707 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. Tuesday, January 22, 2002 11:28 PM #584215 v4 - L&W Comments Attachment 1: Before the UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE Washington, D.C. 20350 September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 Notice of Inquiry and Advance Notice of Rulemaking 66 Fed. Reg. 66273 (December 21, 2001) January 22, 2002 COMMENTS OF LATHAM & WATKINS Latham & Watkins, an international law firm with more than 1,400 lawyers, is representing more than two dozen clients who have lost family members in the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. These clients include spouses and children of individuals who lost their lives in the World Trade Center or on the hijacked airlines, and the widows of firefighters. Many of these clients were referred to the firm by local bar associations, including the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, the District of Columbia Bar, the Volunteer Legal Services Program of San Francisco and the Los Angeles County Bar Association. More than 75 attorneys in the firm are involved in providing legal advice to these clients on a pro bono basis. These comments to the Interim Final Rule for the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 (the "Fund") are the product of the questions and concerns our clients and attorneys have faced in interpreting and discussing the Interim Final Rule. These comments do not necessarily represent a consensus among our clients or any individual clients position with respect to the Interim Final Rule. As discussed in more detail below, we recommend that the Department of Justice consider the following in implementing a Final Rule for the Fund: Procedure - we believe that the Fund should not sunset until two years after the Final Rule has been published or the Personal Injury Compensation Form and the Death Compensation Form have become available Compensatory Award The mathematical formula (methodology) used to calculate the economic loss portion of an award should be consistent for all claimants, regardless of income, and the formula as well as all assumptions made in reaching the economic loss portion of an award should be published so that claimants may know what presumptions they must overcome in challenging a presumptive award. Collateral Offsets If Workers Compensation will be considered a collateral offset, please publish the formula for calculating the offset amount, including assumptions made about a claimants continued eligibility for workers compensation payments. If Social Security will be considered a collateral offset, a victims lifetime contributions to Social Security will be deducted from the offset amount. To the extent that a Life Insurance payout is characterized as a collateral offset, premium payments should be deducted from the offset amount. § The Interim Final Rule does not address situations where Life Insurance proceeds are paid to someone other than the Personal Representative of an eligible victim. Please define what constitutes a Pension Fund and explain how Pension Funds fit within the statutory definition of assets received "by reason of a decedents death" when they were vested and would have continued to grow tax free had the decedent lived. § Please also explain how personal contributions to a Pension Fund will be treated with regard to computing the collateral offset amount. If 401(k) Plan Funds will be considered a collateral offset (which we strongly oppose), please detail how contributions to and interest earned on a 401(k) Plan will be treated. Extraordinary Circumstances - Please clarify what will constitute an "extraordinary circumstance" under the regulations, specifically considering: A disabled child who will be unable to care for himself after age 18; A victims family with more than two dependant children; A victim who was retired and no longer earning income; and A victim who earned $500,000 in base compensation for the past three years. Plan of Distribution - If the Special Master rejects a Personal Representatives plan for distribution, will the Personal Representative have a right to appeal that rejection? In addition, Latham & Watkins received an "Explanation of Process for Computing Presumed Economic Loss" ("Explanation") in the evening on Friday, January 18th. We have several initial concerns about the Explanation, including: There is no indication based on the Explanation of what the economic loss calculation for incomes in excess of $231,000 is. In Step 3, it is unclear to what figure pension and "other benefits" are to be added; after-tax compensable income or gross compensable income. The Explanation sites a different source for average work life expectancy than did the Presumed Economic and Non-Economic Loss Tables. Which source is being used? The Presumed Economic and Non-Economic Loss Tables indicate that expenses related to housing were excluded from the consumption factor while the Explanation indicates that housing was included in consumption for single victims. Which is correct? Please provide mathematical equation used to compute the present value of a presumptive award for a sample claimant rather than just a textual description of the components. We will provide more fulsome comments to the Explanation in another set of late filed comments after we have had the opportunity to more fully examine the Explanation. DISCUSSION I. LIMITATIONS PERIOD ON CLAIMS The Interim Final Rule indicates that claims with the Fund must be filed on or before two years after the effective date of the regulations "i.e., December 21, 2003." However, the final regulations, including the formula for calculating presumptive economic awards have not yet been published nor have the Personal Injury Compensation Form or the Death Compensation Form become available. Since "no claim may be considered until the claimant has submitted both an Eligibility Form and either a Personal Injury Compensation Form or a Death Compensation Form" (28 C.F.R. § 104.21), it would be more equitable for the Fund to sunset two years after the Final Rule has been published or both the Personal Injury Compensation Form and the Death Compensation Form have become available. II. COMPENSATORY AWARD A. Calculation of Presumed Economic Loss In calculating awards, the fund must treat all victims equally. This means that neither the formula for calculating economic loss nor the type or quantity of proof that the Final Rule requires should vary based on the victims individual circumstances. At present, the quantum of evidence required to prove a victims benchmark compensable income level varies based on the victims income percentile. While a victim who was in the 97th percentile of wage earners is required to provide only his past three years of tax returns to establish his compensable income, the Special Master has indicated that such a showing would not be sufficient to prove compensable income for a victim who was above the 98th percentile of wage earners. In addition, the Interim Final Rule does not provide the methodology for calculating the presumptive award for the families of victims who earned more than $231,000. As such, the families of "high earners" have no way of anticipating their possible awards, which is a substantial deterrent to their filing under the Fund. Latham & Watkins believes that the current method can be adopted for use by all claimants, including high earners. The Interim Final Rule indicates that one of the factors to be considered in determining the decedents loss of earnings or other employment benefits will be "the amount and nature of the decedents income for recent years." The rule further indicates the Special Master will consider the decedents average income for the years 1998-2000. In order for this requirement to be equitable to all claimants, the Fund should allow submissions based on either 1998, 1999 and 2000 or 1999, 2000 and a projected full year of income for 2001. This is true because limiting the initial determination of loss of earnings to the decedents income in years 1998-2000 is likely to yield extraordinarily inequitable results in many cases. Specifically, where the decedent was just beginning his career, focus on earnings before 2000-2001 will greatly distort the calculation of future loss of earnings. Using 1998-2000 income as a benchmark will penalize those who spent some or all of this period in the military, in school, training, or apprenticeship, and thus had little or no income. Rather than using the