was located on the 104th floor of Two World Trade Center in New York. SOP is a full service investment bank and broker dealer that prior to September 11, 2001, had 148 employees in New York and an additional 23 employees in four smaller offices throughout the country. SOP lost sixty-six employees and four guests in the terrorist attack. Before the airplane crashed into Two World Trade Center, approximately twenty employees on the 104th floor who had been in the office had left the building. Another twenty-five employees witnessed the events unfold from the street as they arrived for work. No SOP employees on the 104th floor at the time of the second crash survived. At this time, only twelve of the SOP victims have been found and positively identified. Of these victims, forty-six were married and thirty-three had children. The thirty-three leave behind seventy-five children with three having being born since September 11. We also had one divorced single parent that was killed. In addition, several employees were engaged to be married. Ages of the victims ranged from 22 years old to 61 years old. Thirteen were in their 20's; twenty-six were in their 30's; twenty-three were in their 40's; three were in their 50's and one was in their 60's. The victim's annual compensation ranged from the high five figures into seven figures. The job descriptions of our victims ranged from Senior Managing Principal to Associate. No SOP employees were physically injured in the immediate aftermath of the attack. Since the September 11 attacks, SOP has been communicating with each of our families through our Family Support Center. The Family Support Center is staffed by both of us and two additional SOP employee's and is assisted by the Triad Group, which has provided grief counseling to our families, and employees. The Abernathy MacGregor Group provided initial crisis management support to the families and SOP. Abernathy has continued to provide support and assistance to SOP and its families. In addition, each victim's family has been assigned to a surviving SOP principal. Through a combination of these programs, SOP has become aware of the broad spectrum of concerns and difficulties faced by those close to the victims. The clear intent of Congress in adopting the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 (the "Fund" or the "Victims Compensation Fund") is to address, in a full, fair and prompt manner, the consequences that will be faced by persons injured in the attacks and their families and those that will be faced by the families of those who perished. As part of the "Air Transportation Safety and System Stabilization Act" (the "Act"), this Fund is intended to provide a meaningful alternative for all victims to pursue various tort claims against the airlines and others. We strongly believe that in order to accomplish this goal, any regulations implemented under this Act and the administration of the Fund by the Special Master should fairly address the losses faced at all age, job description, or compensation levels. * This will prevent families from deciding not to use the program, instead pursuing costly protracted and emotionally devastating litigation. * It will also absorb the time and energy of defendants and of employers of victims who will be repeatedly called on to testify in these trials. * The Fund will then only serve the limited number of persons whose claims will be small enough to be fairly treated or those so desperate for a "quick" payout, regardless of the fairness, that they will end up being short-changed for their true losses. We believe many victims and their families would embrace a fair and simple claims process that would provide economic security, allowing them to move on with their lives. Some families, either because they believe they will do better in conventional litigation or because they have a need or desire to go through an individualized process dealing with their loss, will not take advantage of such a streamlined process. Because of these potentially different approaches, we believe that the regulations should envision a bifurcated claims process. 1. Simplified Claims Process: In one, a simplified claim process, the end result of filing a claim should be fairly obvious; almost based on a published formula and assumptions. As discussed below under Topic #4, assumptions to be utilized by the Special Master relating to life expectancy, number of productive working years in relevant industries, anticipated inflation and discount rates, reasonable expectations as to compensation growth and industry and economic cycles should be published and be binding on the Special Master and victims representatives who would choose this process. Even a clear understanding of the award related to pain and suffering should be established. For this simplified process to provide a meaningful alternative, awards would have to be in a range which may exceed awards resulting from conventional litigation or an extended hearing on the facts before the Special Master. Claimants using this simpler process would have to file a limited amount of information on a relatively simple form and get a quick result. They would avoid the costs of hiring attorneys or other experts to prove economic loss or pain and suffering of the victim. They would avoid a prolonged and emotionally painful process. 