800 20 70359 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Department of Justice Emails Description An account of the resource The Department of Justice received more than 11,000 e-mails in response to the agency's public solicitation for comments upon its plans to distribute the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 established by Congress to benefit the victims of September 11 and their families. These e-mails have been organized here by date. September 11 Email September 11 Email: Body The basic content, as unstructured text; sometimes containing a signature block at the end. Friday, December 28, 2001 7:51 PM Equitable disbursement December 28, 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, a fund to which I have personally and repeatedly made contributions. Sincerely, Individual Comment San Marcos, CA September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2001-12-28 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource dojN001143.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. 2001-12-28 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Department of Justice Emails Description An account of the resource The Department of Justice received more than 11,000 e-mails in response to the agency's public solicitation for comments upon its plans to distribute the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 established by Congress to benefit the victims of September 11 and their families. These e-mails have been organized here by date. September 11 Email September 11 Email: Body The basic content, as unstructured text; sometimes containing a signature block at the end. Wednesday, December 19, 2001 12:06 AM Equal access to 9/11 funds 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 Marion, IA 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 dojA002572.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. 9 January 2002 To our Elected Officials: In the immediate aftermath of the tragic attack of September 11th upon our nation, Congress enacted the Victims' Compensation Fund of 2001 P.L. 107-42, to compensate the relatives of the victims of that brutal attack. As you know, this Fund was enacted as part of a comprehensive package which bailed out the airlines industry and imposed restrictions on the rights of the victims' relatives to sue the airlines in court. We implore upon you, as our elected officials, to demand changes to the interim rules issued by Kenneth Feinberg, the Special Master. As it stands, Mr. Feinberg's self-imposed rules fail to satisfy the letter or the spirit of the legislation which was enacted. Specifically, we request that you act on our behalf and demand the following changes to the interim rules: 1. The arbitrary income limits imposed by the Special Master are not only unfair but also inconsistent with the letter and the spirit of the law. Those victims from the financial industry are specifically harmed by this limit. They were targeted and murdered precisely because of the jobs they held, and where they worked-the World Trade Center, the Financial Capital of the world, the embodiment of financial success. Those who achieved such success should see that reflected in their awards. They personified American Business and commerce, democracy and freedom. We ask that you demand that Mr. Feinberg lift the arbitrary income limits so that each family can be treated fairly, commensurate with the support they provided their families before their death. 2. Mr. Feinberg has arbitrarily restricted the non-economic awards for pain and suffering, no matter what the extent of the pain and suffering. This is unacceptable. In the words of Rep. Peter King, "...every death is tragic, A murder is particularly tragic. But to have your loved one murdered in a burning building in full view of the world - in a scene which will be repeated in the media for decades to come-is a horror these families will never escape form... The Special Master cannot take it upon himself to restrict the rights of the families." Therefore, we request that the interim rules be amended to more appropriately compensate the victims' families for the immeasurable pain and suffering endured by our loved ones. As Mayor Giuliani stated in his farewell address: "we have an obligation to the people who did die... Their families need to be protected just as if they had been alive, financially and every other way that we can help and assist their families...There should be no compromise account that ever..."We request that the interim rules be amended and redefined to the extent that income caps be removed when computing economic loss and that compensation for pain and suffering more accurately reflect that horror which was suffered. Justice demands no less. Sincerely, Individual Comment September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2002-01-31 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 dojN002457.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. 2002-01-31 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 19, 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 Santa Rosa,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 dojA005028.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. email Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2001-12-19 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Department of Justice Emails Description An account of the resource The Department of Justice received more than 11,000 e-mails in response to the agency's public solicitation for comments upon its plans to distribute the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 established by Congress to benefit the victims of September 11 and their families. These e-mails have been organized here by date. September 11 Email September 11 Email: Body The basic content, as unstructured text; sometimes containing a signature block at the end. Saturday, March 16, 2002 2:20 PM Compensation for same sex partners I was deeply saddened as well as angered to find that same sex partners may not be receiving the same financial benefits as other "partners" involved in the tragic loss of lives at the World Trade Center. As a gay peace officer in NY I work hard to help all people and expect my government to do likewise. It is a sad day when we risk our lives for others and are still treated as second class citizens. Please reconsider and allow partners of same sex couples to receive the same benefits as everyone else involved. Thank you! Individual Comment September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2002-03-16 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource dojR000966.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. Thursday, January 24, 2002 5:11 PM New Vote.com votes as of 05:11 PM EST on January 24th, 2002 Dear September 11th Victim Compensation Fund, Vote.com is the Internet's most popular voting site. Millions of people regularly express their opinions and - in just one click - automatically send their views to important decision makers like you. Here are the latest votes on the question, SHOULD FAMILIES OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS WHO DIED ON 9-11 GET MONEY FROM THE FEDERAL VICTIMS' FUND?: YES: 81 votes NO: 1231 votes Group 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 dojP000094.