years 1998-2000 as a benchmark, the Final Rule should invite claimants to provide the decedents most recent earnings through September 11, 2001, and specifically take into account the rate at which the decedent was promoted to determine probable growth. Moreover, the Final Rule should require the Special Master to consider, as part of compensable income, future non-monetary compensation, such as stock options that did not vest before September 11, 2001. For instance, one of our clients is the widow of an engineer who served in the military until 1998. Upon finishing his military service, which included three tours of duty in the Persian Gulf, and war service, he continued taking college courses part-time, and received his degree in August 2001. At the beginning of that period, he worked multiple part-time jobs for relatively low wages to help maintain the household. By the end of 2000, however, he had proven himself in his field and was hired by a leading data integration company as a senior engineer. In the course of the next 11 months, he received two raises, three promotions, and more than doubled his stock options based on his outstanding performance. His income before 2001 is not representative of his future earnings, and therefore should not be considered in determining his familys economic loss. We believe that this type of case is fairly representative, and therefore the Final Rule should specifically invite claimants to include the most recent income information about the decedent, and any other information pertinent to determining future earning potential. However, if a claimant wishes to submit only the three years of tax returns without further evidence of incoming earning potential, the amount indicated on the returns should be taken on its face. Finally, claimants whose average salaries exceed $231,000 should not be forced to submit additional forms of proof in order to establish their compensable income level, as such a requirement would discriminate against them based on their level of income. If, however, a claimant elects to submit additional documentation to argue for upward departure from the presumed award, the Special Master should encourage their efforts and consider all evidence the claimant is able to provide. B. Extraordinary Circumstances The Interim Final Rule indicates that, "absent extraordinary circumstances," awards in excess of $3 million will rarely be appropriate. Please provide more detailed guidance as to what will constitute an "extraordinary circumstance" and what quantum of evidence a victim must show to prove "extraordinary circumstances." For example, we have a client who is the deceased victims spouse, who has a four year old child who is disabled and will be unable to care for himself after he turns 18. Another client has four children under the age of 12 and her husband earned a base salary of $500,000. These potential claimants do not know how their circumstances would be considered in determining a presumptive award and thus do not have a reasonable basis on which to determine whether to submit a claim. The Final Rule should provide guidance to these families as to the likely categories of factors that will be considered "extraordinary" and the kind of evidence they will be required to show to prove that a factor is indeed extraordinary. III. COLLATERAL OFFSETS A. Pension Funds It is unclear how pension funds will fit within the statutory definition of assets received "by reason of the decedents death." Pension funds normally do not vest for a number of years after an employee has started working. However, once they have vested, they continue to grow tax-free during a workers lifetime and are paid out over time after a worker reaches retirement age. Therefore, while the funds may become available earlier than they ultimately would "by reason of the decedents death," the pension funds should not be characterized as a collateral offset since they were not received as a result of the decedents death, but would in any event have become available to the worker at a later date. The Special Master should take this into careful consideration in drafting the Final Rule regarding collateral offsets and should characterize only the interest on the pension amount as a collateral offset. B. Workers Compensation The Interim Final Rule, while providing some guidelines as to what constitutes a collateral offset, is also unclear regarding whether workers compensation payouts will be counted as collateral offsets. Moreover, if the Special Master reduces or offsets a claimants presumptive award by workers compensation payouts received or payouts a claimant is entitled to, the Interim Regulations provide no guidance on how to calculate the amount by which a claimants presumptive award ought to be reduced. Since workers compensation is paid for life or until a spouse remarries, calculating the present value of possible workers compensation payouts to a surviving spouse is both impractical and inequitable. What will the Special Master assume is the life expectancy of a spouse? In addition, how will the Special Master factor into the present value calculation the possibility that benefits will not be paid? Will the Special Master assume a spouse will not remarry? Given these ambiguities, is our opinion that the Special Master should not include workers compensation as a collateral offset in the Final Rule for the Fund. C. Social Security Similarly, the Interim Final Rule does not clearly provide for the inclusion or exclusion of Social Security as a collateral offset. The Interim Final Rule does not furnish potential claimants with a formula to calculate the Social Security offset applicable to a claimants presumptive award. Social Security is paid to widows aged 60 or older and widows caring for a child under 16 years of age. A spouse that is not currently entitled to social security (because the spouse is younger than 60 and does not have children under 16 years of age) will become eligible to receive Social Security payments at the age of 60, provided the spouse has not remarried. We are of the opinion that to consider Social Security payments a collateral offset is inequitable to claimants in need of the compensation and redress the Fund affords. The Special Master should make clear in the Final Rule that Social Security is not considered a collateral offset. In the event the Special Master chooses to characterize Social Security payments as a collateral offset, we ask that the amount of the offset be reduced by the Social Security contributions made by the decedent or victim during his or her lifetime. D. 401(k) Plans It is our position that 401(k) payments should not be considered a collateral offset. We believe that any money in a victims 401(k) account that is attributable to employer contributions should be characterized in the way it was given, as part of the employee's overall compensation package. A 401(k) plan is a voluntary plan to which an employee may contribute a fixed portion of his earnings, and to the extent that an employee has invested money in his or her plan, it should be treated no differently than any bank account or investment account. This is not a third-party benefit paid to the victims family; it is money that the victim contributed to a 401(k) plan rather than choosing to invest it in another way. It is inherently inconsistent to treat 401(k) funds any differently than money saved in a regular bank account or money in an investment account. Thus, employer contributions should not be deducted from any victim's award as a collateral offset. Respectfully submitted, Comments By: LATHAM & WATKINS Washington, D.C. New York, NY Los Angeles, CA San Francisco, CA September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2002-01-22 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource dojN002377.