3. More extensive process: In a second, more extensive process, the regulations should provide for an evidentiary and hearing process which is much like the damages phase of a conventional tort case. There should be no assumption that victims who pursue this process will "do better" than those who pursue the simple process. Obviously, if neither of these alternatives is acceptable, a victim's representative may pursue conventional litigation, cognizant of the limitations on liability and venue contained in Section 408 of the Air Transportation Safety and System Stabilization Act. The remainder of this comment letter will address certain specific questions raised in Notice of Inquiry and Advance Notice of Rule Making (the "Notice of Rulemaking") of the Department of Justice published on November 5, 2001. The underlined captions below refer to captions where specific issues have been raised in the Notice of Rule Making. General approach to regulations that must be promulgated by December 21, 2001. f) Issues relating to the rules to be promulgated by December 21, 2001. In light of the extensive waiver of rights for those who make claims under the Victims Compensation Fund, we believe the rules adopted should be extremely comprehensive. If the rules are vague or incomplete, many potential claimants may delay filing claims in an attempt to discern patterns in the prior decisions of the Special Master. In addition, such an incomplete set of rules may leave open important threshold questions for potential claimants. For example, potential claimants will need clear guidance on the scope and application of the definition of collateral source in assessing whether to seek benefits under the Act. Charities, employers, and other potential sources of support to victims will also benefit from clarity on this point in making gifts and structuring survivors benefits. This is discussed in greater detail under Topic #6, below. It is not entirely clear from the Act if claims made against the Fund can only be asserted by the victim or the victim's estate or whether ancillary claims, such as family claims, are also covered by the Fund. * If allowable claims are limited to victim claims, the litigation waiver should only apply to the victim or victim's estate. * If family claims, such as, loss of consortium, loss of parental guidance and comfort or intentional infliction of emotional distress, are allowed, the waiver of rights to pursue civil litigation should also cover these persons. * The eligibility requirements of Section 405(c) appear to indicate that claims are personal to the victim or the victim's estate. However, the reduction of a benefit award by collateral source payments that may be paid to others, such as survivors benefits paid by an employer or insurance proceeds paid to a designated beneficiary other than the estate, implies that claims should not be limited to the estate. The regulations should cover this point explicitly. Topics #1 & 2: The forms to be used in submitting claims under this program and the information to be included on the claims form. Consistent with the bifurcated approach discussed above, a simplified application form should be made available for the simple application process. This form should be available for any size of benefit claim and should not be limited to claims below a maximum dollar amount. Even large claims may be efficiently handled through a fair simplified application process. Even a simple claims form will require fairly detailed information (which may best be provided in the form of attachments). Some of the most important information would include the following: * Personal information about the victim * An employment and compensation history and job description of the victim (either through copies of W-2's, tax returns or letters from employers) * A description of injuries, if the victim has been injured (which may be in the form of medical records and receipts) * Information which establishes the presence of the victim at the sight of the attack (which may be similar to the information required for issuance of a death certificate-such as a certificate from the next of kin and from an employer) * Information about persons who may have an interest in the benefits paid to the victim, including family members, other dependents, and known creditors or others with legal claims against the victim (this information should be used as the basis for some mailing of a notice to such interested parties, similar to the process used in administering a probate proceeding) * Information establishing the legal right of a claimant to act as the personal representative of the victim (which could be a state guardianship order or appointment as an administrator or executor for a decedent) Because this is a new program, we believe there should be a liberal opportunity to correct mistakes in a filing. Also, in light of the requirement that claimants waive rights to civil litigation, such waivers should not be effective until the form is accepted as complete for filing by the Special Master. Claimants who wish to offer special expert testimony or other substantial proof of special losses should not be able to avail themselves of the simpler form and process. The Department may wish to provide for a form that will effectively commence this claims process, recognizing that greater detail will be submitted in further submissions and hearing testimony. Shortly after submission of these forms, a schedule should provide dates by which detailed written submissions of proof are to be provided to the Special Master. There should be some rules of evidence adopted, including rights to subpoena witnesses and rules of conduct for document subpoenas and depositions. In addition, if requested, a hearing should be scheduled. Since this will be a complex procedure, the Special Master and the claimant should have some limited right to waive specific deadlines to allow for the proper productions and the preparation of expert reports and testimony. Recognizing that this is a new program, and that such claimants may subsequently elect to pursue the simple process, or pursue