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. December 13, 2001 Special Master Kenneth R. Feinberg September 11th Victim Compensation Fund U.S. Department of Justice 950 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, DC 20530 To Mr. Feinberg: I am writing to urge you to ensure fair treatment for all surviving families of the tragedy on September 11th, including the children and families of low-wage workers and gay and lesbian families. Under traditional rules based on lost wages, the survivors of a bond trader earning millions of dollars per year might receive thousands of times as much compensation as the survivors of a dishwasher in one of the restaurants destroyed. Justice requires looking far beyond the last paycheck to the inherent worth of all those killed, so that a high minimum compensation level is set to lessen the disparities. It would be a double blow to the survivors to first lose their loved one and then watch as most of the taxpayer money went to those who were already well off in the first place. The second major issue has to do with recognizing the legitimacy of gay and lesbian relationships and families. Gay and lesbian families are especially vulnerable when one partner is killed. Because the option of marriage is unavailable, these families may find themselves in the traumatic predicament of having to prove that their union is legitimate. Fortunately, both the Red Cross and the State of New York have already announced that they will not discriminate against gay and lesbian families. The Department of Justice should do the same. Thank you for considering my comments. I look forward to hearing how you will act on these very important issues. Sincerely, Individual Comment Vancover, WA September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2001-12-13 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource dojA003979.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. email Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2001-12-13 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Department of Justice Emails Description An account of the resource The Department of Justice received more than 11,000 e-mails in response to the agency's public solicitation for comments upon its plans to distribute the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 established by Congress to benefit the victims of September 11 and their families. These e-mails have been organized here by date. September 11 Email September 11 Email: Body The basic content, as unstructured text; sometimes containing a signature block at the end. Kenneth L. Zwick, Director Office of Management Programs, Civil Division U.S. Department of Justice Dear Mr. Zwick: I am writing to you in response to the DOJ's request for public comments on the "September 11 Victim Compensation Fund" regulations. I understand that there is an effort underway by a right-wing minority to deprive gay and lesbian survivors of benefits. Now I'm just your average hetero guy with a wife and a dog, but this just doesn't sound humanitarian, fair, or reasonable to me. I don't understand the legalities involved, but I do understand the people. Some of my closest friends turned out to be gay and have strong relationships, some of which predate my own marriage. These relationships are every bit as financially involved as any heterosexual "legal" union. If I had died at the World Trade Center in September my wife would have needed and would have very much appreciated the assistance that is being offered. It's a truly wonderful thing we're doing here. I think that we--all of us taxpaying Americans-- should offer this generous assistance up to all of our fellow citizens. I realize that gay relationships are not as clearly defined legally and that there may be an increased risk of fraud. Well... considering that more than fifty percent of heterosexual marriages end in divorce each year in this country, the argument isn't too strong for the rest of us either. I mean, if that's not fraud, what is? It seems to me that it wouldn't be too difficult to ascertain the financial interdependence of the gay and lesbian couples involved here. Some will prove their case and some won't but at least we will have made a responsible attempt to do the right thing and help everyone who suffered a loss in this tragedy. Thanks for your time and consideration. Individual Comment Arnold, MD September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2001-12-10 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 dojA000917.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. 2001-12-10 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Department of Justice Emails Description An account of the resource The Department of Justice received more than 11,000 e-mails in response to the agency's public solicitation for comments upon its plans to distribute the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 established by Congress to benefit the victims of September 11 and their families. These e-mails have been organized here by date. September 11 Email September 11 Email: Body The basic content, as unstructured text; sometimes containing a signature block at the end. Wednesday, December 05, 2001 1:48 AM victims of Sept. 11 Dear Mr. Zwick: I have been informed that you are in the process of setting the guidelines for the relief package for the victims of September 11th and would like to comment on this package. September 11th was a horrid criminal act committed by people who decided to use violence in retaliation due to the USA not living by their social and moral code their religion dictates. This passing of judgment by others into our lives has caused us more pain and suffering than any of us could have ever thought was possible and has now changed us forever. While we strongly disagree with the murderous act of terrorism, and think it evil and immoral, those who committed this horrendous act think of themselves as martyrs and heroes. Considering the above, I ask you, is the relief fund going to do the same and pass more judgments, because certain people live differently than others and not up to another's social and moral code? I sincerely hope not. While there is tremendous debate about gay and lesbian couples and their place in our society, I believe this is one place it does not belong. All of these people are victims...in fact, the entire world was a victim that day. Please, give the gay and lesbian families the same treatment as you would any other family. Remember, a large percentage of these couples would have been married if it were legal yet our own religious and moral judgments have prevented them from doing so. Giving only to married, heterosexual couples is discriminatory against them jsut like our marriage laws. Also, please don't penalize the children of gay couples. They have lost a loved one or been displaced and are suffering the same as any other child that has lost a parent. Remember, we are a free country and while we may not agree with another's lifestyle, religion, or what have you, we are all equal under the law and should be treated as such. Homosexuality is not a chosen lifestyle and, just like we can not choose our race or sex, we can not choose our sexuality. In light of the tragedy our great country is facing, I hope you will agree that it is not the time nor the place to pass more judgments and pain on people who have already suffered greatly. Instead, we need to ban together and do all we can to help these victims get through the physical and emotions trauma's of this deed regardless of their sex, race, religion, or sexuality. Remember, each and every victim of these terrorists attacks died for our country and what we all stand for without any consideration of their sexuality. That makes them all heros in my book. I trust you will do the right thing. Thank you for your time. Sincerely, Individual Comment Kalispell, MT 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 dojA000663.