814 20 70359 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Department of Justice Emails Description An account of the resource The Department of Justice received more than 11,000 e-mails in response to the agency's public solicitation for comments upon its plans to distribute the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 established by Congress to benefit the victims of September 11 and their families. These e-mails have been organized here by date. September 11 Email September 11 Email: Body The basic content, as unstructured text; sometimes containing a signature block at the end. Wednesday, December 05, 2001 3:23 PM Extend Aid to Gay Families I am New York City resident and voter, and I am writing to show my support for extending federal aid to gay families affected by the events of September 11. Any gay individuals and/or anyone depending on support from those injured and/or displaced by the event deserve to be assisted by federal funds. To exclude these victims is to exhibit the same hatred that fueled the terrorist attacks. Do not let this happen. Thank you for your attention to this matter. Individual Comment Astoria, NY 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 dojA000817.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. Tuesday, November 06, 2001 12:15 PM LEAVE IT TO A BUNCH OF POLITICIANS WHO HAVE BEEN DOUBLE DIPPING FOR AGES TO WORRY ABOUT OVERPAYING VICTIMS OF A NATIONAL DISASTER. IT'S NOT ENOUGH TO JUST LET THEM DEAL WITH THE IMPACT OF THEIR PERSONAL TRAGEDIES, BUT LET'S MAKE PUTTING THEIR LIVES BACK TOGETHER EVEN MORE DIFFICULT. ONLY IN WASHINGTON. GIVE IT A REST. DO YOU HAVE TO MESS WITH EVERYTHING, EVEN WHAT'S NOT BROKEN, NO WONDER NO ONE VOTES ANYMORE. Individual Comment September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2001-11-06 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 dojW000091.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. 2001-11-06 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. Monday, March 11, 2002 12:18 PM Benefits for Gay Partners of 9/11 victims I merely want to applaud the decision to "not necessarily" issue benefits to the gay partners of those who were killed by the terrorist attacks on 9/11 (per Kenneth Feinberg on 3/10 broadcast of "Meet The Press"). I sincerely hope you do not cave in to the gay rights political agenda's (poorly masked) efforts to "extort" funds that my tax dollars have helped pay for. 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 dojR000184.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. email Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-03-11 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Department of Justice Emails Description An account of the resource The Department of Justice received more than 11,000 e-mails in response to the agency's public solicitation for comments upon its plans to distribute the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 established by Congress to benefit the victims of September 11 and their families. These e-mails have been organized here by date. September 11 Email September 11 Email: Body The basic content, as unstructured text; sometimes containing a signature block at the end. Wednesday, November 28, 2001 7:58 PM 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund To Mr. Kenneth L. Zwick- This e-mail concerns the September 11 Victim Compensation Fund. I am writing to urge the Department of Justice to include among relatives eligible for compensation those who lost their life partners or de facto parents or children, regardless of sexual orientation or marital status. Thank you for your time. Individual Comment Harrisonburg, VA September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2001-11-28 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource dojA000145.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. email Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2001-11-28 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Department of Justice Emails Description An account of the resource The Department of Justice received more than 11,000 e-mails in response to the agency's public solicitation for comments upon its plans to distribute the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 established by Congress to benefit the victims of September 11 and their families. These e-mails have been organized here by date. September 11 Email September 11 Email: Body The basic content, as unstructured text; sometimes containing a signature block at the end. Monday, January 07, 2002 11:46 AM Don't sponser agiveaway for the greedy The families of victims of Sept. 11th Terrorist attack should not receive a dime more than those of the Oklahoma Terrorist attack or of any of the other attacks against the American people. The victims chose to work in the WTC, so be it. I don't know any of the victims from any of the terrorist attacks. All I know is the rest of us have to learn how to survive with out any help, why can't they do the same? I lost my job due to NAFTA that Clinton so willingly signed and now I have lost my medical insurance due to costs. I am a 61 year old handicapped woman and I realize that life must go on. My faith in our Lord has not diminished and I will receive all I need to survive until he calls me home. May God bless America and all the faithful leaders. And I am not afraid to sign my name. Individual Comment Abingdon, VA. 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 dojN001418.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. 