923 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 19, 2001 4:18 PM Equal Access to Crisis Relief Benefits December 19, 2001 Dear Mr. Kenneth Zwick, I write as a member of Amnesty International, a worldwide human rights movement committed to ensuring respect for the basic human rights of people without discrimination, in support of equal access to benefits under the September 11 Victims Relief Fund for all victims, regardless of sexual orientation or marital status. As you know, the United States has committed to uphold international human rights standards, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which prohibit arbitrary discrimination. As you consider rules for administering the relief fund, I ask that you apply basic international human rights standards, and the general principle of equality, by including among relatives eligible for compensation those who lost their life partners, as well as de facto parents or children, without regard to sexual orientation or marital status. The State of New York has already adopted such a policy, granting compensation benefits "on a showing of mutual interdependence with the victim, in recognition that anyone who shared with the victim living expenses, day to day activities and the emotional bonds of family deserves help in this time of need." Many lesbian and gay people were killed in the September 11th attacks. Since then, lesbian and gay surviving partners of those killed have had mixed results in obtaining equal treatment at the local level in the distribution of relief funds by private and state agencies. An inclusive policy on the part of the federal government would help establish an important principle for other such funds. In compensating victims, real justice will be served only when all families - and all types of families - impacted by the human rights tragedy of September 11 are treated with dignity and equality. Thank you for considering my concerns. I look forward to hearing from you about your efforts to ensure that all surviving victims of the September 11 attacks have equal access to the relief fund. Sincerely, Individual Comment Valencia, 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 dojA003517.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. Thursday, December 27, 2001 2:19 AM Equal access the crisis relief benefits December 27, 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 Decatur, GA September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2001-12-27 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 dojN000987.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. 2001-12-27 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Department of Justice Emails Description An account of the resource The Department of Justice received more than 11,000 e-mails in response to the agency's public solicitation for comments upon its plans to distribute the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 established by Congress to benefit the victims of September 11 and their families. These e-mails have been organized here by date. September 11 Email September 11 Email: Body The basic content, as unstructured text; sometimes containing a signature block at the end. January 18, 2002 Kenneth L. Zwick, Director Office of Management Programs Civil Division US Department of Justice Main Building, Room 3140 950 Pennsylvania Ave Washington DC 20530 Dear Mr. Zwick: This is in response to the request for comments on the Interim Final Rule (Rule) implementing Public Law 107-42. Public law 107-42, the Air Transportation Safety and System Stabilization Act (Act), is designed to provide Federal financial relief to the American airline industry due to losses from management mistakes and potential losses the airlines could sustain from their negligence in failing to maintain reasonable security standards. It provides airlines Federal grants of $5 Billion, and loan guarantees of $10 billion. More importantly it ex post facto limits damages that airlines are faced with from their negligence on September 11th to their insurance coverage. As part of the stabilization of the airline industry, as well as to protect other potential business defendants, the government has agreed to a fast track system for victim compensation. In exchange for giving up their right to sue under various Federal statues and state tort or wrongful death laws injured claimants or personal representatives of deceased claimants acting on behalf of the decedents will be compensated by the Federal government. Claimants are giving up a valuable right as judgements for damages resulting from other terror attacks have been in the $100 million range. The purpose of the victim compensation part of the Act is to compensate those injured or killed on September 11th (Act, Sec 403.) Unfortunately the Special Master has interpreted his mandate as not to compensate, that is to make whole for the loss incurred, but rather to "bring some measure of financial relief." From this misinterpretation, presumably deliberate in an attempt to reduce Federal expenditures, flow many of the problems with the Final Rule. The first major problem with the Rule as written is that the Rule turns the application for compensation into a crapshoot. Both the Act and Rule (as well as ancillary documents developed by the Special Master) are vague as to what will be considered in determining compensation as well as "collateral compensation" (setoffs.) While a claimant has no idea what if any compensation they will receive since economic loss is unclear as well as setoffs, the claimant by the simple act of filing precludes other more appropriate remedies (Rule, Sec 104.21 (d).) There is no methodology in the Rule for a claimant to obtain an accurate assessment of whether it would be more beneficial for them to pursue other remedies then file a claim under the Act. The Rule should be amended to include a procedure for an assessment to be given prior to a claim being considered filed. Such an initial assessment is not precluded by the Act. The second major problem (and related to the first) is that the Rule gives no indication of how the Special Master decides the many issues or how issues are settled as claims are paid. There are no prior legal decisions providing precedent. A record of decisions needs to be created. As the Act precludes judicial review such a record would assist claimants and assure that there is no abuse