686 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. Monday, December 24, 2001 6:22 PM Equal access December 24, 2001 Dear Mr. Kenneth Zwick, I write as a member of Amnesty International, a worldwide human rights movement committed to ensuring respect for the basic human rights of people without discrimination, in support of equal access to benefits under the September 11 Victims Relief Fund for all victims, regardless of sexual orientation or marital status. As you know, the United States has committed to uphold international human rights standards, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which prohibit arbitrary discrimination. As you consider rules for administering the relief fund, I ask that you apply basic international human rights standards, and the general principle of equality, by including among relatives eligible for compensation those who lost their life partners, as well as de facto parents or children, without regard to sexual orientation or marital status. The State of New York has already adopted such a policy, granting compensation benefits "on a showing of mutual interdependence with the victim, in recognition that anyone who shared with the victim living expenses, day to day activities and the emotional bonds of family deserves help in this time of need." Many lesbian and gay people were killed in the September 11th attacks. Since then, lesbian and gay surviving partners of those killed have had mixed results in obtaining equal treatment at the local level in the distribution of relief funds by private and state agencies. An inclusive policy on the part of the federal government would help establish an important principle for other such funds. In compensating victims, real justice will be served only when all families - and all types of families - impacted by the human rights tragedy of September 11 are treated with dignity and equality. Thank you for considering my concerns. I look forward to hearing from you about your efforts to ensure that all surviving victims of the September 11 attacks have equal access to the relief fund. Sincerely, Individual Comment New York, NY September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2001-12-24 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 dojN000876.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. 2001-12-24 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. Wednesday, April 03, 2002 1:28 PM Dear Sir/Madam: I am a middle aged heterosexual women who is unbelievably distressed at the extraordinary injustice of your decision to deny benefits to the families of gay and lesbian victims of the 9/11 attacks. These terrorists did not discriminate in their heinous attack on our country. They sought to destroy two towers and a Pentagon full of Americans and their allies - people of all races, of all religions and of all sexual preferences. In other words, they saw us as one people--how tragic, how remarkably unpatriotic and unfair, that our own government and charities, the same agencies we fund with our tax dollars and our donations, do not. In fact, what you are now doing is victimizing the families of those gays and lesbians that were killed on September 11th for a second time. If you are going to discriminate, you should have been so kind as to let people know before they donate--I can't tell you how many good and kind Americans I know who gave money to 9/11 charities, assuming, as did I, that the money would be distributed fairly to all who suffered from this tragedy. We all feel cheated now -- now not by the terrorists, but by our own government and institutions. Shame on all of you who have made this decision. Individual Comment New York, NY September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2002-04-03 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 dojR002892.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. 2002-04-03 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 9:14 AM Compensation Fairness I am extremely dismayed 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 grossly unfair and flies in the face of the unity created in our country by the events of 9/11. I urge that this decision be changed to include compensation for gay & lesbian partners. 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 dojR001358.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. 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 North Bergen, NJ 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 dojA002314.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, January 15, 2002 9:24 PM compensate American victims justly The media really needs to televise this nationally so we can all better understand their plight. For whatever their reasons the government is giving billions to protect the airlines, but they also made a promise to the American people, that seems to be falling short., The victims of the Arab Muslim attacks of Sep. 11th were told they would be compensated for their loss. They promised to help them. Now it seems that their "help" actually leaves them in a worse position than if the government had not interceded. Time to make it right. 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 dojN002509.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. Saturday, December 15, 2001 10:45 AM FAIR COMPENSATION 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 September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2001-12-15 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource dojA002005.