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 San Francisco,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 dojA005144.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. 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 Broomall, PA 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 dojA005262.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. December 14, 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 South Pasadena, CA September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2001-12-14 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 dojA004964.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. 2001-12-14 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. Friday, March 15, 2002 1:32 PM Commentary, by When will this great country of ours finally recognize that long term same sex relationships should be legally honored the same as a heterosexual relationship? I find the fact that the 9/11 fund is not compensating the Partners of the Gay American citizens who lost there lives in the attacks absolutely appalling. Isn't is enough that the self righteous people or our great country, who regard Gay relationships unworthy, deny them the legal right to be married? Now we are slapping them in the face after the tragedy that shook our Nation, our World? I must think twice about contributing to 9/11 funds that discriminate against the Gay Americans directly affected by the horrible events of that horrible day. Sincerely, Individual Comment September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2002-03-15 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 dojR000850.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. 2002-03-15 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Department of Justice Emails Description An account of the resource The Department of Justice received more than 11,000 e-mails in response to the agency's public solicitation for comments upon its plans to distribute the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 established by Congress to benefit the victims of September 11 and their families. These e-mails have been organized here by date. September 11 Email September 11 Email: Body The basic content, as unstructured text; sometimes containing a signature block at the end. Wednesday, January 23, 2002 10:26 PM New Comments At today's Family Meeting held in Ridgewood, NJ with Special Master Kenneth Feinberg, it was stated that additional comments would be allowed up until around Feb 1. Here are mine: My wife was killed in WTC2 while a visitor to a brokerage firm. We were a two income household. The Interim Rules exclude two key points that will apply to my situation: 1) The rules as they describe the "consumption factor" that is deducted from economic damages are not specific. In two-income households, the percent of the victim's salary that would be applied toward 'consumption' that is assumed in the model would be at most half of what was deducted. In the Final Rules, please clarify how the Consumption Factor is determined and be specific for one versus two income households. 2) The Economic Damage formula does not take into consideration the loss of earnings potential and limited advancement of the surviving working spouse. My career is now derailed and my earnings potential is much less than before Sept. 11. How and where would this be applied? Thank you. Individual Comment Paramus, NJ September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2002-01-23 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource dojP000040.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. email Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-01-23 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Department of Justice Emails Description An account of the resource The Department of Justice received more than 11,000 e-mails in response to the agency's public solicitation for comments upon its plans to distribute the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 established by Congress to benefit the victims of September 11 and their families. These e-mails have been organized here by date. September 11 Email September 11 Email: Body The basic content, as unstructured text; sometimes containing a signature block at the end. Thursday, December 20, 2001 11:06 AM September 11 Victims Relief Fund December 20, 2001 Dear Mr. Kenneth Zwick, I write as a member of Amnesty International, a worldwide human rights movement committed to ensuring respect for the basic human rights of people without discrimination, in support of equal access to benefits under the September 11 Victims Relief Fund for all victims, regardless of sexual orientation or marital status. As you know, the United States has committed to uphold international human rights standards, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which prohibit arbitrary discrimination. As you consider rules for administering the relief fund, I ask that you apply basic international human rights standards, and the general principle of equality, by including among relatives eligible for compensation those who lost their life partners, as well as de facto parents or children, without regard to sexual orientation or marital status. The State of New York has already adopted such a policy, granting compensation benefits "on a showing of mutual interdependence with the victim, in recognition that anyone who shared with the victim living expenses, day to day activities and the emotional bonds of family deserves help in this time of need." Many 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 St. Louis, MO September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2001-12-20 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource dojA004244.