Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Department of Justice Emails Description An account of the resource The Department of Justice received more than 11,000 e-mails in response to the agency's public solicitation for comments upon its plans to distribute the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 established by Congress to benefit the victims of September 11 and their families. These e-mails have been organized here by date. September 11 Email September 11 Email: Body The basic content, as unstructured text; sometimes containing a signature block at the end. Wednesday, November 21, 2001 12:33 PM comments on Topic #3 and Topic #6 of Victim Compensation Fund November 20, 2001 Kenneth L. Zwick Director, Office of Management Programs Civil Division U.S. Department of Justice Main Building, Room 3140 950 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, DC 20530 Sent via e-mail victimcomp.comments@usdoj.gov and fax: 301-519-5956 Re: comments on Topic #3 and Topic #6 of Victim Compensation Fund Dear Mr. Zwick: We are the widower and stepfather of September 11th terrorist attack victim , a 41-year-old wife and mother of two young daughters. was a passenger on American Airlines Flight No. 11, en route to Los Angeles on a business trip along with six coworkers. We are writing today to comment on the rules and regulations being drafted for the U.S. Victim Compensation Fund. First let us say that we are grateful to Congress for creating the Fund, and to all of the people at the U.S. Justice Department for their hard work in drafting the Fund's regulations. The Fund's existence is a great comfort to us and our family. Nothing could ever replace . 's children have lost the loving, caring relationship and the guidance that she was able to provide her 3½ and 7 year-old daughters. 's mother wakes up each morning not being able to believe that she can no longer talk to her beautiful baby. was a significant contributor to the income of the household. Though no amount of money could make up for what has happened, hopefully the Fund will be able to provide 's children and family with the long-term financial security they lost when was killed. We believe there are two things that could help ensure the Fund gives our family their full security: individual consideration of claims and a prohibition on deducting charitable contributions from claim awards. Individual Consideration of Claims: was an individual; she was a human being and had very unique characteristics, as did all the individuals who were lost. Each family has different economic losses related to the tragedy. It is only fair for all of these circumstances to be considered when deciding on a claim. We understand that the people administering the Fund have a limited time to hear cases. We are told, however, that there are ways to make the hearing process streamlined, yet still individualized. We ask that you make every effort to do so. Page 2 Comments of and Families deserve to have their individual circumstances heard, and to have their losses fully and individually compensated, as Congress has promised. , and of course, each of the victims, had special and different relationships with their spouse, children, parents, friends and communities, and to chart or otherwise depersonalize these relationships would be an affront. Please do not reduce the realities of familiesâ?? terrible losses to a "grid" or "matrix" system that does not take the merits of every case, and the devastating losses of every family, into account. Charitable Gifts Should Not Be Subtracted: Please do not allow charitable gifts to be subtracted from Fund awards. People gave those charitable gifts in order to help our family and others in an emergency situation. There is no reason our family, or any other victims family, should be penalized for the American public's generosity. It is hard to believe that any donor intended that their gifts be used to subsidize the Fund. The compensation the Fund provides is supposed to ensure the future of 's children and the families of others who have suffered irreparable losses. Reducing that compensation will have a direct affect on 's children's lives and the lives of thousands of other children. There is no reason that these children should be shortchanged any more than they have been already. In addition, this is not money our family would have received under the Fund anyway. Charitable gifts have covered short-term expenses that the Fund was not designed to cover â?? like the costs associated with family membersâ?? time lost at work due to the tragedy. One last note: We hope that arrangements will be made for hearings to be held in many cities throughout the U.S. so that victims are not burdened with the costs of travel. We thank you for taking the time to consider our thoughts on these matters. The job you are doing is extremely important â?? for victims, their families, and our nation. Sincerely, Individual Comment Neeham, MA Jamaica Plain, MA September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2001-11-21 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource dojW000462.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. email Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2001-11-21