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. email Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2001-12-15 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Department of Justice Emails Description An account of the resource The Department of Justice received more than 11,000 e-mails in response to the agency's public solicitation for comments upon its plans to distribute the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 established by Congress to benefit the victims of September 11 and their families. These e-mails have been organized here by date. September 11 Email September 11 Email: Body The basic content, as unstructured text; sometimes containing a signature block at the end. Monday, March 11, 2002 11:52 AM Meet the Press, March 10, 2002 The level of discrimination and bias against gays and lesbians who were victims or whose families were affected by the attrocities on September 11, 2001, is unbelievable! The law can be bent to include illegal aliens who were victimized, superceding state law, but a directly opposite stance is taken by Kenneth Feinberg and John Ashcroft when the person is question happens to be gay? This isn't justice. Look at this one again. Individual Comment Huntsville, AL 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 dojR000176.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. Tuesday, January 15, 2002 4:12 PM comment I did not personally loose a loved one in the September 11 attack nor do I personally know anyone whose life has been affected by this tragedy. However, I do feel that 100% of the money that was donated directly to any and all of the 911 attack funds should be dispersed according to the intent for what it was donated -- to aid all those who were directly affected by the attack. Alot of people gave from the bottom of their pockets and their hearts. It seems like this became only another money making scheme to alot of agencies. How can the government put a price tag on person's worth. Individual Comment Salem, NH 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 dojN001731.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. Tuesday, January 15, 2002 2:37 PM victim compensation fund My name is and I am writing to express my unhappiness regarding the current regulations for the victims of the September 11th attacks. My brother in law, who was only 32 years old, was killed in the attacks. He worked for , and was attending a meeting on the floor of 1World Trade Center. My twin sister, , and her son, , who was only 10 days old on the day of the attacks,born September 1, 2001, are left without a husband, father and best friend. Under the current regulations, my twin sister and godson will receive little if any compensation, because the current regulations allow for a set off for life insurance and other benefits, and puts a limit on the amount of earning potential, along with non-economic losses. With all the other devastating and stressful issues my sister faces on a daily basis, to watch her worry about these financial issues makes her life only that much more difficult. Specifically, the current regulations put a cap at $225,000 for yearly earning potential, which does not reflect current NY statistics. Furthermore, the cap for non-economic damages is unfair and heartless, given the lifetime of suffering for the families. There is no way to put a cap on this immeasurable pain and suffering, and the non-economic damages should be guaranteed, given the offsets already being applied against the total compensation. Furthermore, families should be fully informed in writing of what their compensation would be before waiving their rights to litigate. I am writing to ask your position on the current regulations, and to ask how you are representing the families who have been traumatized by this event. We need your help; and I urge you to represent the victims in these difficult times. Please participate in Peter King's campaign on our behalf by singing onto his legislative letter. Please also consider interacting with the families at meeting and scheduled press conferences. Please send a letter to Special Master Feinberg requesting these changes. I thank you in advance on behalf of my sister and nephew, and on behalf of all the families who's lives have been forever altered by these cowardly acts. Individual Comment 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 dojN001627.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. Tuesday, March 19, 2002 2:39 AM unfair treatment of anyone is truly unamerican To Whom It May Concern, This is just a simple note to show my support for full rights of partners of lesbian and gay men affected by the 9/11 tragedy. Please don't compound a terrible situation with discrimination...unfair treatment is truly un-American. 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 dojR002062.