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. Monday, January 21, 2002 1:49 PM Commentary on proposed compensation for 9/11 victims The airline bailout act gave the airlines $15 billion in cash and loan guarantees and capped the airlines' liability for the September 11 crashes at the limits of their insurance coverage. Because of this cap, the damage caused by the crashes greatly exceeds the private fund available to compensate victims and their families. Thus for the vast majority of victims and families, the cap has the effect of eliminating the right that they would otherwise have to sue the airlines. Congress set up the fund to ensure that the airline bailout would not come at the expense of the victims' families. The act mandates full and fair compensation to victims and their families for their actual economic and non-economic damages. DOJ has ignored this mandate and instead has written arbitrary regulations that will result in compensation levels far below the losses actual suffered by the victims and their families. In fact, many families' total compensation from the fund and all collateral sources combined will not even fully replace lost income. In effect, these families will not receive any of the non-economic compensation required by the statute. After collateral sources are deducted, as required by the statute, some families would receive nothing from the fund under the interim final regulations. DOJ's formula allows for non-economic awards at only one-tenth the level paid incomparable cases, even though Congress explicitly enumerated a broader range of non-economic damages than could be recovered in any single jurisdiction. DOJ's formula for non-economic damages is $250,000 for the person killed and $50,000 for the spouse and each dependent. In a wide variety of air crash and terrorism cases, however, judges, juries, and mediators commonly have provided non-economic damage awards well into the seven-figure range. Independent economists have found serious flaws in DOJ's method of calculating economic damages, including use of outdated and inapplicable work life and life-cycle earnings data. DOJ greatly underestimates promotions and other increases in earnings for victims. It relies on civil service and military retirement system actuarial data that track federal worker incomes and pension requirements, not the higher-paying private sector career paths followed by the vast majority of the victims. The interim final regulations also arbitrarily cap a victim's income at $231,000 a year. Combined with the faulty methodology described above, the income cap would result in some families receiving compensation for less than 25% of their actual economic losses. Under DOJ's rules, a family's award may be increased above the "presumptive" award only by a showing of "extraordinary circumstances" -- beyond those suffered by other victims or victims' families. This high burden of proof makes a charade of the right to a hearing provided by the statute. DOJ should fulfill the act's intent by revising the rules to compensate victims and their families for the types of damages specified by Congress, at levels comparable to those provided in the tort system the fund was designed to replace. While DOJ has shown flexibility on some aspects of the rules, it is resisting the victims' and families' requests for significant changes. If the proposed regulations are not changed significantly, victims' widows will have to sell their homes, deplete their children's college funds, and give up their plans of being full-time parents while their children are young. Many families, anticipating little relief from the fund, will decide to sue the airlines and others, despite the handicap of the liability limits. We do not believe these are the outcomes Congress intended. Thank you for giving this matter your immediate attention. Sincerely, Individual Comment Portland, OR September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2002-01-21 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource dojN002175.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. email Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-01-21 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Department of Justice Emails Description An account of the resource The Department of Justice received more than 11,000 e-mails in response to the agency's public solicitation for comments upon its plans to distribute the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 established by Congress to benefit the victims of September 11 and their families. These e-mails have been organized here by date. September 11 Email September 11 Email: Body The basic content, as unstructured text; sometimes containing a signature block at the end. December 13, 2001 Special Master Kenneth R. Feinberg September 11th Victim Compensation Fund U.S. Department of Justice 950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20530 To Mr. Feinberg: I am writing to urge you to ensure fair treatment for all surviving families of the tragedy on September 11th, including the children and families of low-wage workers and gay and lesbian families. Under traditional rules based on lost wages, the survivors of a bond trader earning millions of dollars per year might receive thousands of times as much compensation as the survivors of a dishwasher in one of the restaurants destroyed. Justice requires looking far beyond the last paycheck to the inherent worth of all those killed, so that a high minimum compensation level is set to lessen the disparities. It would be a double blow to the survivors to first lose their loved one and then watch as most of the taxpayer money went to those who were already well off in the first place. The second major issue has to do with recognizing the legitimacy of gay and lesbian relationships and families. Gay and lesbian families are especially vulnerable when one partner is killed. Because the option of marriage is unavailable, these families may find themselves in the traumatic predicament of having to prove that their union is legitimate. Fortunately both the Red Cross and the State of New York have already announced that they will not discriminate against gay and lesbian families. The Department of Justice should do the same. Thank you for considering my comments. I look forward to hearing how you will act on these very important issues. Sincerely, Individual Comment Mill Valley, CA September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2001-12-13 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource dojA001881.