of discretion. In particular, Rule, Sec 104.31 (b) 1, should be amended to indicate that the Claims Evaluator will notify the claimant of "... the amount of the presumed award, the basis for the decision..." In view of the above, Rule, Sec 104.33 (g), should be changed to read "... the final amount of the award and a written decision of the basis of the award. This document will be made available to the public." Damage awards and other legal matters are generally public records. That the compensation awards and decision making are public record infringes on no right to privacy, provides transparency, and precludes abuse and safeguards equity in the decision process. The third major problem is the inherent conflicts between the Act and the Rule. My comments will be based on the perspective of a personal representative of a decedent as the claimant as they may differ from the issues affecting an injured claimant. The personal representative of the decedent has no legal authority over the spouse, beneficiaries or dependents of the victim (decedent claimant.) Spouses et. al. may have separate causes of action (e.g. intentional infliction of emotional distress, loss of consortium or companionship) arising out of state or federal law. Rule, Sec 104.21 (b) (1), should be changed to eliminate all after "...of the Act." The claimant is the "...personal representative of the decedent who files the claim on behalf of the decedent." (Act, Sec 405 (c) (2) (C). ) Under Act, 405 (c) (3) (B) (i), only the "...claimant waives the right to file a civil action..." The personal representative has no legal authority to demand that individuals other than the claimant (dependents, spouse or beneficiary of the victim) waive their rights. Pensions, either as economic loss or as collateral compensation are not discussed in any detail in any of the material provided by the Special Master or in the Rule. Almost twenty percent of those murdered by Moslem fundamentalists on September 11th were rescue workers (firemen, police, paramedics) or military. Their pension benefits are an essential and valuable part of their compensation as the government has long recognized that the arduous and dangerous nature of their occupations preclude long term employment. Neither the Rule nor the Special Master's Presumed Economic and Non-Economic Loss Tables (Loss Tables) consider pension benefits in determining economic loss. The Act broadly defines economic loss as "...any pecuniary loss resulting from harm (including...other benefits resulting from employment..." (Act, Sec 402 (5).) The Rule, however, narrows economic loss to "...loss of earnings or other benefits related to employment..." and confines itself to a table based on the individual's earnings in the last three years (Rule, Sec 104.43 (a)) (Underlining added.) Further, the Loss Tables are based on the anticipated working life (till age 65), whereas the pension benefit is normally a lifetime benefit (and ceases on the death of the recipient.) The Rule and Loss Tables severely distorts to their detriment the actual economic loss sustained by rescue worker and military decedent claimants. For example, a military retiree working at the Pentagon would receive both civil service pay and a military pension. On the day of death, both his pay and pension ceased. There is no pension benefit for the spouse of a military retiree. The military retiree decedent claimant's economic loss is his lifetime pension plus loss wages. Based on the Rule and Loss Tables, however, the only economic loss is the loss civil service wages, a mere pittance of the actual economic loss. Many of the rescue workers had vested pensions; others had anticipatory rights to pensions. Valuation is not an issue as Courts have long dealt with such valuations in damage awards and divorce cases. Pensions as economic loss need to be addressed in the Loss Tables and Rule. The words in Rule, Sec 104.43 (a), stating "related to employment" should be changed to read "resulting from employment." All after that should be totally revised to include consideration of pensions as economic loss. The Loss Tables need to be revised to include lifetime pension benefits. Non economic loss is based on the decedent claimants loss, not damages suffered by others who have there own separate causes of action. Why, therefore, does a decedent claimant with a spouse and dependents receive more? The non economic loss of all decedent claimants is hard to measure; the value of their life experiences should be the same for all. Rule, Sec 104.44, should be changed to read "The presumed non economic losses for all decedents shall be $250,000" (or whatever amount may be more appropriate.) All after should be deleted. The issue of what payments are collateral sources considered as collateral compensation is not clarified by the Rule, Loss Tables and the Special Master's Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ). A review of the responses to date to the Rule indicates this is a major sore point. Perhaps if the Special Master issued his Death Compensation Form clarification as to his intent would be forthcoming. The Act identifies collateral sources. It also specifically states that compensation received by the claimant is reduced by the collateral source compensation "...the claimant has received or is entitled to receive as a result of the terrorist-related crashes..." (Act, Sec 405 (b) (6).) The Rule, Sec 104.47 (a), however, deletes that portion of the above that states collateral compensation are payments to the claimant. The Rule should be changed to read "...reduced by all collateral source compensation the claimant has received or entitled to receive, including..." This would conform to the Act. Failure to designate who is the recipient of collateral sources considered may result in grave miscarriages. For example, a partnership may have a substantial policy on a decedent claimant. That payment goes to the partnership, not to the decedent's survivors. To reduce compensation to the claimants estate for this policy would be unconscionable. The tenor of the comments from the Special Master, though not stated directly, is that benefits paid to others than the claimant will be deducted from the compensation award. Yet exceptions are made. The FAQ at 1.11 indicates that the Special Master will not subtract from the award amount collateral sources where "...the contribution to the plan