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. Sunday, March 17, 2002 1:05 PM RE: Benefits for gay victim partners. To Whom It May Concern : I am writing to express my extreme dissappointment in your actions towards gay victims and their partners of 9/11. I am shocked and appalled that you place any less importance on these people's loss than others from that day, including illegal aliens and unborn fetuses. Gays are no less American than anyone else who died that day. did not stop to think who he might be helping by keeping Flight 93 from reaching its intended destination of destruction.He just did what was right.Now it is YOUR turn to do what is right. The laws of "life as usual" were changed forever on that fateful day in September. ALL men...and women....all HUMANS are created equal in America...or at least that has been the premise of the freedoms fought for by Americans throughout our history. It is time to break the lines of discrimination against yet another group of Americans who were willing to give their lives in the name of what is right and good......the gay Americans who died on 9/11. was the first victim of this outrageous act. A man who risked his life to see that another man's soul would be at peace for eternity. He sought to do what was right, not to ask the man's religious beliefs or gender identity. Again, I ask you to do what is right. Do not seek to lessen these people's sacrifice by demeaning their value . Their partner's and families lost just as much on that day. Do not add to their grief by telling them they are not entitled to be thought of as "equal" to the others who grieve their losses from that tragic day. Once again, I ask you to do what is right. Sincerely, Individual Comment (Mother of a gay son) Strongsville, OH 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 dojR001417.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 3:17 PM an objection I demand that gay victims of the September 11th tragedy be accorded the same financial rights and privileges of every other victim, including the illegal and undocumented aliens... namely, to have their families and partners recognized an compensated for their loss. Individual Comment 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 dojR000217.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. Wednesday, December 19, 2001 3:53 AM Equal access to survivor benefits for gay and lesbian survivors 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 Butler, 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 dojA002497.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. email Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2001-12-19 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Department of Justice Emails Description An account of the resource The Department of Justice received more than 11,000 e-mails in response to the agency's public solicitation for comments upon its plans to distribute the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 established by Congress to benefit the victims of September 11 and their families. These e-mails have been organized here by date. September 11 Email September 11 Email: Body The basic content, as unstructured text; sometimes containing a signature block at the end. Saturday, January 26, 2002 7:32 PM Federal Compensation I cannot believe that people are calling the victims families greedy. That's because Mr. Feinberg has led everyone to believe that the average payment families would be getting would be $1.6 million. The truth of the matter is that after the deductions of life insurance (that the deceased paid for himself) social security to the children (even thought the deceased paid into social security and will never collected any benefits), pensions (in some cases the deceased paid into his own 401K because he was self-employed so it was like a savings account), the government will be giving some families nothing because the deceased had planned for the future, a future that has been taken away from him. This makes no sense to me. The package was to prevent families from suing and to compensate them for their loss. However, Mr. Feinberg doesn't care if some families get nothing. These men in some cases made a very good salary. So now the families have no husband, no father, no salary. He also decides when he thinks a person would have retired. He also discriminates against the higher wage earners. He wants to give $250,000 for pain and suffering. Is that the going rate for someone who has to spend maybe the next 25 years alone because her husband and companion is gone. There isn't enough money in the world to pay for what has been lost an the lives that have been destroyed. Mr. Feinberg doesn't want to give a fair amount to these families. Maybe we should ask Mr. Feinberg's wife what a fair amount would be if her husband was in those buildings. Individual Comment September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2002-01-26 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 dojP000182.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. 2002-01-26 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 15, 2002 8:23 PM Justice help all terrorist victims Dear Mr. Zwick: The very humane Fund for relatives of victims of the September 11 terrorist attacks must include all relatives of all the victims. This importantly should include the partners and children of same sex unions. They suffer just as grievously for their deceased loved ones as do other survivors, and their need for assistance is just as great. Please do not give in to the importuning of callous homophobic groups and individuals who would have the Department of Justice limit compensation to survivors of heterosexual unions. They are interested in a political victory, not humane assistance. This Fund is intended for humane purposes; it is not a political statement, Mr. Zwick. Sincerely, Individual Comment 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 dojN001859.