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. email Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2001-12-13 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Department of Justice Emails Description An account of the resource The Department of Justice received more than 11,000 e-mails in response to the agency's public solicitation for comments upon its plans to distribute the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 established by Congress to benefit the victims of September 11 and their families. These e-mails have been organized here by date. September 11 Email September 11 Email: Body The basic content, as unstructured text; sometimes containing a signature block at the end. Thursday, November 08, 2001 8:24 AM Victim Comments Hi, My wife and I live a block and 1/2 SW of the WTC. We were unable to return to our apartment until 2 weeks after the disaster. We had no apartment insurance so we did our own cleanup to remove the dust, wash, mop, decontaminate, etc. We lost all the frozen and perishable food in our refrigerator and threw out contaminated clothes and linens. We have moved back on weekdays but still stay with relatives on weekends because of the air quality and the need for us not to see the disaster site daily. Life has drastically changed in our neighborhood and it is difficult for us to move since we own the condo apartment. Many of the renters have already moved and many of the businesses have not reopened. Our windows are always closed and we have purchased 2 HEPA air filters which we run almost 24 hours a day. My commute has also been affected. I work in New Jersey and used to take the PATH train at the World Trade Center but it is no longer operational (estimate=18 to 24 months). Now I walk 10 minutes to Bowling Green to take an MTA east side train, change to a west side train to the Port Authority, to take a local bus over the Lincoln Tunnel. This takes me 2-3 times the time and 2 1/2 times the cost. We used to be able to feel free to go out at nights but no longer. The lack of other pedestrians and transportation difficulties has made us feel safer staying indoor. Please take our situation into consideration when you calculation the guidelines for victims compensation. Thank you, Individual Comment New York, N.Y. September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2001-11-08 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 dojW000230.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. 2001-11-08 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. Wednesday, March 13, 2002 11:17 AM I would like to add my protest to this decision to discriminate once more against life partners of gays and lesbians. (see below) So, in the end, pretty much everyone who died - including people who aren't even American citizens and were living in the US illegally - will automatically be honored by the September 11th Fund as deserving of America's special recognition and thanks. The sole exception will be gay and lesbian Americans, because Feinberg and the 911 Fund wouldn't want to do anything contrary to US law. (Unless of course it involves an illegal alien who isn't even American - then apparently it's okay to bend the rules.) Individual Comment Tubac, AZ September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2002-03-13 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource dojR000609.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. email Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-03-13 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Department of Justice Emails Description An account of the resource The Department of Justice received more than 11,000 e-mails in response to the agency's public solicitation for comments upon its plans to distribute the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 established by Congress to benefit the victims of September 11 and their families. These e-mails have been organized here by date. September 11 Email September 11 Email: Body The basic content, as unstructured text; sometimes containing a signature block at the end. REGARDING PROPOSED COMPENSATION FUND -WTC Victims' Daughter To: Kenneth Zweck Hi, my name is (age: 23) and I am a family member of one of the victims of the World Trade Center Tragedy. My father, , was a for on the floor of the first hit tower. He leaves behind four children and a spouse. My purpose in writing this letter is to strongly state my frustration and anger regarding the proposed Compensation Fund proposed by Kenneth Feinberg and to seek representation for families in our situation. Since the events of Sept. 11th, it has been my family's unfortunate circumstance to be at a disadvantage when decisions are made regarding how much financial assistance our family should receive. The problem at hand is as follows: My fathers age (56) and low income status. While this may seem like it is not a problem, it has been turned into one. You see, because my father is older and makes less than "the average" individual that passed away, we have been placed into a formula that shows that we should receive 1/3rd of what, "on average", other families receive. This situation has been a constant obstacle since the events of September 11th. It began with the Red Cross and continued through to Feinbergs' proposed compensation fund. In proposing the fund, Feinberg states that he "will not play Solomon" in deciding the amounts that families should receive in regards to pain and suffering. What he fails to recognize is that that is exactly what he has done; however, in a different context. He does so in a context that poses advantages to the wealthier and younger individuals and neglects the fact that the older lower income employees died the same way. He gives consistent reference to his attempts to decrease the disparity of the fund when it comes to the income of the employee, but lower and older income families (again, both characteristic of my father) see NOTHING BUT DISPARITY. Everyone keeps talking about "United We Stand" and "equality" since Sept. 11th, but situations like this make me feel that there is none of that. If that in fact did exist, this problem wouldn't exist. As an article once read, " If a kid is thirsty, you give him a glass of water...you do not ask if he is a rich kid or a poor kid"! This fund places families at the lower end of the spectrum in situation where they feel compelled to accept whatever is given through the fund. What I mean by this is, take my mom for example, she is 47 years old and basically with no option but to accept the fund because a lawsuit would take 10-15 years to come to a conclusion, if not more. Assuming she did win a lawsuit, what is any financial compensation to her when she is on her 60's? Money means nothing to her at that age. At the same time a lawsuit would mean many years of financial struggle because we are of lower income. I feel that when this fund was being thought out, these stipulations were known and taken advantage of and so the result of it was offering less to families who would have almost no choice but to accept the fund. I fail to mention that it is almost ridiculous that IF my mom choices to accept this fund, she signs away her rights to sue with an "estimated assumption" of the total she will get from it. So, she won't even know exactly how much she is getting. Sadly enough, I am sure that there are lower income families who have seen this $1.6 million average publicized and have signed away to this fund under the sad assumption that that is what they will receive only to find out later that it is not. Later...and too late when they cannot change there minds or sue! Since Sept. 11th occurred and different funds were set up, lower income families have had no real direct voice or representation on their behalf. Many do not have the education or knowledge to know where to go, many do not speak English. Navigating the system is difficult! I myself have sent letters only to receive no response! We have no means to determining a good lawyer from a bad one and no direction as to where to go and vent our frustration. This is a problem. As I write this, I have been told that revisions are being made to the proposed fund. However again, the voices of those being heard when these revisions are being taken into consideration are the voices of the higher income families. It is those voices, of the families that possibly received between $150,000 - $350,000 of life insurance, that are listened to because those families do not want their life insurance deducted from the fund (another item of the fund which I disagree with). However, the cries of those