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. United States Senate January 17, 2002 Mr. Kenneth R. Feinberg Special Master of the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund Department of Justice 950 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20530 Dear Mr. Feinberg: We congratulate you on your appointment as Special Master of the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund (the "Fund"), and appreciate your hard work in publishing Interim final Regulations governing the Fund. Although no amount of compensation can replace a lost loved one, we believe the final rules governing the Fund will be critical to fulfilling the intent of Congress to fairly and promptly compensate the September 11th victims and their families. Generally, the Interim Final Regulations follow this Congressional intent. There are three areas of the interim final however, that we believe should be improved to fairly consider the individual circumstances of each victim to determine just compensation - the compensation for non- economic losses, the calculation of economic losses, and the standards for hearings. Specifically, we are concerned that the Interim Final Regulations may impose an arbitrary dollar limit on non-economic damages by inappropriately basing such damages on other federal programs that limit payments to $250,000. The Fund's statute regarding non-economic damages is quite clear. It defines the following elements as compensable non-economic losses under the Fund: [L]osses for physical and emotional pain, suffering, inconvenience, physical impairment, mental anguish, disfigurement, loss of enjoyment of life, loss of society and companionship, loss of consortium (other than loss of domestic service), hedonic damages, injury to reputation, and all other nonpecuniary losses of any kind or nature. The types of losses enumerated in this provision were chosen deliberately. Congress intended that each be fairly considered and that victims and their families be compensated for all elements that are applicable to them. Concerning economic damages, we urge the Department of Justice to ensure that the calculations of the presumed awards are based on accurate data for relevant populations. Any estimates of likely lost income used by the Department should replicate, as closely as possible, the likely career earnings tracks of the victims. Moreover, individuals and families should be given an opportunity to demonstrate that the Department's estimates do not accurately portray the likely earnings path of the victim on whose behalf they are filing a claim. If this demonstration is made, the economic damages should be adjusted accordingly. Finally, the Fund's hearings should include a meaningful opportunity to demonstrate that the presumed award does not adequately compensate the victims and families for the damages they have suffered. If this showing is made, the award should be adjusted to provide the appropriate compensation. The Interim Final Regulations call for modification of the presumed award only in "extraordinary circumstances." This exceedingly high burden of proof appears to unduly limit the ability of claimants to obtain appropriate adjustments. In addition, the Interim Final Regulations limit the duration of hearings to generally not more than two hours. We believe that a meaningful opportunity for a claimant to present information or evidence necessary to a full understanding of the claim should not include proof of "extraordinary circumstances" to receive fair compensation, and should not generally limit a hearing to an unreasonably short duration, such as two hours. By amending the final rules to improve these three areas, the Fund can be implemented in a way that meets the intent of Congress to provide fair, fast, and full compensation for the victims and their families that truly reflects the losses they suffered in the horrific events of September 11th and avoids lengthy legal actions. This is the best interests of all concerned, and we trust that you will revise the regulations to ensure that this Congressional intent is carried out. We look forward to working with you to deliver fair and prompt compensation to the September 11th victims and their families. Sincerely, Patrick Leahy U.S. Senator Edward Kennedy U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer U.S. Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton U.S. Senator cc: The Honorable John Ashcroft Attorney General September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2002-01-17 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource dojN002401.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. 2002-01-17