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. Thursday, December 20, 2001 2:06 AM Ensure equal access to relief benefits December 20, 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 queer people were killed in the September 11th attacks. Since then, queer 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 Union, KY September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2001-12-20 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 dojA004094.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. 2001-12-20 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 1:25 PM Protest Gay Discrimination - Where do you think that money came f rom? Throughout my life, but especially since that horrible day six months ago, I have often stopped to reflect on how proud I am to be in the company of other Americans. Today I am ashamed. Today I have been notified that gay and lesbian partners of those who died in the September 11 terrorist attacks are not eligible for the same benefits that the families of other victims will receive. These people died the same agonizing deaths as their straight counterparts. They performed the same heroic acts, called their families to say goodbye also. Does it matter in the end if you think that their choice of who to build a family with was correct? I guarantee that alcoholics and abusers died along with those gays you disagree with . I disagree with a person's decision to make a family with an abuser, but I would NEVER deny that person's family the right to compensation that should be handed out fairly. The kind of love that is in my life is not the only viable kind of love. Didn't we learn on that day that what matters is supporting each other because of our differences? I thought we did. I thought that the massive Sept 11 fund came from all of us. That includes gay people. It includes women, men, people of color, physically challenged people, spouse abusers, illegal aliens, church groups, angry teenagers, senior citizens (gay senior citizens too!), and kindergarten classes. The fund was built from the work of millions of Americans. Can we cull out that money that came from those who hold views different from yours? Unless we can do that, we have no right to discriminate in any way. Let go of your own opinions of others and the way they live their lives and stand up for America and what it really means. I was taught that America is the land of the free and the home of the brave. These gay and lesbian brothers and sisters died free and bravely. Our tribute needs to include them - the dignity and integrity of our flag demands it. Sincerely 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 dojR002197.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. Monday, January 21, 2002 2:06 PM Dear Sir or Madam, Please accept my comments below with respect to the Interim Final Regulations Governing Payments Under the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund. I am writing today to request action on behalf of the family members of the victims of the violent terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. These attacks were perpetrated not only against our sisters and brothers, daughters and sons, mothers and fathers, wives and husbands, but against the United States of America and against freedom itself. I lost my dear sister, , on that beautiful fall day. was 35 years old and my only sibling. She was a vibrant, beautiful member of the human race who lifted up all who knew her. Her laughter still rings in our ears; her smile still burns in our memories. Our personal loss is as brutal as it is immeasurable. lived in , worked in New York (at the World Trade Center), and spent most of her life in where she was memorialized on Saturday, October 27 and where we will bury her remains if they are ever found. Not only was a joyful, loving person, she also contributed significantly to the economy of our nation and the world. I am seriously concerned about the Department of Justice's (DOJ) "Interim Final Regulations Governing Payments Under the September 11th Victims' Compensation Fund." I urge you to consider my objections listed below and to revise the regulations to more fairly fulfill the intention of the Victims' Compensation Fund. I have four concerns: The intent of the legislation that established this Victims' Compensation Fund ("the Fund"). Was it intended as a charitable gift to the families to prevent their destitution, or as I contend, was it was established to acknowledge general liability (at least on the part of the airlines) and to fairly compensate the families for their losses? If the Fund was intended to compensate families, then it should do so fairly and accurately, not arbitrarily and erroneously as the regulations are currently written. Financial "offsets" for victims who had the responsibility and foresight to provide death benefits to their families are unfair and unjust. Finally, I am concerned about the transparency of the regulations and the supporting calculations, asking families to sign away rights without knowing the full financial impact of such action. 