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. email Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-01-22 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Department of Justice Emails Description An account of the resource The Department of Justice received more than 11,000 e-mails in response to the agency's public solicitation for comments upon its plans to distribute the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 established by Congress to benefit the victims of September 11 and their families. These e-mails have been organized here by date. September 11 Email September 11 Email: Body The basic content, as unstructured text; sometimes containing a signature block at the end. Saturday, December 22, 2001 1:16 PM important December 22, 2001 Dear Mr. Kenneth Zwick, I write as a member of Amnesty International, a worldwide human rights movement committed to ensuring respect for the basic human rights of people without discrimination, in support of equal access to benefits under the September 11 Victims Relief Fund for all victims, regardless of sexual orientation or marital status. As you know, the United States has committed to uphold international human rights standards, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which prohibit arbitrary discrimination. As you consider rules for administering the relief fund, I ask that you apply basic international human rights standards, and the general principle of equality, by including among relatives eligible for compensation those who lost their life partners, as well as de facto parents or children, without regard to sexual orientation or marital status. The State of New York has already adopted such a policy, granting compensation benefits "on a showing of mutual interdependence with the victim, in recognition that anyone who shared with the victim living expenses, day to day activities and the emotional bonds of family deserves help in this time of need." Many lesbian and gay people were killed in the September 11th attacks. Since then, lesbian and gay surviving partners of those killed have had mixed results in obtaining equal treatment at the local level in the distribution of relief funds by private and state agencies. An inclusive policy on the part of the federal government would help establish an important principle for other such funds. In compensating victims, real justice will be served only when all families - and all types of families - impacted by the human rights tragedy of September 11 are treated with dignity and equality. Thank you for considering my concerns. I look forward to hearing from you about your efforts to ensure that all surviving victims of the September 11 attacks have equal access to the relief fund. Sincerely, Individual Comment Gainesville, FL September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2001-12-22 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource dojN000706.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. email Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2001-12-22 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Department of Justice Emails Description An account of the resource The Department of Justice received more than 11,000 e-mails in response to the agency's public solicitation for comments upon its plans to distribute the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 established by Congress to benefit the victims of September 11 and their families. These e-mails have been organized here by date. September 11 Email September 11 Email: Body The basic content, as unstructured text; sometimes containing a signature block at the end. Monday, March 11, 2002 10:33 PM Meet the Press and Kenneth Feinberg's slight on Gay Partners of 9/11 victims Dear Sir or Madame, I'm writing because I am abhorred to have learned that Kenneth Feinberg stated recently on "Meet the Press" that gay partners of the heroes of September 11th will not necessarily be eligible for the same compensation as heterosexual family members who lost their loved ones. His rational for such blatent discrimination is to rely on existing state laws regarding who would be eligible. Very few States have enacted laws to protect domestic partners and of those that have, most apply only to State employees. In fact many States and the Federal Government have gone out of their way to prevent gay marriages and unions and thereby eliminating all benefits that come from similar unions between heterosexuals. Feinberg said that he cannot take on state law by including Gays and lesbians in the compensation program. However the duplicity of his argument is ever transparent by his willingness to include illegal aliens in the program and offer them and their employers assurance that they will not suffer consequences by coming forward. It is not my intention to pit one group against another here, but merely point out Feinberg's willingness to turn the other way for one group in an admirable effort to be as inclusive as possible with the program while on the other hand blatently discriminating against Gays and Lesbians. I urge you to stand up for the equality of all Americans who were affected by the tragic events of 9/11 and amend your policy to include compensation to the Gay and Lesbian partners of victims. It is precisely times like this that we need unity in this country not divisive policies like the one currently in place. Sincerely, 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 dojR000325.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. Friday, March 22, 2002 2:20 PM Please do not turn your back on surviving gay American families of 9/11 For the surviving families of the many gay heroes who died on September 11, it is important that they receive the same aid as other surviving spouses and children. While same-sex partners do not have the legal recognition enjoyed by different-sex spouses, their emotional and financial loss at the death of their soulmates is just as great as for others. Please treat all survivors the same; please ensure that the children, partners, and other family members of gay victims on September 11 receive equal compensation. Sincerely, 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 dojR002690.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. December 15, 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 Los Gatos,CA 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 dojA004997.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. Sunday, March 17, 2002 10:29 AM 9/11 I just learned that the gay and lesbian partners of those who died on September 11 are not automatically going to receive the same benefits as heterosexual spouses. That is a total disgrace! Even illegal aliens will be receiving benefits. What happened to all Americans standing together as one? 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 dojR001375.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, January 14, 2002 8:33 PM Help same sex partners of terrorist victims Dear Mr. Zwick: The very humane Fund for relatives of victims of the September 11 terrorist attacks must include all relatives of all the victims. This importantly should include the partners and children of same sex unions. They suffer just as grievously for their deceased loved ones as do other survivors, and their need for assistance is just as great. Please do not give in to the importuning of callous homophobic groups and individuals who would have the Department of Justice limit compensation to survivors of heterosexual unions. They are interested in a political victory, not humane assistance. This Fund is intended for humane purposes; it is not a political statement, Mr. Zwick. Sincerely, Individual Comment September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2002-01-14 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource dojN001653.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. email Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-01-14 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Department of Justice Emails Description An account of the resource The Department of Justice received more than 11,000 e-mails in response to the agency's public solicitation for comments upon its plans to distribute the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 established by Congress to benefit the victims of September 11 and their families. These e-mails have been organized here by date. September 11 Email September 11 Email: Body The basic content, as unstructured text; sometimes containing a signature block at the end. Saturday, March 16, 2002 7:55 PM In pursuit of fairness Dear Sir or Madam: I am outraged that the fund for victims of the September 11 tragedy will not cover the partners of gays and lesbian who died that day. I know that there are many in our country who were still stuck in old and invalid predudices, but I am truly saddened to learn that they still exist at your level. I fear that this plea falls on deaf ears, but I am bound by my heart to make it. I have a lesbian sister and many gay and lesbian friends, and I know that they are no different from the rest of us in the ways that matter. And certainly not in the area of family. A gay/lesbian family contains just as much love, commitment, and morality as any other family. Please reconsider your decision in this area. Individual Comment Auburn, WA September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2002-03-16 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource dojR001212.