litigation, the waiver of the right to pursue civil litigation should not be deemed effective until some time after the initial filing. Topic #4: Procedures to assist an individual in filing and pursuing claims under this title. The Department should engage experts who can prepare a variety of models and assumptions on which the Department will rely in handling any simplified version of a claims process. We believe that such data should be published along with some explanation of how it will be applied by the Special Master in the claims process. This will provide certainty in the determination of any awards for simplified claims. Generally, such data should be prepared by independent highly qualified sources to assure the fairness of the process. However, certain data may best come from government sources that have routinely prepared such information for public dissemination for purposes other than the administration of the Act. The models and assumptions should cover information such as life expectancy, number of productive working years in comparable jobs in relevant industries, anticipated inflation and discount rates, reasonable expectations as to compensation growth and industry and economic cycle statistics. The assumptions used in establishing awards related to the pain and suffering of a deceased victim should also be published. All of such published assumptions should be binding upon the Special Master and those victims and personal representatives who elect to utilize the simplified claims process.___ Claimants seeking relief under the more complicated process may elect to rely on some or all of such data or offer expert data on their own. However, the preparation of individualized expert testimony may involve factors not considered in the preparation of standardized published data used in the simple claims process. Accordingly, the Special Master should not be bound by such published data and may consult with its own experts to reflect such special considerations in each of these complex claims. The Department may wish to specifically address the right of claimants to sell their potential future awards to other parties. If a fair and quick claim process is made available, the ability to sell potential future awards would not appear necessary. To the extent not already covered by existing laws, improper solicitations of potential claimants should be prohibited. There should be an outright ban on any "cold call" solicitations of victims or their families. Topic #5: Claimant Eligibility In defining both "physical harm" and "immediate aftermath" we believe certain types of claims, such as those made by persons who were not present in a "circle of imminent physical danger" at the time of attack or subsequent structural failure, should be excluded from the Victims Fund process. If this is not the case, the process may be overrun by claims with a far less clear connection to the terrorist attack. For example, residents of apartments in lower Manhattan making claims based on environmental damage related to ongoing fire condition or asbestos contamination have the option to pursue conventional tort claims and should not be claimants against the Victims Compensation Fund. The New York City Coroner's office has already established the type of proof necessary to issue a death certificate for victims. Such a level of proof should be sufficient for the Special Master to prove that the victim was in such a circle of imminent physical danger. This would require an affidavit from the next of kin and the employer. Other information, such as letters from persons who saw a victim in the building, or who spoke with or received an email from the victim at the time, may help verify these affidavits. We suggest the following general recommendations: * If ancillary family claims are not allowed, an injured victim who is competent to make a claim should be the only party permitted to make such a claim under the Act. * However, if ancillary claims are allowed to be included, such persons should be notified that they have a right to join in such a claims process. * For a surviving victim not competent to make an individual claim, a properly appointed guardian under state law should be the personal representative. * For deceased victims, their personal representative should be the same as the administrator or executor under the intestacy or probate process, since these persons legally represent the victim's estate. Since New York and other states have adopted streamlined death certificate and probate processes, the appointment of such a representative should not be an undue burden. * In order to limit fraudulent claims, any claims made by persons other than the victim, the victims next of kin or the state appointed guardian, executor or administrator of the victim should be reviewed extremely carefully. Topic #6: Nature and Amount of Compensation. As noted in earlier comments, we believe that the publication of various statistical and other assumptions used by the Special Master will greatly facilitate the decision process for potential claimants. In addition, if a bifurcated claims system for simple and complex claims is adopted, the publication of such information will also assist claimants in determining which, if any, of these systems should be used. Noneconomic Losses. While state courts often consider extensive proof as to pain and suffering, in the case of deceased victims, with very limited exceptions, it will be nearly impossible to assess relative suffering of similarly situated individuals. Various post-mortem reviews for the few remains recovered in the Trade Center may provide some information as to how a specific person died. It is not unlikely that personal representatives in a