who received little or no insurance go unheard. This can be because they are unspoken, again, as many families do not know where to go and state their frustration in these scenarios. My father had a life and a horrific tragic unimaginable death in the face of those terrorist attacks. He worked employees that made possibly 3 times the amount that he did. Should that even matter? Either way you look at it, while we all have differences in our lifestyles, we are all one in life and death. Why should my mother receive 1/3rd of "the average". It is a ridiculous and insulting concept to even set forth when considering what happened to each one of those individuals that passed away. This fund has been handled as if it were a lawsuit, taking lost wages and potential earning power into consideration. This is not a lawsuit nor is it a normal lawsuit scenario so my mind goes blank in wondering why it continues to be handled as one. To the best of my knowledge, the main purpose of the fund, contrary to what feinberg states is to attract the families so that the issues of security negligence (to name one) are not taken to court and jeopardizing the airline industry. Instead it does the opposite, angers and insults the families making them want to sign lawsuit papers even faster. I also find it insulting that it mentions the deduction of pensions, life insurance, and workmans' death benefits from the fund. My father worked 30 years of this hard life in the restaurant in order to receive petty $107 monthly estimate that will go to my mom. Again, 30 YEARS!!! Why should the concept of having what he worked hard for be taken from our potential benefit through this fund, despite how minimal or great the amount may be. Overall, I would like you to consider this; The higher income, more prestigious wealthier families affected by 9/11 are upset at what the fund offers them in light of the family member they lost. If they are complaining, just imagine how we feel being in this situation of constant neglect from organizations such as Red Cross and by this fund. In writing this, again, I hope to reach out and find representation for families in this situation such as ours. My anger is strong but yet I fell defenseless and at a dead end when it comes to seeking assistance in stating my views and concerns and making them known. Any assistance or advice you can offer me would be greatly appreciated. I will desperately await a response from you in regards to this crucial matter. I can be reached at the above address or at . Your time is greatly appreciated but more importantly, your help is greatly needed. Thank You and Regards. Individual Comment Bronx, NY September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2002-02-15 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 dojN002596.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. email Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-02-15 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, January 06, 2002 10:28 PM WTC COMP. I am against any compensation from taxpayer money.The entire country gave donations for the victims and families. Now the government is going to make these people millionaires. IT'S NOT RIGHT! Individual Comment September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2002-01-06 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource dojN001369.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. 2002-01-06 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Department of Justice Emails Description An account of the resource The Department of Justice received more than 11,000 e-mails in response to the agency's public solicitation for comments upon its plans to distribute the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 established by Congress to benefit the victims of September 11 and their families. These e-mails have been organized here by date. September 11 Email September 11 Email: Body The basic content, as unstructured text; sometimes containing a signature block at the end. Tuesday, December 04, 2001 6:18 PM September 11 Victim Compensation Fund Regulation Comment Kenneth L. Zwick, Director Office of Management Programs, Civil Division U.S. Department of Justice Dear Mr. Zwick: RE: Your department's request for public comments regarding the forthcoming regulations for implementing and administering the "September 11 Victim Compensation Fund." I strongly urge that the regulations ensure compensation is available to all victims of the attack, including the committed partners and the non-biological children of gay and lesbian victims. It would be unconscionable to deny compensation to these families and their losses are no less than those suffered by others. It is shocking that any American would seek to deny any family what is rightfully due them. Just as the terrorists drew no lines in choosing their victims, our country must draw no lines in compensating those who suffered losses from these horrific attacks. Many Americans lost their lives on September 11, each of whom left behind loved ones. In the best spirit of the American way, I urge the Department treat every family the same. Sincerely, Individual Comment Maryville, TN September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2001-12-04 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource dojA000440.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. email Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2001-12-04 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Department of Justice Emails Description An account of the resource The Department of Justice received more than 11,000 e-mails in response to the agency's public solicitation for comments upon its plans to distribute the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 established by Congress to benefit the victims of September 11 and their families. These e-mails have been organized here by date. September 11 Email September 11 Email: Body The basic content, as unstructured text; sometimes containing a signature block at the end. December 18, 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 Cave Junction,OR September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2001-12-18 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 dojA005418.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. 2001-12-18 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Department of Justice Emails Description An account of the resource The Department of Justice received more than 11,000 e-mails in response to the agency's public solicitation for comments upon its plans to distribute the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 established by Congress to benefit the victims of September 11 and their families. These e-mails have been organized here by date. September 11 Email September 11 Email: Body The basic content, as unstructured text; sometimes containing a signature block at the end. Wednesday, November 14, 2001 12:34 PM Comments on September 11th Victim Compensation Fund November 14, 2001 VIA FACSIMILE Kenneth L. Zwick, Director Office of Management Programs Civil Division U.S. Department of Justice Main Building, Room 3140 950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20530 Re: September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 Dear Mr. Zwick: I write to provide some thoughts on how the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 could be structured to assure its success. My perspective comes from the rapid resolution of claims arising out of several disasters, including the largest oil spill in the Port of Los Angeles, the division of settlement proceeds