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. email Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-03-16 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Department of Justice Emails Description An account of the resource The Department of Justice received more than 11,000 e-mails in response to the agency's public solicitation for comments upon its plans to distribute the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 established by Congress to benefit the victims of September 11 and their families. These e-mails have been organized here by date. September 11 Email September 11 Email: Body The basic content, as unstructured text; sometimes containing a signature block at the end. Monday, March 11, 2002 1:57 PM US Denial of 9/11 Fund Monies to Gay Americans To whom it may concern, I have just become aware that gay and lesbian partners of the Sept. 11 tragedy victims are Not eligible for benefit checks issued by the US government 9/11 Fund. It is my understanding that even illegal immigrant partners are to step forward to receive their checks. Our American Heroes who helped save lives, gave their own or were senseless victims are no less deserving because they were homosexual. Kenneth Feinberg's denial of benefits by weakly deferring to individual state's treatment of gay and lesbian citizens is WRONG. These partners are No Less traumatized by the loss of their loved ones than any other person and are No Less deserving of the same treatment as any other Human Being. This is an outrage and will not be tolerated by the US gay community and any other sane, feeling person who believes in Human Rights. Sincerely, Individual Comment Durango Colorado 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 dojR000134.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 08, 2002 3:27 PM NYPD benefits The rules as they stand would leave our family with no reasonable recourse to the fund, while limiting our ability to recover from a suit. The NYPD salaries were low, in part, because they included a large benefits package. Because of the nature of the work this was not something they could negotiate away. It was very much a part of their salary structure. Because of this it is unfair for NYPD death benefits and insurance to be seen as collateral sources. Best Regards, Individual Comment September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2002-01-08 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 dojN001455.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. 2002-01-08 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 3:20 PM The Last You'll See of My Money - I had for the last several years actually begun to think that we as a country were making tremendous strides toward being a fair and just place. A Country that other developing democracies would see as a good example of what being fair and just could do for them and their people. After reading that the US Department of JUSTICE would be willing to provide September 11th Funds to loved ones of those lost in the attacks except for the loved ones of lesbians and gays who died that day, I was reminded of just how little JUSTICE emanates from the US Department of JUSTICE and our Federal Government at large. You are willing to help the loved ones of illegal immigrants and unwed mothers of unborn children who's parent died in the attacks but chose to single out those who loved lesbians and gays as not worthy, not loved and not of concern to you. I am a gay man, I gave to this fund and I assumed that ALL loved ones of ALL those who passed on that day would benefit from my contribution. You lied to me and worse than that, you destroyed my feeling of unity that so many have felt since the attacks. You will never see another contribution from me. If your Capitol Building is smashed to the ground, if a plane full of children falls from the sky, if Midwest farmers are devastated by drought , if a US serviceman or woman is killed in action or any other manor of horrendous atrocity occurs - I will not be there for you, for them, for any of us. You've shaken me from my dreams of a decent place. You've hurt my spirit and destroyed my faith in this country. I remember now that I am on my own here in the United States; I only wish I hadn't forgotten that. My contribution was a small price to pay for the brutal honesty you've shown. I forgot you hated me with so much might. I forgot that I frightened you more than a terrorist. I forgot where I lived and most sadly, I forgot that I am only an American. 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 dojR002546.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. Wednesday, December 05, 2001 9:46 AM 9-11 Compensation Include gay families of 9-11 victims! Sincerely, Individual Comment Boca Raton, FL 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 dojA000739.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. Wednesday, November 21, 2001 11:03 AM .1 Attachment 1: November 21, 2001 VIA E-mail: victimcomp.comments@usdoj.gov. and Fax: (301) 519-5956 Mr. Kenneth L. Zwick Director, Office of Management Programs Civil Division U.S. Department of Justice Main Building, Room 3140 950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20530 Dear Mr. Zwick: These comments are filed on behalf of the immediate family of a victim of the terrorist attack on the Pentagon on September 11. Effective Date. There does not appear to be any need to make the regulations effective immediately upon publication, particularly if the Department of Justice (DOJ) intends to provide a comment period on the regulations when issued. DOJs point that a normal 30-day effective date allowing initial counseling and information dissemination is also well taken. Relationship to Possible Civil Action. Our client has not filed or participated in a civil action to date. If a person withdraws from a civil action within 90 days, and then ultimately decides not to file an administrative claim with the special master, or is found to be ineligible by the special master for any award, that person should be allowed to rejoin a lawsuit or initiate a lawsuit. The clear intent of Congress was that a party could not pursue both courses of action to receive an award. If a person is disallowed from pursuing an award under one system, he or she should be able to avail themselves of the other system, unless the reason for disallowance is that the person is not authorized to bring any action. Topics #1 & 2: The Forms To Be Used in Submitting Claims Under This Program and the Information To Be Included on the Claims Form. For families of Pentagon victims who died, listing of the deceased on the official Pentagon list of deceased victims should suffice to meet the requirement that the person was a victim of the terrorist-related air crash. If a death certificate is available, it should be submitted. However, if a body has not been recovered, a personal representative should be able to demonstrate that the victim was included on the Pentagons official list of victims. This is consistent with the determination of the court system for Fairfax County, Virginia for victims families seeking to open an estate; while this ordinarily requires a death certificate, the Court has made an exception which allows the estate to be open upon a showing that the decedent was on the Pentagons list. This list can obviously be verified by DOJ through consultation with DOD. Demonstration that the individual filing the claim has been named as the executor of the will of the deceased, or has otherwise been determined by the appropriate state court to be the personal representative of the deceased shall suffice to make that person eligible to file a claim. The rule that "only one claim may be filed" must be enforced so as to allow the legitimate personal representative to proceed with a claim, even if another person has previously filed a claim on behalf of the deceased. That is, the one claim allowed to proceed shall be that of the bona fide personal representative, not necessarily the "first to file." As set forth below, a determination as to the personal representative made by an appropriate state court shall be definitive. Topic #3: Procedures for Hearing and