position to offer such individualized proof may elect to present complex written and oral testimony on this issue. For personal representatives who would avail themselves of a simplified claims process, a publication of assumptions based on the location of an individual in the various buildings attacked may be useful to fix compensation for pain and suffering or other similar claims. Collateral Sources. We believe that an overly broad definition of collateral sources is likely to force potential claimants to pursue conventional tort claims and avoid the Victims Compensation Fund. The Act itself has a substantial inconsistency between the definition of "Collateral Source" in Section 402 (4) and the impact of collateral sources on the decision process of the Special Master, as set forth in Section 405 (b)(6). Section 402 (4) provides: The term " collateral source" means all collateral sources, including life insurance, pension funds, death benefit programs, and payments by Federal, State or local governments related to the terrorist-related aircraft crashes of September 11, 2001. (emphasis supplied) Section 405 (b)(6) provides: The Special Master shall reduce the amount of compensation determined under paragraph (1)(B)(ii) by the amount of the collateral source compensation the claimant has received or is entitled to receive as a result of the terrorist related aircraft crashes of September 11, 2001. If the allowable claims of a personal representative or injured victim do not include family claims of other relatives, a narrow reading of the operation of Section 405 (b)(6) to reduce an award solely by amounts payable to the victim or their estate by reason of such person's death or injury would be appropriate. Such a reading would exclude from collateral sources used to reduce benefit awards amounts paid to beneficiaries of insurance policies, pension funds, IRA accounts and other similar items, other than those paid directly to the victim or the victim's estate. Such a treatment would be generally consistent with tort law in New York. On the other hand, if family claims are allowable, it may be proper to include in collateral source payments certain payments made or to be made to family members. The definition in Section 402 is apparently very inclusive. However, we believe that the inclusion of items which were already assets owned by the victim prior to the attack in collateral sources is not appropriate. For example, vested interests in pension funds and IRA or 401(K) accounts; the cash surrender value of whole or universal life policies (as opposed to term policies); vested interests in deferred compensation plans; and other previous owned equity interests are really assets owned by the victim before the terrorist related attack. To include these in collateral source items would be to penalize the victims who saved and built their assets while benefiting victims who made fewer efforts to save and build their assets. Such "owned" assets can easily be distinguished from term life insurance payments; disability insurance payments, survivor's benefit payments; and payments made under various government programs such as Social Security, Workman's Compensation, and Crime Victims Board payments. While an argument could be made that payments from various charities are collateral sources, there is no "entitlement" to such amounts and, accordingly, the language of Section 405(b)(6) would appear to support exclusion of such amounts. Similarly, outright gifts from family, friends or employers, do not represent an "entitlement" and should be excluded from collateral sources. Including such items as the definition of collateral sources will either reduce the interest of various persons in helping victims and their families or will cause such persons to wait until claims have been awarded under the Victims Compensation Fund before making such gifts. If the Department is not prepared to completely exclude such gifts from collateral source treatment, two alternative options should be considered. First, at a minimum, gifts for certain purposes, such as payment of health insurance premiums, tuition or other education assistance and housing and other "emergency" expenses should be excluded. Second, an allowance for the first $300,000 should be permitted with additional amounts being subtracted from the award. We appreciate the opportunity to provide these comments to the Department of Justice. While we recognize the difficulties in drafting regulations to implement the September 11 Victims Compensation Fund of 2001, a fair simplified process will benefit many victims and families consistent with the purposes of the Act. If you have any questions you can contact us at Very truly yours, Sandler O'Neill & Partners, LP. New York, NY September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2001-11-21 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 dojW000447.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. 2001-11-21 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Department of Justice Emails Description An account of the resource The Department of Justice received more than 11,000 e-mails in response to the agency's public solicitation for comments upon its plans to distribute the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 established by Congress to benefit the victims of September 11 and their families. These e-mails have been organized here by date. September 11 Email September 11 Email: Body The basic content, as unstructured text; sometimes containing a signature block at the end. Wednesday, December 19, 2001 10:55 PM Equality under the Law 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. We show our committment to the ideals stated in the Declaration of Independence and Constitution in how we as a society deal with minorities. I urge you, again, include all forms of family - without regard to sexual orientation or marital status. 