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. email Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2001-12-20 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Department of Justice Emails Description An account of the resource The Department of Justice received more than 11,000 e-mails in response to the agency's public solicitation for comments upon its plans to distribute the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 established by Congress to benefit the victims of September 11 and their families. These e-mails have been organized here by date. September 11 Email September 11 Email: Body The basic content, as unstructured text; sometimes containing a signature block at the end. Tuesday, January 15, 2002 8:19 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. 2002-01-15 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 dojN001708.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. email Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-01-15 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Department of Justice Emails Description An account of the resource The Department of Justice received more than 11,000 e-mails in response to the agency's public solicitation for comments upon its plans to distribute the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 established by Congress to benefit the victims of September 11 and their families. These e-mails have been organized here by date. September 11 Email September 11 Email: Body The basic content, as unstructured text; sometimes containing a signature block at the end. Wednesday, November 07, 2001 4:00 PM Comments - 9-11 Victims Compensation Fund Public Comment re: September 11th Victims Compensation Fund. I welcome the opportunity, as an American citizen and taxpayer, to offer my opinion on this subject. Please note that my comments come with all due respect and sympathy to those who lost the lives of loved ones and/or property as a result of these dastardly acts. However, I believe the bill including this Fund should never have been passed in the first place. I was disappointed that our "leaders" in Washington felt obliged to respond with such haste and such little thought. One expects leaders to recognize that doing nothing (at least until the situation can be properly assessed) is also an option. At the height of public hysteria and chaos, one expects cooler heads to prevail. Having said that and realizing that the horse is out of the barn, I most assuredly expect that families who are deemed eligible will not receive funds for expenses already covered by charities and further, will have charitable benefits taken into account as collateral sources of compensation. I have given to some of those charities because I wanted to. I don't want to end up with an additional tax burden or another budget deficit because our leaders went off half-cocked - again! We're going to have plenty of places where we will need money to protect the citizens of this country. It is always a tragedy when loved ones die and/or there is a disaster that results in property loss. All citizens must prepare every day for the possibility that something might happen - yes, even something of this magnitude. Sure, there are exceptions, emergencies beyond our wildest imaginations - that's why we have FEMA. If we start compensating victims of war - and we know these were acts of war, not just acts of terrorism - we don't have enough money, now or ever. And how far back do we go? What have we done for the victims of the other recent and not so recent acts of terrorism - the USS Cole, the embassies in Africa, the barracks in Libya, the plane over Scotland - and what's yet to come. We have been told there is more to come, haven't we? Did we ever compensate people who suffered loss from the bombing of Pearl Harbor? If we didn't, so be it - how is this different? If we did, how did it work - could it be our model? We Americans seem to think the answer to everything is throwing money at the problem. It, more often than not, is not the answer. Why can't we just take the models we have in place - they work don't they - and not open up a can of worms that we'll regret for a long time to come? None of us will be the same after 9-11 but creating a monster in the name of relief that will be the source of controversy, lawsuit, debate, and potential abuse is not going to get us closer to getting on with our lives. Stop worrying about speed so much and consider fairness to all the Americans who were impacted - and that is all of us. From the bits I've seen and read, those folks who were family members of the big-bucks people who died, have access to computers, have been well educated, and can probably afford the time to communicate with every possible agency to seek out money. Who's going to do that for the little guy? I suggest you take some of that money and start figuring out how to really identify those who were impacted and to what degree. It amazes me, with all our so-called technology; we still have the city of New York identifying about 2,500 more missing than the charities that are handing out money. I don't believe if there's money being handed out, people are not going to come forward. As far as how to solve this dilemma, I suggest keeping in mind the words "reasonable and fair". The only way I can imagine it is if very strict rules (not guidelines) are established and then adhered to. That means putting the necessary controls into place