the Presentation of Evidence: If a claim does not have adequate supporting information, the Special Master should be able to deem the claim not "filed" for purposes of establishing the 120-day deadline. Claimants should be given an opportunity to supplement the original claim with any missing information, thus eliminating the need for the Special Master to dismiss the claim and for the claimant to resubmit it. Claimants should be allowed to submit their entire case in writing, if they so choose. However, if they prefer, they should be given the opportunity to appear before a hearing officer to present evidence or make a statement. Ordinarily, this would not be an adversary hearing. The claimant, or claimants attorney should be allowed to make a statement and outline the basis of the case, and respond to questions from the hearing officer. If the hearing officer requires further information, the claimant should be given the option of providing it at the hearing, or submitting it for the record, within a reasonable timeframe set by the hearing officer. We disagree with the previous comments of another party stating that the U.S. government, through the Department, should be a party to the proceedings. This would create the unfortunate impression that the government was "adverse" to the claimant, and that the government was seeking to hold down the amount of any award. There is no reason to make the proceedings adversary as a matter of course. Instead, every effort should be made to ensure that victims and victims families are not fighting against the government. If there are issues concerning who is authorized to file a claim, or, for example, whether a spouse is entitled to the presumptive amount for loss of consortium and society and companionship (as discussed below), opposing parties may appear before the hearing officer to make their case. In specific cases, if circumstances warrant, the government may seek to be heard on such issues. Additionally, the government is certainly entitled to investigate claims (or particular assertions within claims) it suspects are fraudulent, and to take appropriate action where fraud is committed. (The Special Master should also require assertions supporting a claim to be made under oath, to deter fraud.) However, this legitimate governmental interest in preventing fraud should not turn every claim into an adversary proceeding. The training provided to the hearing officers, and all officials involved in the claims process, may be more critical than their previous experience. It should be made clear to them that they are to see that claimants are to be treated fairly and compassionately. Claimants whose claims are technically deficient should not be given a difficult time, if the essential information needed to process a claim is readily discernable. Departmental employees should help clarify what needs to be done to complete a claim, and assist claimants in doing so, rather than playing "gotcha" with technical deficiencies. Hearing officers should be instructed that Congress has established the elements of non-economic damages, and should fully apply all that are applicable in a particular case, even if the hearing officers prior experience does not include application of all of these elements. Standards of proof should not be hyper-technical. Projected income levels naturally will be less than certain. Latitude should be given to claimants, as long as their claims are within a zone of reasonableness. Topic #4: Procedures to Assist an Individual in Filing and Pursuing Claims Under This Title Although "the Department believes that it is important that claimants be able to proceed without economic experts," the Department should certainly allow claimants, if they choose, to submit evidence from economic and vocational experts that goes to the issue of how much the victim would likely have earned over the course of his or her lifetime. This may be a complex issue in particular cases, and the Special Master is likely to benefit from the presentation of expert testimony (whether written or oral) on this subject. It is unclear how the economic damages can be determined without expert evaluation of the earning power and circumstances of the decedent. If a claimant employs such experts, the claimant can pay the fees out of any award the claimant receives. There is no need for the Special Master to pay such amounts directly. Attorneys fees should be limited to no more than 20% of the award, as they are under the Military Claims Act and related legislation. [We are handling this matter on a pro bono basis, and are not receiving any attorneys fees.] Attorneys should be allowed to charge for expenses, to be paid by the claimant out of any award received. Topic #5: Claimant Eligibility As noted above, in the answer to Topics #1 and 2, for claims filed by the personal representative of a person killed at the Pentagon, inclusion of the decedent in the official list of Pentagon victims should be sufficient to establish the eligibility of the decedent as a "victim" on whose behalf a claim may be filed. A claimant who was named as executor of the will of the decedent or who was determined under appropriate State law to be the personal representative of the decedent, shall be eligible to file a claim on behalf of a victim killed by the terrorist acts of September 11. If the personal representative is properly appointed under State law, that finding shall be conclusive. The personal representative should be required to identify all immediate family members (spouse, children in that class. Accordingly, the personal representative should not be required to obtain a waiver of right to litigation by any other family member before being allowed to pursue a claim against the Fund. Such a requirement would give more remote family members a veto over the decision of the bona fide personal representative as to which course of action to pursue, contrary to the provision of the statute which vests this authority in the personal representative. Any other family member would be barred, under the statute, from pursuing the course of action not taken by the bona fide personal representative. The Special Master should accept the determination of a court of competent jurisdiction as to who is the bona fide personal representative of a deceased victim. If, in a particular case, this has not been resolved as of the end of the two-year deadline for filing claims under the Fund, the Special Master shall deem the claim to be filed, but should be entitled to a waiver of the 120-day deadline until the personal representative issue is settled. It would be difficult, if not impossible, to make a determination of compensation concerning competing claims until the personal representative issue is resolved. Topic #6: Nature and Amount of Compensation Fundamental principles should be fairness and compassion. Congress already provided for compassion, through the breadth of non-economic harm allowed to be included in an award. Congress has determined the elements of non-economic harm that, if present in the individuals circumstances, should be compensated. Fairness dictates that similarly situated claimants be treated equally. While economic harm requires analysis of individual claimants (or decedents) financial circumstances to determine the appropriate level of compensation, the government should establish a uniform value for each type of non-economic harm, and the only analysis remaining is whether that element is present for the particular claimant or decedent (e.g., was there a spouse). For instance, the amount for pain and suffering of the deceased should uniform. In most cases, it will be impossible to tell whether victims were killed on impact, in a fireball, or in the collapse of a building. There should be a set figure for pain and suffering of the deceased victim prior to death. (For victims who survived, there may need to be a case-by-case analysis) Similarly, the government should not try to value the loss of companionship, etc. on a case-by-case basis. Rather, it should be done based on nature of relationship, e.g., all spouses of decedents should receive same amount for loss of consortium. This amount is the same regardless of whether the deceased was a CEO or the janitor, or anything in between. Similarly, all children should receive same amount for loss of parental companionship and society. It is critical that the administration of the fund be fair and be perceived to be fair, and this will not happen if there are