were deductions from the the victim's compensation." Does this mean all plans where the contribution was from compensation? For example, a military retiree's pension ceases on his death; there is no benefit for the spouse. If the retiree so chooses, however, the retiree could contribute 14% of his monthly retirement compensation to purchase a Survivors Benefit Plan that pays a surviving spouse 55% of the retiree's retirement benefit. This is a voluntary plan purchased by the retiree. Other retirement plans may have similar survivor benefit provisions. None of these plans make payments to the claimant or the claimant's estate or the personal representative of the decedent acting on behalf of the decedent as claimant. The Rule should be rewritten to eliminate all the ambiguity regarding the issue of collateral compensation particularly in light of the lack of judicial review and the amount of discretion provided the Special Master. The fundamental flaw with the Rule is the discrepancy between the Act as written and the special masters intent to limit compensation. This was not the congressional intent. When the Act was enacted the Government was aware that its prior lack of action made the Moslem fundamentalist attack on the United States so successful. The United States was under constant attack by Moslem fundamentalist beginning with their bombing on the World Trade Center in 1993. In response all our government did was issue proclamations, make speeches, and fire a couple of missals in the air, landing God knows where. The government's impotence supported the Moslem fundamentalist perception that America was morally weak. President Clinton reinforced this perception by his own degenerate personal behavior as well as his often publicly proven tendency to lie to achieve his ends. Retaining Clinton in office made us a joke to the world. It also bolstered the perception in this country that laws need not be enforced if inconvenient, making the terror attacks easier to carry out. Needless to say Clinton was not totally alone in being responsible for his eight years in office. Our members of Congress from both parties failed to demand Clinton take responsible action. Mesmerized by greed and the good times that globalization was supposedly accomplishing; no one wanted to force Clinton to take real action that would require hard decisions. When Congress passed this Act it was their attempt to assuage their conscience for their failure to protect the citizens of this country. A liberal interpretation as to what is just compensation under the Act is required. Thank you for your consideration. I realize many of these comments have been made before, however, the vagueness of the proposed rule and the lack of response to the prior comments by others compel me to respond as I have. Sincerely, Individual Comment San Francisco, Ca September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2002-01-18 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource dojN002652.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. email Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-01-18 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Department of Justice Emails Description An account of the resource The Department of Justice received more than 11,000 e-mails in response to the agency's public solicitation for comments upon its plans to distribute the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 established by Congress to benefit the victims of September 11 and their families. These e-mails have been organized here by date. September 11 Email September 11 Email: Body The basic content, as unstructured text; sometimes containing a signature block at the end. Saturday, December 15, 2001 7:48 AM Protect Traditional Marriage Mr. Kenneth Zwick Office of Management Programs Department of Justice Washington. DC Dear Mr. Zwick: I want to express my opposition to any effort by the federal government to provide 9-11 victim compensation funds to "domestic partners" of unmarried survivors of the terrorist attack upon our nation. Funds disbursed through the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 should only go to the surviving family members of those who died on 9-11. Funds must go to the widows, widowers, orphans, and other blood-related or adopted members of the family--not to unmarried sexual partners of those who died. To provide funds to "domestic partners" is to undermine the traditional definition of marriage and family to include any number of sexual liaisons between same-sex or opposite-sex unmarried couples. Many homosexuals and swinging heterosexuals, for example, engage in sex with multiple partners. Do we provide funds to each of the sexual partners? Where do we draw the line on how many "domestic partners" a person may have?Homosexual activists are exploiting the 9-11 tragedy by asking the federal government to redefine what constitutes a legitimate "family" under the law. In fact, homosexual activist &nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp , writing in Out magazine has openly called for the subversion of the concept of marriage between a man and a woman. He has urged homosexuals to fight for the legalization of homosexual marriages and once legalized to "redefine the institution of marriage completely . . . . to debunk a myth and radically alter an archaic institution. . . . The most subversive action lesbians and gays can under take--and one that would perhaps benefit all of society--is to transform the notion of 'family' entirely." If the DOJ provides funds to "domestic partners," it will be helping &nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp accomplish his goal: That of redefining marriage and altering what he calls an "archaic institution." We also oppose September 11th Funds going to the estates of the deceased instead of to their surviving family members. No one can know for certain where these funds will end up if they are deposited in the estate of a person who has died. The person may have willed his estate to a terrorist, racial hate group, or even to an organization like the North American Man-Boy Love Association. No one will know unless each person's will is examined by a DOJ lawyer. The money should go to the surviving family members of the deceased, not to the estate or to the surviving "domestic partner." Individual Comment Sugar Hill, GA September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2001-12-15 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource dojA001999.