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 Conway, AR 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 dojA003884.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. email Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2001-12-19 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Department of Justice Emails Description An account of the resource The Department of Justice received more than 11,000 e-mails in response to the agency's public solicitation for comments upon its plans to distribute the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 established by Congress to benefit the victims of September 11 and their families. These e-mails have been organized here by date. September 11 Email September 11 Email: Body The basic content, as unstructured text; sometimes containing a signature block at the end. Wednesday, December 19, 2001 9:00 PM Equal Treatment for 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 Pittsburgh , PA 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 dojA003801.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. Tuesday, March 19, 2002 10:34 AM 9-11 Dear All, Please reconsider your stand on the partener's / family's of the gay and lesbian victims on 9/11. These people were the same heros as their counter parts......... These people have families and partners that need equal help just as all the other victiams. Please - do the right thing - (you believe it is far to help those that were illegal) help those gay-Americains. Thank You, 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 dojR002087.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 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 Ashland, 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 dojA001803.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 05, 2001 11:38 AM Gay victims of 9-11 I pray to God that you treat the (not legal to get married in this country) Gays and Lesbians of these disasters. Being gay is painful enough by not being offered the same equal rights as straight people. I am in so much pain hearing about the Virginia Lesbian, with her partner of 18 years, who will loose everything because her love is looked upon as nothing, worthless! How dare this be true in such a great country. The land of the free, I guess if you're straight! This is a perfect time to do what's right. Please have mercy for injustices done to us (Gays). Thank you, Individual Comment 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 dojA000806.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 diswasher in one of the restaraunts 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 taxpayers 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 famillies are especially vulerable when one partner is killed. Because the option of marriage is unavailable, these families may find themselves in a traumatic predicament of having to prove that their union is legitimate. Fortunaely, 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 Little Rock, AR 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 dojA001909.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. Tuesday, February 05, 2002 9:52 PM 9/11 Compensation I worked in the World Trade Center for 20 years and was on the floor of 1 WTC on 9/11. I think the single dumbest thing the government could have done was to get involved in compensation issues. What a precedent has been set! The dollars collected by charities divided by the number of those that died should be more than enough. Now every time something similar happens, those affected will look for government hand-outs. And those from earlier events were not afforded this. No wonder people are up in arms. But since it is started, I think the janitor should get more in the final tally than an executive with the deduction of life insurance, social security and the like. It seems the ones who had more are griping more. Individual Comment September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2002-02-05 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 dojP000410.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. 2002-02-05 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. Wednesday, January 09, 2002 4:56 PM I lost a son at the WTC @ &nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp and I myself worked there as well. I was fortunate to not have been in the building at that time. My son is survived by his wife and two children. She has read the fund's regulations and so have I. She being the personal representative has a choice of accepting or rejecting this offer. By signing this agreement and the way it is written I object to the fact that I as the parent have no recourse in this matter if she (the wife) accepts this offer. I feel that my civil rights are being violated by this agreement. My daughter-in-law and children are a separate and apart from my husband and I. Do you or Congress think that I have not suffered from that day and every day that goes by I don't think of my son suffering during this attack. I lost most of my friends in those towers and I will never recovery from the heartache. Who in his right mind would deny me the RIGHT to sue for pain and suffering? Has anyone in Congress lost family in the WTC? I think not, otherwise why would this fund be written to accommodate the airlines and not the grieving families of all those who have died for no accountable reason other than being there. Can anyone explain this to me? You people have quite a bit of revamping to do on this document if you expect families to accept this as is. I for one would totally reject it, we are not fools and don't think for one moment that we can't see how sugar coated this was for the airlines. I am one sorry American to have to read all the restrictions that go along with this fund, besides all the deductions as well. You people in Congress should be ashamed of yourselves for trying to pass this off to the American public. Individual Comment September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2002-01-09 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource dojN001475.