varying degrees of compensation for the same types of non-economic harm. Establishing such amounts in advance will also help potential claimants evaluate the benefits of proceeding with the administrative claim process rather than participating in litigation. In order to carry out Congressional intent and make the administrative claim system an attractive alternative to litigation, the Special Master should establish levels of compensation for elements of non-economic harm that are comparable to amounts that have been awarded in similar litigation. There should be a rebuttable presumption that a person having the specific relationship with the deceased is entitled to the established non-economic damages for loss of that relationship. If another party seeks to intervene to state that this presumption is inappropriate in a particular case (e.g., parents stating their child was about to divorce his or her spouse, and therefore the spouse is not entitled to loss of consortium or society and companionship), the hearing officer should receive evidence on the issue. However, in the absence of such a dispute, the spouse or child should not have to "prove" entitlement to the established level of damages. Collateral Sources: The Department has recognized that there are strong policy reasons as to why charitable contributions should be excluded from the calculation of collateral sources that reduce the amount of an award. Chief among them are the fact that the donors who contributed to such charitable funds have indicated that they gave without regard to other sources of compensation that might be made available to any victim. Moreover, as others have pointed out, a victim is not "entitled" to charity, and charitable contributions are different in nature from the list of collateral sources that Congress has indicated must be deducted from an award. Thus, the Department has the authority to exclude charitable contributions from the collateral sources, and it should exercise that authority. For collateral sources that were specified in the statute, e.g., life insurance, 401K benefits, the Special Master should deduct from each collateral source of compensation the amount of funds (escalated to present value) that the victim (or the victims family) had expended in order to purchase or establish that source of collateral compensation (e.g., premiums for life insurance, contributions to a 401K plan ) prior to reducing the amount of the award by the amount of collateral compensation. In this way, victims and their families will not be penalized for prudent financial planning. Establishing Consistency in Awards: As a practical means to ensure, to the extent possible, consistency and fairness in the determination of awards, the Special Master should establish an internal computer database and require hearing officers to input proposed awards two weeks prior to the deadline for presenting the award to the claimant. The hearing officer would indicate what elements of non-economic damages were present, and the system would plug in the amounts established by the Special Master for non-economic losses. The hearing officer would also include historical earnings and proposed economic damages, as well as collateral sources of compensation. Anything out of ordinary would trigger an automatic internal review by the Special Master or his or her staff before amount of award is presented to claimant. Conclusion We appreciate the opportunity to comment on the Departments Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, and would like to meet with the Department to discuss ways in which the Department can implement the suggestions we have made. We may also supplement these comments with more detailed additional comments before the close of the comment period. Comment by: FOLEY & LARDNER Washington, DC 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 dojW000456.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. Friday, January 18, 2002 7:51 PM Comments on Interim Rule Kenneth L. Zwick, Director Office of Management Programs Civil Division US Department of Justice Main Building, Room 3140 950 Pennsylvania Ave Washington DC 20530 This is response to the request for comments on the Interim Final Rule (Rule) implementing Public Law 107-42. Public law 107-42, the Air Transportation Safety and System Stabilization Act (Act), is designed to provide Federal financial relief to the American airline industry due to losses from management mistakes and potential losses the airlines could sustain from their negligence in failing to maintain reasonable security standards. It provides airlines Federal grants of $5 Billion, and loan guarantees of $10 billion. More importantly it ex post facto limits damages that airlines are faced with from their negligence on September 11th to their insurance coverage. As part of the stabilization of the airline industry, as well as to protect other potential business defendants, the government has agreed to a fast track system for victim compensation. In exchange for giving up their right to sue under various Federal statues and state tort or wrongful death laws injured claimants or personal representatives of deceased claimants acting on behalf of the decedents will be compensated by the Federal government. Claimants are giving up a valuable right as judgements for damages resulting from other terror attacks have been in the $100 million range. The purpose of the victim compensation part of the Act is to compensate those injured or killed on September 11th (Act, Sec 403.) Unfortunately the Special Master has interpreted his mandate as not to compensate, that is to make whole for the loss incurred, but rather to "bring some measure of financial relief." From this misinterpretation, presumably deliberate in an attempt to reduce Federal expenditures, flow many of the problems with the Final Rule. The first major problem with the Rule as written is that the Rule turns the application for compensation into a crapshoot. Both the Act and Rule (as well as ancillary documents developed by the Special Master) are vague as to what will be considered in determining compensation as well as "collateral compensation" (setoffs.) While a claimant has no idea what if any compensation they will receive since economic loss is unclear as well as setoffs, the claimant by the simple act of filing precludes other more appropriate remedies (Rule, Sec 104.21 (d).) There is no methodology in the Rule for a claimant to obtain an accurate assessment of whether it would be more beneficial for them to pursue other remedies then file a claim under the Act. The Rule should be amended to include a procedure for an assessment to be given prior to a claim being considered filed. Such an initial assessment is not precluded by the Act. The second major problem (and related to the first) is that the Rule gives no indication of how the Special Master decides the many issues or how issues are settled as claims are paid. There are no prior legal decisions providing precedent. A record of decisions needs to be created. As the Act precludes judicial review such a record would assist claimants and assure that there is no abuse of discretion. In particular, Rule, Sec 104.31 (b) 1, should be amended to indicate that the Claims Evaluator will notify the claimant of "... the amount of the presumed award, the basis for the decision... " In view of the above, Rule, Sec 104.33 (g), should be changed to read "...the final amount of the award and a written decision of the basis of the award. This document will be made available to the public." Damage awards and other legal matters are generally public records. That the compensation awards and decision making are public record infringes on no right to privacy, provides transparency, and precludes abuse and safeguards equity in the decision process. The third major problem is the inherent conflicts between the Act and the Rule. My comments will be based on the perspective of a personal representative of a decedent as the claimant as they may differ from the issues affecting an injured claimant. The personal representative of the decedent has no legal authority over the spouse, beneficiaries or dependents of the victim (decedent claimant.) Spouses et. al. may have separate causes of action (e.g. intentional infliction of emotional distress, loss of consortium or companionship) arising out of state or federal law. Rule, Sec 104.21 (b) (1), should be changed to eliminate all after "...of the Act." The claimant is the "...personal