1. THE INTENT OF THE VICTIMS' COMPENSATION FUND Several editorials and newspaper articles lately have intimated the Fund was not designed to replace the tort system, that is therefore represents some sort of charity. However, by naming this a Compensation Fund and attaching it the $15 billion airline bailout, Congress has acknowledged that there is liability in the unnecessary deaths of over 3,000 victims and the unnecessary pain and suffering of their families. If it is true that there was no way to prevent this attack, that every party acted responsibly, and that no blame can be assigned (at least partially) in these deaths, then the Fund is charitable, and we the families should be grateful. If that is the case, we do not need to have a say in how the Fund is distributed, but by the same token, we should not have to sign away our right to future litigation. I believe that several parties, not just the airlines have some liability in what happened on September 11. Our family members died because of a well-executed plan that had been in the making for years. Many of these terrorists were in the country illegally (does the INS bear some liability?); they overtook several jets leaving from several airports (do the airliners or the airports or the airport security officers bear some liability?). The FBI had prior knowledge of potential terrorists taking flying lessons but only learning how to fly the plane, not how to land (does the FBI bear some liability?). The buildings collapsed on many of our loved ones. Many families and others believe no one in Tower 2 should have died (does the NY Port Authority bear some liability for not evacuating Tower 2 immediately or worse by encouraging employees to return to their offices?). Could the buildings have been built with greater enforcement, perhaps not collapsing and sparing the lives of those below the points of impact (do the owners and/or builders and engineers of the World Trade Center bear some liability?)? I hope we find out the answers to these questions someday, but I am not optimistic. I find it difficult to believe that the intent of the Fund was to provide relief to the families to prevent OUR destitution. No one was lobbying on our behalf on September 12. But the airlines and the insurance companies, they were on Capitol Hill on September 12. And were they rushing to see what they could do improve airline safety? To prevent something like this from ever happening again? No. They were on the Hill covering their liabilities. And Congress responded ? protecting industry and government from destitution, not the families. I believe this Fund was enacted to protect the airlines, the owners and builders of the Trade Center, the US government and the legal system. It had nothing to do with providing for the "poor families". Furthermore, by capping any liability of the airlines to the amount of their insurance, Congress has effectively forced the Fund on the families as the only means of compensation. Because of this cap, the damage caused by the crashes greatly exceeds the private fund available to compensate victims and their families. Thus for the vast majority of victims and families, the cap has the effect of eliminating the right that they would otherwise have to sue the airlines. Congress has taken away our rights to have a judge and jury hear our cases and determine in a court of law whether or not there is liability and to what financial degree. So judge and jury are now embodied in Special Master Kenneth Feinberg and his regulations governing the distribution of payments from the Fund. 2. THE REGULATIONS GOVERNING DISBURSEMENTS OF THE FUND ARE FLAWED This brings us to my second concern. If we agree that the intent of the Victims' Compensation Fund is to acknowledge some degree of liability, to protect industry and the American economy as well as the legal system from thousands of law suits, and to compensate victims and their families fully and fairly for their actual economic and non-economic damages, then we must change the regulations governing the Fund payments to more accurately reflect the intention mandated by the Congress in establishing the Fund. If the regulations are the only means to ensure that the intent of the Fund is carried out, then all aspects of the regulations must be transparent and must be subject to the recommendations of experts in the relevant areas. I contend that the Department of Justice (DOJ) has ignored the mandate of congress to fully and fairly compensate and instead has written arbitrary regulations that will result in compensation levels far below the losses actual suffered by the victims and their families. In fact, many families' total compensation from the fund and all collateral sources combined will not even fully replace lost income. In effect, these families will not receive any of the non-economic compensation required by the statute. After collateral sources are deducted, as required by the statute, some families would receive nothing from the fund under the interim final regulations. I will detail my major concerns with the regulations as pertains to the calculation of non-economic and economic compensation. Non-economic Damages: DOJ's formula allows for non-economic awards at only one-tenth the level paid in comparable cases, even though Congress explicitly enumerated a broader range of non-economic damages than could be recovered in any single jurisdiction. DOJ's formula for non-economic damages is $250,000 for the person killed and $50,000 for the spouse and each dependent. In a wide variety of air crash and terrorism cases, however, judges, juries, and mediators commonly have provided non-economic damage awards well into the seven-figure range. In headline cases, juries have even award millions of dollars for burns resulting from spilled coffee and other significantly less severe injuries than those suffered on September 11 . This arbitrary cap is derived from compensation made to servicemen and women who die in the line of duty. I do not believe this is in any way comparable to the death of private citizens who did not "sign up" for the calculated risk of directly facing