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. email Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-01-09 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Department of Justice Emails Description An account of the resource The Department of Justice received more than 11,000 e-mails in response to the agency's public solicitation for comments upon its plans to distribute the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 established by Congress to benefit the victims of September 11 and their families. These e-mails have been organized here by date. September 11 Email September 11 Email: Body The basic content, as unstructured text; sometimes containing a signature block at the end. Wednesday, December 19, 2001 10:44 AM RE: CRISIS RELIEF 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 San Jose, CA September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2001-12-19 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource dojA003019.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 3:03 PM Compensating 911 Gays & Lesbian..... March 17, 2002 To the September 11 Victim Compensation Fund, This is an open letter to the trusties of the September 11 Victim fund. I am appalled that you are not considering compensation for the Gay and Lesbian partners of those who died on September 11 and are not automatically going to give the same benefits as heterosexual spouses. And yet, you go against the state and federal laws and award compensation to ILLEGAL ALIENS and promise not to deport them and not to go against the company that hired them. This is appalling, on the gays and lesbians you say you have to follow state laws and are not able to compensate them (by law), while on the other hand you ignore the federal and state laws on illegal aliens, also the companies that hired them. This is not the American way. These Gays and Lesbians are American citizens and you are surly are discriminating against them. I am mad as hell and will be forwarding this letter to the President, my Senators and Representative for their action or we will need to shop around for better more compassionate law makers. Individual Comment San Jose, California 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 dojR001455.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. email Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-03-17 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Department of Justice Emails Description An account of the resource The Department of Justice received more than 11,000 e-mails in response to the agency's public solicitation for comments upon its plans to distribute the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 established by Congress to benefit the victims of September 11 and their families. These e-mails have been organized here by date. September 11 Email September 11 Email: Body The basic content, as unstructured text; sometimes containing a signature block at the end. Saturday, January 19, 2002 6:41 PM Victim Compensation Program - Comments on Interim Rules and Regulations Mr. Kenneth Feinberg Special Master, Victim Compensation Program U.S. Departmennt of Justice, Washington, D.C. Dear Mr. Feinberg: My husband, , 28, was killed in the horrendous events of September 11, 2001, while at work at , floor of Tower 1 at the World Trade Center. At the time, I was also working as a teacher, and pregnant with our first child. In the trauma that followed September 11, I had to leave my job. I also had to sell our house, which I could not afford, having lost both of our incomes, and expecting a baby. I moved in with my parents to conserve resources. On December 9 our baby was born, and now I must concentrate on raising her without the benefit of my husband's company and support. I was grateful and had a measure of hope when Congress passed the Victim Compensation Program, reflecting the fairness and generosity of the American people. I followed with interest the news about the Program and your appointment. And I was dismayed when I read the Interim Rules and Regulations and the justifications that were published. With a constructive intent, I would like to offer the following comments to improve the workings of the Program: 1. The Victim Compensation Program offers an alternative to suing and going to trial, to seek compensation for wrongful death from the murderers and from those who failed to provide protection: the U.S. government, the airlines and the owners of the buildings and the land. As an alternative to the right to trial, the Program's methodology for estimating the awards, as well as the magnitude of the awards, should be similar to those followed and obtained in court. Since by opting into the Program a claimant loses the rights to go to trial and to appeal, the Program should offer much fairer, better defined and guaranteed results. 