representative of the decedent who files the claim on behalf of the decedent." (Act, Sec 405 (c) (2) (C).) Under Act, 405 (c) (3) (B) (i), only the "...claimant waives the right to file a civil action..." The personal representative has no legal authority to demand that individuals other than the claimant (dependents, spouse or beneficiary of the victim) waive their rights. Pensions, either as economic loss or as collateral compensation are not discussed in any detail in any of the material provided by the Special Master or in the Rule. Almost twenty percent of those murdered by Moslem fundamentalists on September 11th were rescue workers (firemen, police, paramedics) or military. Their pension benefits are an essential and valuable part of their compensation as the government has long recognized that the arduous and dangerous nature of their occupations preclude long term employment. Neither the Rule nor the Special Master?s Presumed Economic and Non-Economic Loss Tables (Loss Tables) consider pension benefits in determining economic loss. The Act broadly defines economic loss as "...any pecuniary loss resulting from harm (including...other benefits resulting from employment..." (Act, Sec 402 (5).) The Rule, however, narrows economic loss to "...loss of earnings or other benefits related to employment..." and confines itself to a table based on the individual's earnings in the last three years (Rule, Sec 104.43 (a)) (Underlining added.) Further, the Loss Tables are based on the anticipated working life (till age 65), whereas the pension benefit is normally a lifetime benefit (and ceases on the death of the recipient.) The Rule and Loss Tables severely distorts to their detriment the actual economic loss sustained by rescue worker and military decedent claimants. For example, a military retiree working at the Pentagon would receive both civil service pay and a military pension. On the day of death, both his pay and pension ceased. There is no pension benefit for the spouse of a military retiree. The military retiree decedent claimant?s economic loss is his lifetime pension plus loss wages. Based on the Rule and Loss Tables, however, the only economic loss is the loss civil service wages, a mere pittance of the actual economic loss. Many of the rescue workers had vested pensions; others had anticipatory rights to pensions. Valuation is not an issue as Courts have long dealt with such valuations in damage awards and divorce cases. Pensions as economic loss need to be addressed in the Loss Tables and Rule. The words in Rule, Sec 104.43 (a), stating "related to employment" should be changed to read "resulting from employment." All after that should be totally revised to include consideration of pensions as economic loss. The Loss Tables need to be revised to include lifetime pension benefits. Non economic loss is based on the decedent claimants loss, not damages suffered by others who have there own separate causes of action. Why, therefore, does a decedent claimant with a spouse and dependents receive more? The non economic loss of all decedent claimants is hard to measure; the value of their life experiences should be the same for all. Rule, Sec 104.44, should be changed to read "The presumed non economic losses for all decedents shall be $250,000" (or whatever amount may be more appropriate.) All after should be deleted. The issue of what payments are collateral sources considered as collateral compensation is not clarified by the Rule, Loss Tables and the Special Master?s Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ). A review of the responses to date to the Rule indicates this is a major sore point. Perhaps if the Special Master issued his Death Compensation Form clarification as to his intent would be forthcoming. The Act identifies collateral sources. It also specifically states that compensation received by the claimant is reduced by the collateral source compensation "...the claimant has received or is entitled to receive as a result of the terrorist-related crashes..." (Act, Sec 405 (b) (6).) The Rule, Sec 104.47 (a), however, deletes that portion of the above that states collateral compensation are payments to the claimant. The Rule should be changed to read "...reduced by all collateral source compensation the claimant has received or entitled to receive, including..." This would conform to the Act. Failure to designate who is the recipient of collateral sources considered may result in grave miscarriages. For example, a partnership may have a substantial policy on a decedent claimant. That payment goes to the partnership, not to the decedent?s survivors. To reduce compensation to the claimants estate for this policy would be unconscionable. The tenor of the comments from the Special Master, though not stated directly, is that benefits paid to others than the claimant will be deducted from the compensation award. Yet exceptions are made. The FAQ at 1.11 indicates that the Special Master will not subtract from the award amount collateral sources where "...the contribution to the plan were deductions from the the victim?s compensation." Does this mean all plans where the contribution was from compensation? For example, a military retiree?s pension ceases on his death; there is no benefit for the spouse. If the retiree so chooses, however, the retiree could contribute 14% of his monthly retirement compensation to purchase a Survivors Benefit Plan that pays a surviving spouse 55% of the retiree?s retirement benefit. This is a voluntary plan purchased by the retiree. Other retirement plans may have similar survivor benefit provisions. None of these plans make payments to the claimant or the claimant?s estate or the personal representative of the decedent acting on behalf of the decedent as claimant. The Rule should be rewritten to eliminate all the ambiguity regarding the issue of collateral compensation particularly in light of the lack of judicial review and the amount of discretion provided the Special Master. The fundamental flaw with the Rule is the discrepancy between the Act as written and the Special Masters intent to limit compensation. This was not the congressional intent. When the Act was enacted the Government was aware that its prior lack of action made the Moslem fundamentalist attack on the United States so successful. The United States was under constant attack by Moslem fundamentalist beginning with their bombing on the World Trade Center in 1993. In response all our government did was issue proclamations, make speeches, and fire a couple of missals in the air, landing God knows where. The government?s impotence supported the Moslem fundamentalist perception that America was morally weak. President Clinton reinforced this perception by his own degenerate personal behavior as well as his often publicly proven tendency to lie to achieve his ends. Retaining Clinton in office made us a joke to the world. It also bolstered the perception in this country that laws need not be enforced if inconvenient, making the terror attacks easier to carry out. Needless to say Clinton was not totally alone in being responsible for his eight years in office. Our members of Congress from both parties failed to demand Clinton take responsible action. Mesmerized by greed and the good times that globalization was supposedly accomplishing; no one wanted to force Clinton to take real action that would require hard decisions. When Congress passed this Act it was their attempt to assuage their conscience for their failure to protect the citizens of this country. A liberal interpretation as to what is just compensation under the Act is required. Thank you for your consideration. I realize many of these comments have been made before, however, the vagueness of the proposed rule and the lack of response to the prior comments by others compel me to respond as I have. Individual Comment San Francisco, CA September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2002-01-18 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource dojN002017.