an enemy of the United States. Finally, this non-economic figure should not have anything to do with "valuing" a human life. It should be about compensating for unnecessary death, unnecessary pain and suffering, and the other damages delineated by Congress in conjunction with an average of current awards for similar damages. Economic Damages: With respect to DOJ's method of calculating economic damages, there are several serious flaws in the methodology. Independent economists, including the National Association of Forensic Economists at their annual meeting on January 4 of this year, have forwarded their recommendations to Special Master Kenneth Feinberg. Mr. Feinberg, it seems, has neither solicited nor heeded the advice of economists who work with life earnings estimates on a daily basis. The errors in the calculations are better addressed by the economists' statements, but they include such issues as the use of outdated and inapplicable worklife and life-cycle earnings data. In particular, the calculations used to project women's and minorities' earnings are based on data from 1979 and 1980. (As a working woman, I know first hand that my career track is wildly different today than 20+ years ago.) Because this methodology relies on civil service and military retirement system actuarial data that track federal worker incomes and pension requirements, not the higher-paying private sector career paths followed by the vast majority of the victims, DOJ greatly underestimates promotions and other increases in earnings for the victims of September 11. The interim final regulations also arbitrarily cap a victim's income at $231,000 a year. Combined with the faulty methodology described above, the income cap would result in some families receiving compensation for less than 25% of their actual economic losses. Under DOJ's rules, a family's award may be increased above the "presumptive" award only by a showing of "extraordinary circumstances" ? beyond those suffered by other victims or victims' families. This high burden of proof makes a farce of the right to a hearing provided by the statute. 3. FINANCIAL OFFSETS ARE UNFAIR My third concern regards financial offsets to the total damages awarded. I believe that all offsets unfairly penalize victims who demonstrated their responsibility to their families by providing life insurance benefits for them. At the very least, death benefits that the victims and their companies paid for should not be included, even if Workers' Compensation benefits are included. 4. PLEA FOR TRANSPARENCY IN THE CALCULATION OF DAMAGES Finally, the regulations and calculations must be transparent and sanctioned by independent experts. The victims and their families must be able to determine the specific amount of financial compensation the Fund will grant before signing away their rights to future litigation. It is ludicrous to require families to submit to a process where the outcome, their very financial future, is murky at best and unjust at worst. DOJ must fulfill the act's intent by revising the rules to compensate victims and their families for the types of damages specified by Congress, at levels comparable to those provided in the tort system the fund was designed to replace. While DOJ has shown flexibility on some aspects of the rules, it is resisting the victims' and families' requests for significant changes. If the proposed regulations are not changed significantly, many victims' widows will have to sell their homes, deplete their children's college funds, and give up their plans of being full-time parents while their children are young. Many families, anticipating little relief from the fund, will decide to sue the airlines and others, despite the handicap of the liability limits. I do not believe these are the outcomes Congress intended. Finally, please keep in mind the sentiments of New York Governor Pataki who, when addressing the victims' families on January 17, 2002, reiterated what I have been saying for weeks about the Victims' Compensation Fund. I, my mother, any family member would give back every penny of what we might get from this Fund, what we might have received as gifts from our fellow brother and sister American citizens for one more day, one more hour with our loved ones. I, personally, would give all this and more to have my back for one more of her smiles and one last embrace. Thank you for giving this matter your immediate attention. Respectfully yours, Individual Comment Randolph, NJ September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2002-01-21 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource dojN002177.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. email Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-01-21 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Department of Justice Emails Description An account of the resource The Department of Justice received more than 11,000 e-mails in response to the agency's public solicitation for comments upon its plans to distribute the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 established by Congress to benefit the victims of September 11 and their families. These e-mails have been organized here by date. September 11 Email September 11 Email: Body The basic content, as unstructured text; sometimes containing a signature block at the end. Wednesday, March 20, 2002 8:22 PM Please reconsider Please do not re-victimize the public by discriminating against partners of gay and lesbian victims of the 9/11 attacks. Haven't we suffered enough from the hatred of those who do not value differences? I felt so proud of the way Americans were coming together to help their fellow man. Now, the Justice Department is being inflexible in it's decision to help partners of gay and lesbian victims of 9/11. Why? Aren't illegal aliens being covered by the victim compensation fund? Do you think that gays and lesbians are somehow different? Ask someone who is gay if it is something they chose to be. I urge you to use compassion when making this decision. Individual Comment, MS Seattle September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2002-03-20 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 dojR002431.