2. The published methodology to arrive at the economic loss portion of the awards is unfair and inadequate in the following ways: a) The proposed averaging of the victim's earnings for the years 1998, 1999 and 2000 as the basis for the calculation of lost lifetime earnings, immediately discounts the victim's earnings by 2 years worth of gains. The logical and fair basis to begin the calculation of lost lifetime earnings, should be the victim's earnings for the year 2001, annualized. b) The estimated annual earning increases based on national statistics do not reflect the typical, actual earning increases of victims in the financial industry in New York City. At a minimum, a claimant should be able to provide the victim's actual history of earning increases and statistics applicable to the victim's profession and industry. c) The victims' presumed retirement age should be the standard age 65, not an arbitrarily assumed early retirement. 3. The pain and suffering portion of the presumptive and actual awards should be reflective of awards reached in comparable court trials. The published presumptive awards for pain and suffering are woefully inadequate and inconsistent with those from court trials. 4. Life insurance is an economic remedy to protect from economic loss. If life insurance proceeds must be deducted from the awards (highly unfair, but stated in the statute creating the Program), then they should be deducted ONLY from the economic loss portion of the award. Deducting life insurance proceeds from the pain and suffering portion of the award would be an injustice. In effect, the portion of the award attributable to pain and suffering should be made the MINIMUM GUARANTEED AWARD. 5. The proposed deduction of Social Security and Workers Compensation benefits is outrageous. The victims and their employers PAID for that protection, which represents a minimum level of protection MANDATED BY LAW. If these benefits are subtracted, one can only conclude the absurdity that Congress did not really intend to create a Victim Compensation Program. I appreciate your dedication to your difficult task, and look forward to seeing improved Rules and Regulations for the Victim Compensation Program. Sincerely, Individual Comment Manhasset, NY 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 dojN002086.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. Friday, December 21, 2001 6:47 PM Relief fund rules 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 Kennett Square, PA 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 dojN000604.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, March 21, 2002 3:34 PM Unfair / Poor Choice To Whom it May Concern: Please know that I am willing to work against any politician that is not willing to divide the funds equally amongst the survival victims. Since taxes were not biased to the Gay's benefit why should the fund be divided any differently? Do the right thing and help all victims without predjudice. We are all Gods children, he is not predjudice. Best Regards, Individual Comment September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2002-03-21 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource dojR002548.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. email Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-03-21 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Department of Justice Emails Description An account of the resource The Department of Justice received more than 11,000 e-mails in response to the agency's public solicitation for comments upon its plans to distribute the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 established by Congress to benefit the victims of September 11 and their families. These e-mails have been organized here by date. September 11 Email September 11 Email: Body The basic content, as unstructured text; sometimes containing a signature block at the end. Tuesday, December 04, 2001 3:38 PM Re Help ALL Victims Of Sept. 11 Dear Mr. Zwick: I am writing in response to the Department's request for public comments regarding the forthcoming regulations for implementing and administering the "September 11 Victim Compensation Fund." I strongly urge the Department to draft regulations that ensure compensation is available to all victims of the attack, including the committed partners and the non-biological children of gay and lesbian victims. It is unquestionable that the devastating grief and economic losses suffered by the families of gay and lesbian victims are no less than that of other families. Just as the terrorists drew no lines in choosing their victims, our country must draw no lines in compensating those who suffered the most personal of losses from these horrific attacks. Many Americans lost their lives on September 11, each of whom left behind loved ones. I urge the Department to honor these bonds by treating the families of gay and lesbian victims as you would any other. Sincerely, Individual Comment Lake Mary, Florida 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 dojA000322.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. Thursday, November 15, 2001 3:47 PM comment I recently read the hr2926 and found that this special fund only covers persons who are physically hurt. I was in 7 WTC on the 40th floor on the 11th. By the skin of my teeth did I make it out of the area alive. Since then, I have been to numerous doctors and physiciatrists and I continue to be seen on a regular basis for sleeplessness and anxiety problems. I am currently on medication for my illnesses. I have lost my girlfriend along with 3 longtime friends. The amount of pain is unbearable and the fact that people who were there and who work there are not included is appalling. I urge people who have decision making powers in this to here my call because there are thousands of people who have not been affected "physically" Individual Comment September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2001-11-15 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 dojW000355.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. 2001-11-15