among several large groups of clients, and 20+ years of personal injury litigation experience for both plaintiffs and defendants. SPEEDY RESOLUTION OF CLAIMS The most valuable feature of the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 is its potential for a speedy resolution of all claims. Rapid payment can make the Victim Compensation Fund superior to any other form of compensation, including tort litigation. Naturally, any compensation program that values a death or an injury will be imprecise. But the degree of acceptable imprecision will be much greater if the payments are made quickly. As such, the proposed implementation of "interim final rules" and the "waiver" of the 30-day effective date are essential to the success of this program. TRUST The non-adversarial character of this fund is also a critical feature in encouraging a speedy resolution. From my experience in settling 600 claims within 2 weeks of a major oil spill and all 2,000+ claims within 3 months, I know that trust is critical. It is hard to generate trust when parties believe their "opponent" is actively seeking an "adverse" outcome. To rapidly resolve the claims, claimants must believe we are all on the "same side of the table" and are all actively seeking the same fair outcome. FAIRNESS In distributing the Victim Compensation Fund, the "balancing factor" is not the interests of the government or an individual claimant's needs. The limits on an acceptable range of payments is an overall "fairness." How much each claimant should receive is governed by what is "fair" to all of the other claimants and the taxpayers of the United States government. "Fair" compensation must also reflect the compassion built into this compensation program that does not require proof of a liable, solvent, and available defendant. In other words, a higher or lower payment must be judged against consistent standards applied to all claimants in an overall just manner. SIMPLICITY To achieve the goals of a speedy and fair distribution, the program must be kept as simple as possible. While a tremendous amount of detailed information could be gathered for each claimant, greater detail will slow the process, diminishing the principal value of this program -- speed. BASIC INFORMATION With speed, fairness, and simplicity in mind, the following basic information should be gathered: (a) Identification of the Claimant. Each claimant should be required to provide his/her name, Social Security Number, date of birth, and contact information (address, telephone, fax, and e-mail). This should be coupled with the presentation of the claimant's government issued I.D. (e.g., driver's license) and proof of the claimant's eligibility to receive compensation (e.g., affidavit from an employer certifying the claimant's or decedent's presence at the affected area at the time of the tragedy, identification by the government of claimant's presence or decedent's death in the affected area at the time of the tragedy, medical records, death certificate, court order appointing claimant as a decedent's personal representative). This basic information will assure that the claimant is the right person to pay. (b) Past Income for Five Years. The claimant should provide his/her or the decedent's personal income for the past five years with proof in the form of tax returns or other acceptable economic information. If five years of income data is unavailable, the claimant should state why it is not possible to provide this information and offer substitute information. [Five years should reduce incentives for frivolous or fraudulent claims.] In addition, a personal representative on behalf of a decedent should provide the decedent's family's (or other dependents') total income for the same period and the source of that income. [This information will aid in the economic assessment of the amount of the decedent's income that should be attributed to the decedent's own consumption.] (c) Proof of Contribution. In the case of an unmarried decedent, there should be proof that a single decedent would have likely contributed to the support and care of others (e.g. parent, sibling, etc.) and the amount of that support, as shown by past conduct. The personal representative should also provide proof of the decedent's annual expenses for the past two years. [This is again an important factor in assessing the relative amount of expected consumption by the decedent.] Evidence of education, profession, licenses, and other indicators of future income would also be helpful. (d) Medical/Burial Expenses. To the extent the claimant has sustained medical or burial or other costs associated with the terrorist attacks, those amounts should be identified and documented. (e) Collateral Source Benefits. Each claimant should identify their entitlement to, or receipt of, any collateral source benefits from rights created before the September 11, 2001 (e.g. life insurance, medical insurance, unemployment compensation, social security benefits, pension funds, government benefit programs). Charitable payments and gifts received in the wake of the September 11th attack should not be considered. While it is unfair to consider any collateral source benefit (since it penalizes those who prepared and rewards those who did not prepare), the statute clearly requires deduction of collateral source benefit rights created before September 11. On the other hand, no one is "entitled" to pure charity and it would be difficult - practically and morally - to measure all of the charitable giving that a claimant may receive. As such, eliminating a deduction for charitable proceeds makes sense and would be a reasonable interpretation of the statute. (f) Dependents. Dependents (e.g. children, spouse, parents, etc.) should be identified by name, date of birth, and the special needs of any of the dependents. [This would again affect the ratio applied for the decedent's consumption.] (g) Other Information. Any other information that may be relevant to the appropriate amount of compensation should be provided as well with as much documentation as possible. To the extent stories about the family have been written in media publications (e.g. New York Times), the claimant may attach the article and state, under penalty of perjury, which portions of the article are true and correct. PERSONAL REPRESENTATION OF A DECEDENT The "personal representative" of a decedent should be designated by an order of a court of competent jurisdiction. The identification of all heirs, the allocation of funds among heirs, and the legal effect of wills and trusts are too complex to be administered by the Victim Compensation Fund. The state courts could develop simplified procedures for processing "personal representative" appointments but the state courts should remain in control of probate issues. ELECTRONIC WRITTEN RECORDS As much as possible, the information gathered should be in writing and in electronic form. Claims could be started by entry on a web page, faxes, or calls into central phone banks (where electronic written records would be initiated for review and approval by the claimant). Centers could be set up for receiving paperwork and scanning the paperwork into each claimant's file. Central scanning would assure consistent procedures for digitizing paper documents. All of the information submissions should be made under penalty of perjury. RELEASE FORMS AND CROSS-CHECKS Release forms for documents from third party sources should be utilized to gather information for each claim. Computer cross-checks of payments to claimants should be conducted with other relief funds, insurers, employers, and