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. email Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2001-12-15 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Department of Justice Emails Description An account of the resource The Department of Justice received more than 11,000 e-mails in response to the agency's public solicitation for comments upon its plans to distribute the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 established by Congress to benefit the victims of September 11 and their families. These e-mails have been organized here by date. September 11 Email September 11 Email: Body The basic content, as unstructured text; sometimes containing a signature block at the end. Wednesday, December 26, 2001 3:21 PM Protect Traditional Marriage Mr. Kenneth Zwick Office of Management Programs Department of Justice Washington. DC Dear Mr. Zwick: I want to express my opposition to any effort by the federal government to provide 9-11 victim compensation funds to "domestic partners" of unmarried survivors of the terrorist attack upon our nation. Funds disbursed through the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 should only go to the surviving family members of those who died on 9-11. Funds must go to the widows, widowers, orphans, and other blood-related or adopted members of the family--not to unmarried sexual partners of those who died. To provide funds to "domestic partners" is to undermine the traditional definition of marriage and family to include any number of sexual liaisons between same-sex or opposite-sex unmarried couples. Many homosexuals and swinging heterosexuals, for example, engage in sex with multiple partners. Do we provide funds to each of the sexual partners? Where do we draw the line on how many "domestic partners" a person may have?Homosexual activists are exploiting the 9-11 tragedy by asking the federal government to redefine what constitutes a legitimate "family" under the law. In fact, homosexual activist &nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp , writing in Out magazine has openly called for the subversion of the concept of marriage between a man and a woman. He has urged homosexuals to fight for the legalization of homosexual marriages and once legalized to "redefine the institution of marriage completely . . . . to debunk a myth and radically alter an archaic institution. . . . The most subversive action lesbians and gays can under take--and one that would perhaps benefit all of society--is to transform the notion of 'family' entirely." If the DOJ provides funds to "domestic partners," it will be helping &nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp accomplish his goal: That of redefining marriage and altering what he calls an "archaic institution." We also oppose September 11th Funds going to the estates of the deceased instead of to their surviving family members. No one can know for certain where these funds will end up if they are deposited in the estate of a person who has died. The person may have willed his estate to a terrorist, racial hate group, or even to an organization like the North American Man-Boy Love Association. No one will know unless each person's will is examined by a DOJ lawyer. The money should go to the surviving family members of the deceased, not to the estate or to the surviving "domestic partner." Individual Comment Reseda, CA September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2001-12-26 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 dojN000953.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. 2001-12-26 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. Saturday, March 16, 2002 9:14 PM What a horrible and unfair exclusion! How can you make this decision and wipe out people who have had such a painful loss through a tragedy from which the whole country still reels? Such an inhuman act is surely a heavy load that you will have to carry for the rest of your life...I pity you, your inhumanity, and the pain that you will reap from such a cruel and heartless decision. This act of yours is what is truly indecent and immoral. 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 dojR001246.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. Saturday, March 16, 2002 11:07 PM compensation for survivors I was very distressed to learn that family members of gay and lesbian people who died during the September 11 attacks will not be receiving the same benefits as those of others who died in this tragedy. This discrimination is un-American. The partners of gay and lesbian people who lost their lives in the attacks have suffered just as much emotionally and financially as anyone else, and they deserve the same compensation. Thank you for your attention. Sincerely, Individual Comment Weathersfield, VT 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 dojR001275.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. Tuesday, March 19, 2002 11:02 PM jerks! This is to voice my opinion that your policy of omitting gays from your compensation program is cruel sick and inhuman...too bad people like you survived Sept 11th! you think you might have learned a few things about understanding and compassion...SHAME ON YOU!!! Individual Comment September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2002-03-19 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource dojR002283.