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. email Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-01-18 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Department of Justice Emails Description An account of the resource The Department of Justice received more than 11,000 e-mails in response to the agency's public solicitation for comments upon its plans to distribute the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 established by Congress to benefit the victims of September 11 and their families. These e-mails have been organized here by date. September 11 Email September 11 Email: Body The basic content, as unstructured text; sometimes containing a signature block at the end. Monday, November 26, 2001 5:33 PM Adoption of Rules to Govern the September 11 Victim Compensation Program In response to your request, attached are comments from Independent Sector regarding Topic #6: Should Charitable Gifts Be Considered Payments from a Collateral Source? Please feel free to contact me should you have questions for &nsbr; &nsbr; &nsbr; &nsbr; &nsbr; or Independent Sector. ********* November 26, 2001 Kenneth L. Zwick, Director Office of Management Programs U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Division Main Building, Room 3140 950 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, DC 20530 Re: Adoption of Rules to Govern the September 11 Victim Compensation Program - Topic #6: Should Charitable Gifts Be Considered Payments from a Collateral Source Dear Mr. Zwick: Independent Sector is a nonprofit, nonpartisan coalition of over 700 national voluntary organizations, philanthropic foundations, and corporate philanthropy programs, collectively representing tens of thousands of charitable groups in every state across the nation. Our mission is to promote, strengthen, and advance the nonprofit and philanthropic community to foster private initiative for the public good. Many of our members have been actively involved in supporting and delivering emergency assistance to the victims of the September 11 terrorist attacks. They have considerable experience in assessing the needs of individuals and families and implementing service programs and distributing financial assistance to ensure that those needs are met as quickly and as equitably as possible.v The request of the Justice Department for comments on the content of rules governing the government's September 11 Victim Compensation Program asks whether the definition of "collateral source" in section 402 of the Act establishing the program can be read to exclude gifts by charitable organizations to those injured in the September 11 tragedies and to the families of those who lost their lives. Independent Sector believes that charitable gifts should not be deemed to be a payment by a collateral source and that to do so would undermine the intent of Congress to encourage survivors to use the Victim Compensation Program in lieu of pursuing damage awards through litigation. We are writing now to support comments submitted by the Council on Foundations which provide more extensive background advancing our position. Although the Internal Revenue Service has recently issued guidance rulings that relax some of the long-standing rules that require charities to assess the specific financial needs of individuals or families before providing direct financial assistance, we believe that most charities will continue to follow a needs-based distribution policy in addressing both the short-term and long-term benefits provided to those affected by the September 11 attacks. We would be happy to provide additional information as you develop these rules and regulations. Sincerely, Comment By: Independent Sector Washington, DC September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2001-11-26 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 dojW000670.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. 2001-11-26 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. Wednesday, December 19, 2001 12:45 PM Remember all families are equal. 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 salinas, 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 dojA005472.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. Monday, November 26, 2001 2:27 PM Take it from me Dear Attorney General Ashcroft, The deaths on September 11th were the result of an attack on America. Please do not discriminate against the unmarried partners of September 11th victims. All unmarried partners, gay or straight, young and old, and their dependents should be eligible for compensation. Individual Comment September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2001-11-26 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 dojW000595.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. 2001-11-26 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. Sent: Thursday, January 24, 2002 8:47 AM Compensation should be divided equally with a percentage retained in trust for a set period of time for future legitimate claimants before final distribution. Period. To do otherwise would be grossly unfair, result in confusion and would be biased towards individuals who earned higher incomes. Individual Comment September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2002-01-24 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource dojP000062.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. email Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-01-24 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Department of Justice Emails Description An account of the resource The Department of Justice received more than 11,000 e-mails in response to the agency's public solicitation for comments upon its plans to distribute the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 established by Congress to benefit the victims of September 11 and their families. These e-mails have been organized here by date. September 11 Email September 11 Email: Body The basic content, as unstructured text; sometimes containing a signature block at the end. Monday, January 07, 2002 2:10 PM PAIN AND SUFFERING - 250,000 Good afternoon, My name is &nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp. I lost my sister, &nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp at the WTC on September 11th. She worked on the &nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp Floor in Tower 1. &nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp was 29 and single and did not get an opportunity to get married and have children. First of all, I think the single victims families are not being recongized. There were an awful lot of single peopole working at the WTC. The single victims families are "THEIR PARENTS." Those that left spouses and children have an opportunity to eventually start a "new" life. Spouses can remarry if they choose, the children have a part of their mother or father in them, and grandparents of these children have a part of their child in the grandchild. But what do the single parents have. The amount of 250,000 is so ridicuoulsly low. I read in the paper last week in my home town, a car accident settlement was 250,000 and the person is alive. How does Master Feinberg know what pain and suffering the vicitms encountered. We just buried a body part of my sister, how do we know that she didn't suffer and wasnt alive for a while suffeirng. Feinberg wasnt there and has no idea. This amount should be raised or if not this, then not deduct life insurance. Why are the vicitms that protected their loveds ones through life insurance being penalized. Other victims that didnt have life insurance, were maybe lazy and never did iti or didnt want to spend the extra money. These issues need to be taken into condeiration. I thought I heard Feinberg was going to take into consideration each family individaully. Please email be back with your thoughts on these matters. thank you. Individual Comment 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 dojN001421.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 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 12:59 PM Help same sex partners of terrorist victims Dear Mr. Zwick: The very humane Fund for relatives of victims of the September 11 terrorist attacks must include all relatives of all the victims. This importantly should include the partners and children of same sex unions. They suffer just as grievously for their deceased loved ones as do other survivors, and their need for assistance is just as great. Please do not give in to the importuning of callous homophobic groups and individuals who would have the Department of Justice limit compensation to survivors of heterosexual unions. They are interested in a political victory, not humane assistance. This Fund is intended for humane purposes; it is not a political statement, Mr. Zwick. Sincerely, Individual Comment 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 dojN000487.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