to ensure there are no exceptions. Draw up a table - like the IRS does. Lost, a parent. Head of household? Yes, you get x dollars. No, you get y dollars. Lost a child. Was the child married? Yes, you get nothing - it goes to his/her surviving spouse. No, one (and only one) surviving parent gets x dollars. Etc., etc. until all the bases are covered. Then, finally, was there income from collateral sources (including charities)? Yes, subtract it from the amount on line x - you receive the balance. No, you get this amount. As for disputes among relatives over filing a claim, that's where you must stand firm. There must be a deadline for filing and a date for final payment. You must have the capability to attach all claims to one person (social security number) or property (legal description). Prior to any payment, all multiple claimants against one person/property must agree to one recipient and retract all other claims. If not, the lowest computed settlement goes to "the estate of" the person or property owner and the courts can work it out through the probate process if needs be. Nobody said this would be easy but it's important you get your best minds working on this, tighten it down, and then - and only then - publish it to the world and get on with it. Remember, no amount of money is going to make these victims whole. Knowing they live in a free country where their leaders do everything possible to protect them and treat them reasonably and fairly will go a lot further. Thank you for the opportunity to provide my input. Individual Comment Knoxville, Tennessee September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2001-11-07 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 dojW000251.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. 2001-11-07 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. Saturday, December 22, 2001 2:31 AM Equal Access to Crisis Relief Benefits 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 Springfield, MO 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 dojN000668.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. Wednesday, November 07, 2001 11:22 AM Sept 11 Victims Comp Fund It seems to me that the legislation is clear; it did not include a provision that would reduce benefits to victims based on charitable giving. Further, it was hasty not to include such exclusions. The American taxpayer is burdened enough. While we as a nation are horrified by this act of terrorism, the victims should not be enriched by this tragedy at the expense of the taxpayer. There are huge sums of charitable funds out there for distribution if someone can figure out a fair distribution process. I am also of the opinion that this money should never, ever be used as a source of funds to compensate for the costs associated with legal action. Was this not the original spirit of the legislation; i.e., to bail out the airlines and provide a no-fault clause that prevented litigation. It is inconsistent to allow this money to be spent on legal costs. The voice of reason dictates that we not enrich the lawyers. There should, however, be an appeal process for special situation cases including mandatory releases when victims are the recipient of these funds. Thank you for this opportunity to respond Individual Comment September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2001-11-07 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 dojW000173.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. 2001-11-07 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. Monday, November 26, 2001 11:50 AM Comments on notice of inquiry and advance notice of rulemaking Dear Mr. Zwick, Attached please find comments I have regarding the proposed rulemaking relating to the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001. Sincerely, Attachment 1: November 25, 2001 Kenneth L. Zwick Director, Office of Management Programs Civil Division U.S. Department of Justice Main Building, Room 3140 950 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20530 Via email at victimcomp.comments@usdoj.gov Re: Comments on Notice of Inquiry and Advance Notice of Rulemaking, September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 Dear Mr. Zwick: My husband, , was killed in the terrorist attack on the Pentagon on September 11, 2001. I have several comments regarding the published notice of inquiry and advance notice of rulemaking published in the Federal Register on November 5, 2001: 1. In general I do not object to the use of the "interim final" rules procedure, given the time constraints. However, it is not clear from the notice how such a procedure impacts the claimants who file claims based on the "interim" rules. It would seem that in using this procedure persons with similar claims could be treated differently depending on when they file a claim. I believe that there will be a strong outcry if persons are treated differently either procedurally or substantively. Similarly, in topic #6 the comment regarding noneconomic losses indicates that the Department is considering making "meaningful distinctions" between persons who died in different locations. I cannot imagine what "meaningful" distinctions could be made based on the location of the death from these terrorist acts; thus it is difficult to comment fully on this issue. However, I would suggest that the Department apply a very strict scrutiny to any distinctions it considers making between victims, particularly those based on the location of the death. 