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. email Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-03-19 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Department of Justice Emails Description An account of the resource The Department of Justice received more than 11,000 e-mails in response to the agency's public solicitation for comments upon its plans to distribute the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 established by Congress to benefit the victims of September 11 and their families. These e-mails have been organized here by date. September 11 Email September 11 Email: Body The basic content, as unstructured text; sometimes containing a signature block at the end. Friday, January 18, 2002 10:20 AM WTC - Victims Compensation Dear Mr. Zwick, My son in law - was killed at the WTC. . Due to the way &nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp has structured the " rules " for compensation my daughter and grandchildren will receive nothing or almost nothing. Please change those rules !! Change the arbitrary income limits he proposes as well as the concept of subtracting any collateral assets I do not believe that congress and the President intended to penalize hard working young men for prudently proividing for their families. &nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp often comments that he must comply with State laws -- If you how about insisting that he comply with the New York State statuates that deal with this type of situation. Furthermore &nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp should seriously consider his personal demeanor in dealing with the grieving families. Respectfully Submitted: Individual Comment Rockville Centre , N. Y. September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2002-01-18 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource dojN001974.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. email Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-01-18 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Department of Justice Emails Description An account of the resource The Department of Justice received more than 11,000 e-mails in response to the agency's public solicitation for comments upon its plans to distribute the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 established by Congress to benefit the victims of September 11 and their families. These e-mails have been organized here by date. September 11 Email September 11 Email: Body The basic content, as unstructured text; sometimes containing a signature block at the end. 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 Saint Petersburg, FL 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 dojA003956.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. Monday, November 05, 2001 5:07 PM thank you for seeking input on the victims funds. for some time I have felt that the obvious choice would be Rudolph Guiliani. he has been 'knee deep' from the start and has the stature to complete the task with fairness. thank you Individual Comment September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2001-11-05 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 dojW000029.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. 2001-11-05 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, November 26, 2001 5:30 PM comments regarding the Victim Compensation Fund My name is . I have looked at the rules and regulations and I have some concerns about the compensation package. In all honesty, I am having difficulty in understanding the intent of this proposed Act. Is it to forego lawsuits against the airlines? airports? NY port authority? Which corporate entities are protected by this Act? * Economic Loss: Many of the people who died were young and in the early stages of their career. Therefore it seems reasonable to me that any method of calculating earning potential would take into consideration the following factors: * The victim's age at death * Their current earnings * Given that we don't know how a person's career would turn out we need to make the same assumptions for all: * their yearly wage would increase * their would be several promotions over the years * Although future income is highly unpredictable it is not for us to make the judgment that a person would make less money as time went on, or even that they wouldn't climb the corporate ladder. I think it would be reasonable to identify the natural career trajectory for someone in their respective field and assume, for purposes of this fund, that most people would follow this course. * That said, I think this should be the norm but there should be some way to challenge this so that a person could successfully challenge the formula and argue that given their track record, education, etc. that they very well could have made more money than the formula allows * In addition, as a person became more financially stable they would be more likely to contribute to the retirement fund - is this fund to be used to compensate individuals for what their retirement funds would have been had they lived? If so, then this numerical amount needs to take that into consideration * Noneconomic Loss: Where a person was located should absolutely be taken into consideration. Those who were on the upper floors and had no avenue of escape suffered in a way that person should have to. In all likelihood they probably watched their co-workers and friends die. They probably watched as they people struggled to take a breath, jumped out the window, or were catasphrocically burned. Imagine being in a building burning 100 stories, or more, high and not being able to get out. Imagine the smoke, the screaming, the realization that you might die. Yes, location was everything. Imagine knowing that the building next to you fell and wondering if, and when, yours would fall. Imagine the streams of water spilling onto you, the incessant noise of the fire detectors, the screaming, the smell of smoke and jet fuel and the absolute panic of not being able to get down. Imagine going to the roof of the building only the door to the exit is locked. Imagine waiting for help and help never comes. * Those on the 50th floor or higher (or so) had other concerns. They could get out but the stairwell was only built for two people. Because the firefighters were going up (bless their souls) only 1 person could come down at a time meaning that far fewer people were able to get out. * There are stories of doors being locked and people unable to get down the stairs. * What about those who were physically challenged and couldn't get out of the building? Their suffering was great as well. Somehow, I believe, that the different scenarios need to be compensated differently. * Collateral Sources: Regarding compensation; whether a person has life insurance, a 401K, or other benefits is of no consequence. Subtracting this amount from a person's compensation is equal to penalizing someone for having life insurance or other benefits. Compensation should be the earnings a person would have a made had their lives not been tragically cut short as a result of their murder. Whether they had life insurance or other benefits is irrespective of their earning potential over the course of a lifetime and ought not to be taken into consideration. * Limitation on civil action: The towers were