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. 2002-03-20 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 07, 2002 Mr. Kenneth L. Zwick, Director , Office of Management Programs, Civil Division, U.S. Department of Justice, Main Building, Room 3140, 950 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20530 Re : Comments on the interim rule Dear Mr. Kenneth L. Zwick, On January 4, 2002 New York City Official said 2,885 vicktims confirmed dead or missing in the World Trade Center. Fortunately , this number is lot less than the 6,300 victims what the city official announced at the beginning of the incident. Now it is the time to consider about more compensate to the September 11 Victims Famies than presumed award plan on the interim rule made before. * On the Issue of Collateral Sources. Life Insurance proceeds should not be deducted from Award. According to interim rule, It makes no sence that the more a person plan ahead, the more one gets disadvantages. (decuction from award.) If life insurance proceeds should offset from award at the worst, it should minimiaze to the certain percentage from one gets total award. For example, it should note that life insurance offset should no more than 5%, or 10% from one's total awards. * On the Issue of Civill Actions to recover individual Collateral Sources. I believe that it is our Government's duty to protect poor powerless victim families against powerful huge insurance company's interests. It is obvious that only few of the victim familes could stand to costly, time spending civill action to recover their insurance money against economicaly and politicaly powewful, huge insurance company. * On the presumed Economic and None-Economic Loss Tables There are big award diference between Married Decedent with no Dependent Children and Single Decedent with no Dependent Children. For example, supose the victim age 35 and income $70,000.00 On the chart Married Decedent with no Dependent Child , Claimant gets $1,468,256.00 and On the Chart Single Decedent with no Dependent Child gets $803,956.00. What a big award differance ! $664,300.00. There is only differance Married and not Married. Why the person gets more such a big award than Sinlge Decedent only because the fact the person got Married? There is great possibility that Married Decedent's spouse can marry again in later date and the person could get lost completely decedent's memory in his or her new life. but Single decedent's next keen could have suffered for missing their loved ones until they draw their last breath in this world. I strongly believe this is totally not fair. The award differencial should be narrowed less than « on present chart between Married Decedent and single Decedent with no Dependent Child Chart. For a Married Decedent with no Dependent Child Chart, the compensation table should be decreased and the big increase needed for a Single Dedent with no child table. *On the Issue of Non-Economic Loss (Pain and Suffering) That $250,000 figure is simply too low. * Adopting existing Federal Programs (Military Personal and Public Safety Beneffit Program ) The regulation's adoption this incidence to existing federal programs by Public Safety Officers who are killed while on duty , or members of our Military who are killed in the line of duty while serving our nation is not acceptable and totlly inappropriate in this September 11 Terrorist Attacks Case. In general, Public Safety Officers or Military Personal recognize their job invlove risks and danger when they execute on their job. but this September 11 Terrorist Attacks Case, most victims are ordinary intellectual citizens. They did'n know and feel any danger or risks of their lives when they were there in World Trade Center for work ahead untill they got attacked by the terrorists. I like to suggest strongly that the regulation set a "special" presumed award for economic & non- economic loss tables in great favor to the September 11 Victims Family instead adopting under existing 38 U.S.C. & 1967 (Millitary Personnel ): 42 U.S.C. & 3796 (Public Safety Officers Benefit Program) Needless to say, This September 11 Terrorist Attacks is not only our nation's tragedy but whole wide world's tragedy. Whether our Nation rise or falls as the World Trade Center Collapse by the terrorist Attacks largely depend upon how well we America deal with such tragedy. Treat this historic September 11 Victims Families well and compensate them enough to heal their great losss in emotionary and economicaly by set up a "Special Rule." Whole world watches us ! From Victims next keen, Individual Comment Silver Spring, M.D. September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2002-01-07 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource dojN002643.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. 2002-01-07