2. Topic #1 & 2 solicits comments on whether every claimant should be permitted an oral hearing. While I do not have any comments as to whether hearing officers should be used or what their qualifications should be, I do believe that there should be a procedure for an oral hearing, particularly in light of the statutory right for the claimant to present witnesses and the lack of judicial review. The presentation of witnesses presumes that an oral hearing will be held, with all of the credibility determinations that involves. In addition, for practical reasons, there may be questions that arise from the information provided by the claimant that are more expeditiously answered in an oral hearing. While it might seem that a hearing would cut into the decision-making process, it may prove to be the most expeditious manner for the Special Master to get answers to questions arising from the evidence presented in order to meet the statutorily imposed deadline for decision. 3. There is nothing in the statute to indicate that the Department has the authority to limit the types and amounts of fees that may be charged by those assisting claimants (such as lawyers, accountants, economists). 4. The use of the term "personal representative" in section 405(c)(2)(C) of the statute clearly limits the type of person who may file a claim. Therefore, all claimants should be appointed personal representatives by a court. In effect, the claimant is the estate in every case where a death resulted from the act. (In injury cases the injured party themselves would be the claimant.). This eases the burden on the Special Master in the initial questions of determination of eligibility and puts the issues of notification of other "survivors" or heirs into state court designed specifically to deal with those issues. Similarly, the personal representative would not need to get the waivers of litigation rights from other "survivors" because he/she represents only the estate and not the other "survivors". 5. The rules make it clear that the Department does not want to require the use of economic experts, however, it does not address the issue of whether it would permit such evidence to be presented by a claimant. If the Department neither allows nor requires such evidence, should the Department hire an economist to assist the special master on behalf of all claimants? 6. It does not appear from the language of the statute that charitable contributions were intended to be included in the definition of collateral source. The statute defines the term to include: life insurance, pension funds, death benefit programs, and payments by governments. While I might argue the policy decision to include any of the above as collateral sources, it is a legal stretch to include charitable contributions as a "death benefit program". In addition, it will be almost impossible to quantify the "potential future collateral source payments" if such charitable contributions are included. To a certain extent the answer to this question comes back to the issue of who the claimant is. If the claimant is required to be the personal representative, there would be less of an issue because the charitable contributions that have been disbursed have been payable not to the decedent or the estate, but to the individual family members who survived. 7. While the statute makes it clear that persons who take under the Fund are giving up their rights to judicial review of the decision, in most cases where a benefit is payable through an administrative process without judicial review, an internal appeal process is provided. I believe the Department should include some type of administrative appeal or review, even if it is limited in scope or manner, and that such review should be heard by the Attorney General. Thank you for the opportunity to comment on these proposed rules. Respectfully submitted, 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 dojW000568.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. Thursday, December 20, 2001 12:20 PM fairness December 20, 2001 Dear Mr. Kenneth Zwick, I write as a member of Amnesty International, a worldwide human rights movement committed to ensuring respect for the basic human rights of people without discrimination, in support of equal access to benefits under the September 11 Victims Relief Fund for all victims, regardless of sexual orientation or marital status. As you know, the United States has committed to uphold international human rights standards, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which prohibit arbitrary discrimination. As you consider rules for administering the relief fund, I ask that you apply basic international human rights standards, and the general principle of equality, by including among relatives eligible for compensation those who lost their life partners, as well as de facto parents or children, without regard to sexual orientation or marital status. The State of New York has already adopted such a policy, granting compensation benefits "on a showing of mutual interdependence with the victim, in recognition that anyone who shared with the victim living expenses, day to day activities and the emotional bonds of family deserves help in this time of need." Many 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 Brooklyn, Ny September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2001-12-20 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource dojA004297.