government agencies to assure fair distribution of the Victim Compensation Fund. Release forms should be used to permit access to this information. ECONOMIC LOSS FORMULA An economic loss formula should be created by a group of economists that would allow the insertion of a claimant's basic financial data and a calculation of the claimant's total economic loss (medical/burial expenses, past lost income, future lost income/support, etc.). Total past loss up to the date of the claim are easy to calculate. Future loss, however, must be projected with an appropriate inflation factor and present value discount factor based on the difference between the claimant's past income and present income with appropriate adjustments for anticipated bonuses, promotions, and changed economic conditions. This will be a more difficult calculation that may need an economist's input to appropriately adjust the number for reasonably expected future changes. To the extent more complicated economic loss calculations must be performed, the government should retain forensic economists who can perform these calculations. At a minimum, these economists must have a bachelors degree in economics and experience in calculating wrongful death damages. CONSUMPTION FACTOR In the case of decedents, a consumption formula would need to be developed. This would be the amount of income that would have been consumed by the decedent had he/she lived. This factor will be affected by the total family income, total number and age of the decedent's dependents, and the special needs of any of the decedent's dependents. NON-ECONOMIC LOSS FORMULA A formula should also be developed for non-economic loss. This would be based on the claimant's or decedent's economic loss or other equivalent factors (e.g. parental claim for loss of support by unmarried child). Two different schedules should be created, one for injuries and another for deaths. Each of the schedules should be based on the total economic loss (or equivalent factors) incurred with a range that would permit adjustment for special situations (e.g., number of dependents, special needs, and other special circumstances). The formula should also be based on jury verdict experience in the affected areas. A single formula should be applied to all deaths. No formula will be perfect but a rough formula would assure a more even distribution of the Victim Compensation Fund, would speed resolution of the claims, and would appropriately acknowledge the compassion built into this no-fault program. For example, the non-economic loss injury schedule may be as follows: 1. For economic losses of $250 or less, non-economic loss will be $250 - $1,000. 2. For economic losses between $251 and $500, non-economic loss will be $500 - $1,500. 3. For economic losses between $500 and $1,000, non-economic loss will be $750 - $3,500. For deaths, the non-economic loss may be as follows: 1. For economic losses less than $25,000, non-economic loss will be $50,000 - $150,000. 2. For economic losses between $25,001 and $50,000, non economic losses will be $100,000 - $250,000. 3. For economic losses between $50,001 and $100,000, non-economic losses will be $250,000 - $400,000. These are not proposed numbers. The exact numbers should be arrived at by a consensus of the panel discussed below looking at actual jury verdicts and settlements. But a formula similar to the foregoing would allow claimants to quickly know exactly how much they will receive and would assure a relatively fair distribution among all claimants. Of course, there will be special cases that will not easily fit within this structure. As we all know, jury verdicts are driven by the unique facts of each case. Still, a general matrix will help organize the facts of each case into similar categories so that this program can efficiently serve most of the claimants on a speedy and fair basis. Moreover, the panel may decide to reduce the complexity of this program even further by awarding lump sums to different categories in light of the compassionate goals of this program. PANEL TO DECIDE FORMULAS AND CRITERIA A panel of expert forensic economists, personal injury lawyers (plaintiff and defense), potential claimants, and judges, should be convened to recommend: (1) the limitations on the location of eligible claimants; (2) the criteria for eligible injuries; (3) the information/documentation/forms required; (4) date of "filing"; (5) the hearing and appeal process; (6) the schedule of payments and criteria for payment; (7) the required qualifications for hearing officers, economists, and others who may be needed to evaluate the claims to be presented, and (8) the default state law to be applied (a single state's laws should be utilized to assure uniform application of the program; New York probably has the most developed law among the affected states). PANEL TO RECOMMEND PAYMENTS Several additional panels of economists, personal injury lawyers, judges, and interested lay people (not claimants) should be convened to advise the Special Master on specific payments in difficult cases and to provide the Special Master with recommended actions on appeals. "FILING" A claim should not be deemed "filed" until all of the information and paperwork has been received, the claimant has been deemed eligible for compensation, an initial compensation payment has been determined, and the claimant has accepted or appealed the compensation payment. It is unfair to force a claimant to forego litigation rights without knowing their eligibility or likely compensation. HEARING OFFICERS Hearing officers should be trained to help claimants file their claim. A background in claims adjustment, personal injury investigation, paralegal work, or law would be helpful. But the guidelines for the program should be specific enough to direct the hearing officer in gathering the information required and determining the amount to be paid in compensation. Since this is a non-adversarial process, the goal is to be on the "same-side-of-the-table" as the claimants and help claimants put together the information and paperwork to fairly compensate them for their loss. The hearing officers may be available in person, by phone or by e-mail. FIRST DETERMINATION I would recommend the following procedure for payment of claims: 1. The amount of compensation to be paid should be first recommended by the hearing officer assigned to a claimant. 2. The payment recommendation should be stated and justified in writing by reference to the schedule and formulas prepared for all claimants. 3. The recommendation should be approved by a supervisor and may require further approval by a panel for amounts in excess of $1 million. 4. The hearing officer should notify the claimant of the first determination (after appropriate approval or modification of the recommendation) within 10 days of a claimant's submission of all paperwork. 5. The hearing officer should then ask the claimant to choose to accept, appeal, or reject the compensation payment. If the claimant accepts, payment should be issued within one week. [If possible, payment should be issued immediately.] If the claimant appeals, the determination on the appeal must be made within 120 days. An appeal should be deemed a "filing" of the claim. If the claimant rejects the compensation payment, the claimant should be deemed not to have "filed" and may pursue other remedies. 6. The claimant should have 30 days within which to accept, appeal, or reject the compensation payment. Failure to act within 30 days of notification of the first determination will result in the compensation payment being deemed rejected. 