Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Department of Justice Emails Description An account of the resource The Department of Justice received more than 11,000 e-mails in response to the agency's public solicitation for comments upon its plans to distribute the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 established by Congress to benefit the victims of September 11 and their families. These e-mails have been organized here by date. September 11 Email September 11 Email: Body The basic content, as unstructured text; sometimes containing a signature block at the end. Monday, March 11, 2002 12:37 PM 9/11 Fund: please don't discriminate! I hear that the 9/11 Fund, contrary to what was previously stated, plans to discriminate against the partners of gays and lesbians that died 6 months ago in that horrible tragedy. I think this is terrible! In an appearance on the Sunday, March 10 broadcast of NBC's "Meet the Press," Kenneth Feinberg, the head of the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund, said that gay partners of the heroes of September 11th will not necessarily be eligible for the same compensation as heterosexual family members who lost their loved ones. According to Feinberg, lots and lots of people will receive compensation under the plan, including children, babies, and even fetuses. And as an indication of how generous the fund will be, even illegal aliens, who aren't American citizens and who are in the US in violation of federal law, will receive benefits. Feinberg even says that the Attorney General has promised that if undocumented aliens come forward, they won't be kicked out of the country, and their employers won't be penalized. "The attorney general, in consultation with Immigration, etc., undocumented aliens who come forward, the families will not suffer any consequences. They are covered by this program. They will get a check. The employer, where we need the economic information about the undocumented alien, will not be penalized," Feinberg told "Meet the Press." As is only right! But when it comes to gay Americans who lost a loved one in this national tragedy, suddenly there is an about face: "[Gays and lesbians are] left out of my program to the extent that their own state doesn't include them. I cannot get into a position in this program, which has a one-and-a-half or two-year life start second-guessing what the state of New York or the Commonwealth of Massachusetts or the state of Virginia or New Jersey, how they treat same-sex partners, domestic live-ins, etc. I simply say this: What does your state law say about who is eligible? If your state law makes you eligible, I will honor state law. If it doesn't, I go with the state. Otherwise, , I would find myself getting sued in every state by people claiming that I'm not following how the state distributes money. I can't get into that local battle. I've got to rely on state law." - Kenneth Feinberg on NBC's "Meet the Press," March 10, 2002. That's a long-winded way of saying that if state law discriminates against gay people, then so will Feinberg and the 911 Fund. The problem for gay Americans who lost loved ones on September 11 is that most states do not legally recognize gay relationships, and the very few that do tend to do so only for state employees, not for citizens at large. And while a handful of cities do in fact recognize such relationships, under Feinberg's formula, it's the state's law that counts, not the city's. So, in the end, pretty much everyone who died - including people who aren't even American citizens and were living in the US illegally - will be honored by the September 11th Fund as deserving of America's special recognition and thanks. The sole exception will be gay and lesbian Americans. On this six-month anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, Kenneth Feinberg and the September 11th Fund are telling the American people that regardless of whether a gay man was one of the four heroes on United Flight 93 who saved the US Congress and the White House from utter annihilation, the 911 Fund plans to discriminate against an American hero because most of the country sanctioned such discrimination prior to September 11. If September 11 has taught us anything, it's that our patriotism and love of country transcend our differences and unite us all. It would be ironic if the generosity of so many Americans in giving to the September 11th Fund were used to further divide us as a people, and send the message to all that some American heroes are more equal than others. I leave you with these words of Senator John McCain. "I never knew . But I wish I had. I know he was a good son and friend, a good rugby player, a good American, and an extraordinary human being. He supported me, and his support now ranks among the greatest honors of my life. I wish I had known before September 11 just how great an honor his trust in me was. I wish I could have thanked him for it more profusely than time and circumstances allowed. But I know it now. And I thank him with the only means I possess, by being as good an American as he was. "America will overcome these atrocities. We will prevail over our enemies. We will right this terrible injustice. And when we do, let us claim it as a tribute to our liberty, and to and all those who died to defend it." - Senator John McCain, Eulogy for , September 22, 2001. please right this wrong! Brooklyn NY - where i watched the Towers burn from the bottom of my street Individual Comment September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2002-03-11 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource dojR000049.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. email Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-03-11