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. email Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2001-12-20 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Department of Justice Emails Description An account of the resource The Department of Justice received more than 11,000 e-mails in response to the agency's public solicitation for comments upon its plans to distribute the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 established by Congress to benefit the victims of September 11 and their families. These e-mails have been organized here by date. September 11 Email September 11 Email: Body The basic content, as unstructured text; sometimes containing a signature block at the end. Thursday, December 20, 2001 1:10 PM Fairness regardless of sexual orientation December 20, 2001 Dear Mr. Kenneth Zwick, I write as a member of Amnesty International, a worldwide human rights movement committed to ensuring respect for the basic human rights of people without discrimination, in support of equal access to benefits under the September 11 Victims Relief Fund for all victims, regardless of sexual orientation or marital status. As you know, the United States has committed to uphold international human rights standards, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which prohibit arbitrary discrimination. As you consider rules for administering the relief fund, I ask that you apply basic international human rights standards, and the general principle of equality, by including among relatives eligible for compensation those who lost their life partners, as well as de facto parents or children, without regard to sexual orientation or marital status. The State of New York has already adopted such a policy, granting compensation benefits "on a showing of mutual interdependence with the victim, in recognition that anyone who shared with the victim living expenses, day to day activities and the emotional bonds of family deserves help in this time of need." Many 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 Santa Rosa, CA September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2001-12-20 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource dojA004495.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. email Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2001-12-20 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Department of Justice Emails Description An account of the resource The Department of Justice received more than 11,000 e-mails in response to the agency's public solicitation for comments upon its plans to distribute the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 established by Congress to benefit the victims of September 11 and their families. These e-mails have been organized here by date. September 11 Email September 11 Email: Body The basic content, as unstructured text; sometimes containing a signature block at the end. Monday, November 26, 2001 2:24 PM Comments on September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 M E M O R A N D U M TO: Department of Justice DATE: November 26, 2001 RE: Comments on the Air Transportation Safety And System Stabilization Act (the "Act") from the Massachusetts Bar Association's Presidential Task Force on the Preservation of Rights, Liberties, and Access to Justice. Please find attached the above-mentioned comments which are being submitted by the Massachusetts Bar Association and are due to the Department of Justice by today, November 26, 2001. We are also faxing a copy to you today at 301-519-5956. If you have any questions concerning these comments, please do not hesitate to contact me at . Attachment 1: TO: Department of Justice FROM: The Massachusetts Bar Association's Presidential Task Force on the Preservation of Rights, Liberties, and Access to Justice DATE: November 26, 2001 RE: Comments on Air Transportation Safety And System Stabilization Act (the "Act") The following are comments from the Massachusetts Bar Association, which were endorsed at the House of Delegates meeting on November 26, 2001 to be submitted to the Department of Justice on November 26, 2001. The September 11th Victim Compensation Fund was established to provide for the expeditious and fair compensation to the victims of our nation's tragedy. It is imperative that the Fund be administered in a just manner consistent with traditional tort damage principles, so as to foster support for the Fund. Because the participants in the Fund will waive their rights to file any other action related to the tragedy of September 11th, we must ensure that their participation as claimants in the Fund is both fair and consistent with the longstanding principles of our civil justice system. Section 405 (b) (1) (B) (ii) of the Act provides that the Special Master shall review a claim submitted and, with respect to a claimant determined to be an eligible individual, award: ...the amount of compensation to which the claimant is entitled based on the harm to the claimant, the facts of the claim, and the individual circumstances of the claimant. Consequently, the Act dictates that participants in the Fund be treated as individuals and not as a class. Additionally, each claimant should be afforded his or her due process rights as provided by Section 405 of the legislation and each claim should be adjudged on its own merits. The MBA rejects and opposes the suggestion made by the ABA Task Force that the Fund should be administered with a view toward "horizontal equity". We also oppose the ABA's assertion that "predictability" will require that "appropriate ranges of recovery" be fixed in advance of adjudication. The MBA explicitly opposes the institution of a matrix system in order to administer the Fund, whereby individual claims would be categorized and processed by arbitrary class