7. Upon rejection, the claimant may reapply within the statutory two-year period but no new compensation figure will be calculated absent proof of new evidence and manifest injustice in the original computation determination. If new evidence and legitimate grounds for a finding of manifest injustice are presented to the satisfaction of the hearing officer, a new compensation figure may be calculated. APPEAL An appeal process for the assessed compensation payment should be provided. The appeal should be based on putting the claimant in a higher category (that can be justified as fair with respect to all other claimants). An appeal is a "filing" as defined by the statute. The appeal will be heard by a panel who will make a recommendation to the Special Master. The Special Master will make the final determination within 120 days of the appeal and may change procedures based on the appeal provided that the change consistently affects all who file (before and after the appeal). POST-PAYMENT ADJUSTMENTS Compensation payments to claimants may be adjusted upward upon a change in compensation policy after a claimant receives a payment. The payment will not be adjusted downward even if a later change in policy would have resulted in a lower compensation payment to a claimant who has already received their payment. [This will encourage early filing and allow for flexibility in the latter stages of the program.] ORAL RECORDINGS UNNECESSARY Oral recordings (other than claims submitted by phone) are unnecessary. The claim should be based upon the written submissions under penalty of perjury. Hearing officers may help claimants prepare the written submissions but it will be the written submissions that will govern the amount of the compensation payment. RAPID PAYMENT In order to encourage rapid resolution of all claims, the compensation payment should be issued as soon as a claimant accepts the calculated total payment and "files" his/her claim under penalty of perjury. Although the statute provides 120 days for evaluation of the claim and 20 days for payment upon determination of eligibility and the amount of payment, the central strength of this program is speed. This central strength will be diluted by any delay in payment and will not encourage early filing by potential claimants. [In the oil spill where we settled 600 claims in 2 weeks and all 2,000+ claims in 3 months, we paid within 24 hours of our damage assessment and immediately upon presentation of all necessary paperwork. This was a critical factor in the rapid resolution of all of the claims.] TAX LIABILITY PENALTY All claimants should agree upon filing of a claim that any false statements will result in an automatic tax liability to the federal government in a maximum amount ten times the excessive amount received by the false statement. The government will give the claimant notice before any assessment and give the claimant 60 days to show why the tax assessment should not be granted by a court of competent jurisdiction. The multiple should be adjusted depending upon the degree to which the false statement was knowing and intentional. The burden of proof should be on the claimant to show why the assessment should not issue. FEES Only fees and costs incurred by the government in processing and evaluating claims should be paid. No fees or costs incurred by a claimant should be paid. Each claimant may use their own consultants and lawyers but compensation for those services should not be imposed upon the government. SETTLEMENT WITH POTENTIAL DEFENDANTS To alleviate concerns about the collateral source rule, settlement should be achieved with the airlines and potential defendants (under the statute's subrogation rights) to pay differences that may be created by the statute's collateral source rules. PURPOSE OF FUND Finally, the Victim Compensation Fund should make its purpose clear. Liability, solvency, and the availability of a culpable defendant are not issues in this program. The program compassionately seeks to supplement existing rights of claimants to minimize the suffering caused by this tragedy. This compensation program will not be perfect and will not satisfy everyone. But it should strive to speedily and fairly help victims move forward so that all of us can begin to heal as quickly as possible. Again, speed is critical. I hope these comments are helpful. Very truly yours, Individual Comment Los Angeles, CA September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2001-11-14 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 dojW000342.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. 2001-11-14 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. December 13, 2001 Special Master Kenneth R. Feinberg September 11th Victim Compensation Fund U.S. Department of Justice 950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20530 To Mr. Feinberg: I am writing to urge you to ensure fair treatment for all surviving families of the tragedy on September 11th, including the children and families of low-wage workers and gay and lesbian families. Under traditional rules based on lost wages, the survivors of a bond trader earning millions of dollars per year might receive thousands of times as much compensation as the survivors of a dishwasher in one of the restaurants destroyed. Justice requires looking far beyond the last paycheck to the inherent worth of all those killed, so that a high minimum compensation level is set to lessen the disparities. It would be a double blow to the survivors to first lose their loved one and then watch as most of the taxpayer money went to those who were already well off in the first place. The second major issue has to do with recognizing the legitimacy of gay and lesbian relationships and families. Gay and lesbian families are especially vulnerable when one partner is killed. Because the option of marriage is unavailable, these families may find themselves in the traumatic predicament of having to prove that their union is legitimate. Fortunately both the Red Cross and the State of New York have already announced that they will not discriminate against gay and lesbian families. The Department of Justice should do the same. Thank you for considering my comments. I look forward to hearing how you will act on these very important issues. Sincerely, Individual Comment Shingletown, CA September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2001-12-13 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource dojA001796.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. email Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2001-12-13 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Department of Justice Emails Description An account of the resource The Department of Justice received more than 11,000 e-mails in response to the agency's public solicitation for comments upon its plans to distribute the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 established by Congress to benefit the victims of September 11 and their families. These e-mails have been organized here by date. September 11 Email September 11 Email: Body The basic content, as unstructured text; sometimes containing a signature block at the end. Sunday, March 17, 2002 6:11 PM victim compensation To whom it may concern; If compensation is to be allocated to individuals, this should be fairly distributed. Penalising sections of the community because of lifestyle choices is divisive.. Haven't these victims suffered enough???? 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 dojR001518.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