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. Victims Compensation Fund January 22, 2002 Mr. 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 Dear Mr. Zwick: This firm represents three minor children-ages 6, 11 and 14-who lost their father on the 106th floor of the World Trade Center Tower which was hit by the first plane. His body has never been found. The decedent left $200,000 in life insurance benefits to the three children, $300,000 in life insurance benefits to his spouse (who is the children's stepmother and does not live with or support the three children), and $340,000 in life insurance to the decedent's sister. The policy paying benefits to the sister had a face amount of $170,000 and a double indemnity provision. These children will be receiving less than 25% of the life insurance benefits left by their father. The children live with their natural mother, and were over 50% dependant on their father's support. A. THE COLLATERAL SOURCE PROVISION SHOULD BE REPEALED Benefits received from collateral sources should not affect the amount awarded to victims under this Act. Victims and their families have suffered and will continue to suffer due to these terrorist acts. Families should not be punished for victims having alternative measures in place, such as life insurance, which they are now entitled to after years of paying premiums. This Fund should be regulated according to the purpose for which it was created, as "an unprecedented expression of compassion on the part of the American people to the victims and their families devastated by the horror and tragedy of September 11." Our country's expression of compassion should not be limited by the compassion of others or various benefits available to families. B. ALTERNATIVELY, THE COLLATERAL SOURCE PROVISION OF THE SEPTEMBER 11TH VICTIM COMPENSATION FUND OF 2001 SHOULD BE AMENDED We are especially concerned to the extent that the Act arguably reduces the amount of compensation to be given to victims based on collateral sources, including life insurance, regardless of whether the victims received the benefit of the insurance that is causing the reduction. We ask that this offset not be applied as an across the board rule. In the situation of the three children, fundamental fairness should not allow their potential recovery to be reduced by $840,000, when $640,000 of that amount will never be available to them. The purpose of this fund was to provide monetary compensation for the loss so many families are suffering due to terrorist attacks. By applying this collateral source provision, it goes against the meaning for which this fund was intended. As it stands, these three children will have their award reduced by "collateral compensation" from which they will never benefit. This type of reduction was not intended by the drafters of Section 405 (b)(6). At very least, benefits should not be reduced based on the total amount of collateral compensation, but rather, reduced by compensation that the individual receives from outside sources. Thank you in advance for your consideration of these issues. Sincerely, Individual Comment Alpharetta, GA September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2002-01-22 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 dojN002493.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. 2002-01-22