systems, and the MBA rejects any attempt to introduce structure and rigidity into awards, to set ranges of awards, and to cap damages. The MBA further believes that the administration of the Fund should adhere to traditional collateral source rule principles. Specifically, we oppose the inclusion of charitable gifts in the calculation of collateral sources. Voluntary payments to the various charitable funds that have been established, to the extent payments in turn are made to claimants, should not be counted against whatever is otherwise payable from the Fund. First, such inclusion would represent an unprecedented digression from traditional tort damage principles and create a dangerous precedent for the future. Second, inclusion of charitable gifts may have a severe and enduring chilling effect upon charitable giving in the future. Third, administering the Fund in this way may create a disincentive to participate in the Fund. The MBA agrees substantially with the proposal submitted by Senators Daschle and Leahy and Congressmen Gephardt and Conyers on October 25, 2001. Specifically, the MBA urges the Department of Justice to include the following in the regulations it promulgates: 1. A definition of collateral source which mirrors the language of Section 402 (4) of the Act, but also specifically states: It shall (collateral source) not include any grants or gifts given, or expected to be given, to the claimant as a result of the terrorist-related aircraft crashes on September 11, 2001, from any non-profit, religious, or other charitable 501 (c) (3) organization. Also, the reduction of the award should only include collateral source compensation the claimant has received, and is reasonably certain to receive in the future. 2. The Special Master should appoint the Hearing Officers rather than the Attorney General, since the Act clearly places such authority on the Special Master. 3. Given the complexity of damages, the uniqueness of the procedure, and the finality of the decision, use of a lawyer in the claims process is strongly encouraged. 4. Any form promulgated for presentment of a claim must contain the following information in clear-unambiguous language: a. The claimant has the right to be represented by a lawyer. b. In presenting this claim, the claimant is forever waiving his/her right to file a civil suit, and to have a jury determine the economic and non-economic damages sustained as a result of the catastrophe on September 11, 2001. c. The availability and location of pro-bono lawyers offering assistance to those presenting claims. d. There is no right of appeal from the decision of the Special Master. 5. Since a claim is not deemed filed upon submission, but rather upon the determination that it is complete, the regulation must provide an extension mechanism for claims submitted on or near the two-year deadline. 6. The amount of compensation sought should not be stated on the form completed. Claimants proceeding without the benefit of counsel may be placed in a disadvantageous position if this amount is included. Although under some proposals the award may exceed the amount sought, by requesting a specific amount, the claimant may be limiting his/her recovery because a hearing officer is not likely to award an amount vastly greater than that requested. 7. Since the Act clearly provides claimants with the right to present evidence, including the presentation of witnesses and documents {Section 405 (b) (4)}, claimants must be afforded the opportunity to present their claims to hearing officers. An appeal or review to the Special Master provides a necessary safety net. 8. The hearing officer shall award economic and non-economic damages in accordance with the elements of those damages specified under Section 402, subsections (5) and (7). Of particular importance in making these awards is the intent of Congress that non-economic damages not be limited by any unique state law provisions. 9. The deduction of collateral source payments from any award must be stated specifically, and the award must address the right of subrogation for certain collateral source payments. Additionally, the collateral source deductions shall only be made from the award to the beneficiary receiving the collateral source. 10. Life insurance, pension funds, and death benefit programs shall be defined to exclude the present value of amounts contributed by the claimant or the decedent to any such funds, programs, or benefits. In conclusion, the MBA supports the efforts of Congress in establishing the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001. We hope that the Fund will be administered in a fair manner, so that compensation will occur swiftly and justly for the many affected families. In order to meet these goals, the administration of the Fund must preserve the due process rights of all claimants, and allow for full compensation as provided by the legislation. We urge the Department of Justice to adopt the principles set forth above, so as to administer the Fund in a just and compassionate manner. Comment By: The Massachusetts Bar Association's Presidential Task Force on the Preservation of Rights, Liberties, and Access to Justice 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 dojW000591.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. December 14, 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 San Francisco, CA September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2001-12-14 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 dojA004789.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. 2001-12-14