build to withstand the crash of an airplane yet the fire exits were not adequate for people on the higher level floors to reasonably to get out in case of a fire. Although a crash of this type and magnitude and carrying this much fuel was not foreseen, it was highly foreseeable that a fire or an attack of some sort (remember the 1993 bomb attack on the WTC) could result in people needing to vacate the building quickly. The fact that there was an attempt on this building in 1993 and there were no additional safeguards added so that people on the upper floors could have a reasonable attempt at escape seems negligent to me. The fact that their only avenue of escape may have been the roof but the door was locked again seems negligent. The fact that there were no rescue helicopters helping to rescue people seems negligent. * Who should be compensated: Obviously the next of kin; however there are lots of people suffering. If a victim had a spouse and parents then the parents should have a claim to pain and suffering (e.g., noneconomic losses). These are my initial comments on this Act. I look forward to seeing what shape the final Act looks like. Individual Comment Omaha, NE 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 dojW000671.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 27, 2001 2:21 PM EQUAL TREATMENT, PLEASE December 27, 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 State College, PA September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2001-12-27 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 dojN000901.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. 2001-12-27 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 07, 2001 8:39 AM sept 11 victim compensation fund Regarding the "September 11 Victim Compensation Fund," we urge the government to ensure that the regulations governing compensation is available to all surviving families of those killed, INCLUDING the committed partners and non-biological children of gay and lesbian victims. The government MUST show leadership and take a fair stance for ALL citizens. If heterosexual non-married partners and children are compensated, so must those of gay,lesbian, bi-sexual or transgendered partners. We all suffer the same way, PLEASE do not add to the suffering. Individual Comment September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2001-12-07 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 dojA001261.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. 2001-12-07 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. Thursday, December 20, 2001 5:26 PM Subject: Equal Access to crisis Relief Benefits for Surviving Gay and Lesbian Partners 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 Channel Islands, 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 dojN000051.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. Wednesday, December 05, 2001 9:43 AM Sept. 11 Victim Compensation Fund Kenneth Zwick, Director Office of Management Programs U. S. Department of Justice Dear Sir, As I understand, the Justice Deparment will soon be setting guidelines for deciding who is eligible for compensation under the "September 11 Victim Compensation Fund." I would ask that those guidelines include the life partners of any victims, as well as children they may have shared with their life partners, regardless of marital status or sexual orientation. As you no doubt know, New York Governor Pataki granted benefits through the state of New York "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." I ask that a similar standard be used by the Justice Department. Sincerely Individual Comment Winston-Salem, NC 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 dojA000735.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. Thursday, November 29, 2001 3:28 PM Re: GLBT family compensation To whom it concerns: Please do our country proud by treating ALL citizens equally who lost family members in the September 11th tragedy. Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgendered family members are no less affected by their losses because current U.S. law prohibits them from "legalizing" their relationships through the channels heterosexual couples and families have available. Please 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. Individual Comment Amboy, WA September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2001-11-29 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 dojA000196.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. 2001-11-29 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 8:04 PM Equal Respect...Equal Dignity Dear Mr. Zwick: It would be unconscionable for our federal government to discriminate against the survivors of gay and Lesbian 9/11 victims. It's bad enough that OUR government devalues our lives in so many ways already; but now I'm hearing that, in this time of supposed unity, we are still allowing bigotry and mean-spiritedness to rule. To do anything less for survivors simply because they happen to be gay sends a clear signal of how far our elected officials will bend to please bigots. It's time that ALL citizens be treated equally. Yours Truly, Individual Comment Worcester, MA 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 dojA001030.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, December 18, 2001 10:05 PM urgent December 18, 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 Morristown, TN 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 dojA002409.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. Tuesday, January 15, 2002 11:17 PM To Those in charge of the Victims Compensation Fund: I am a 39 year old widow with an 11 year old daughter. Our beloved husband/father was killed in the September 11th attacks while at work on the floor of Tower 2 ( ). It is unfair and unfortunate that survivor benefits (social security and worker's comp) as well as life insurance be deducted from this award. At the very least, no survivor benefits should be deducted. We do not know what ripple effects this tragedy will have on our children. At the very least their futures must be ensured financially, since emotionally there is no repair. Please act in the best interest of our children -- they are our future!!!!! Sincerely, Individual Comment Bayside Hills, NY 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 dojN001840.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