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<item xmlns="http://omeka.org/schemas/omeka-xml/v5" itemId="26495" public="1" featured="0" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xsi:schemaLocation="http://omeka.org/schemas/omeka-xml/v5 http://omeka.org/schemas/omeka-xml/v5/omeka-xml-5-0.xsd" uri="https://www.911digitalarchive.org/items/show/26495?output=omeka-xml" accessDate="2026-04-04T01:03:51-04:00">
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        <elementContainer>
          <element elementId="50">
            <name>Title</name>
            <description>A name given to the resource</description>
            <elementTextContainer>
              <elementText elementTextId="264506">
                <text>Department of Justice Emails</text>
              </elementText>
            </elementTextContainer>
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          <element elementId="41">
            <name>Description</name>
            <description>An account of the resource</description>
            <elementTextContainer>
              <elementText elementTextId="264507">
                <text>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.</text>
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  <itemType itemTypeId="18">
    <name>September 11 Email</name>
    <description/>
    <elementContainer>
      <element elementId="65">
        <name>September 11 Email: Body</name>
        <description>The basic content, as unstructured text; sometimes containing a signature block at the end.</description>
        <elementTextContainer>
          <elementText elementTextId="330700">
            <text>
December 30, 2001

Special Master Kenneth R. Feinberg
September 11th Victim Compensation Fund
U.S. Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue NW                        
Washington, DC 20530
December 30, 2001                       

To Mr. Feinberg:

I am writing to urge you to ensure fair treatment for all surviving families of the 
September 11th tragedy, including the children and families of gay and lesbian Americans who
perished.

That you recognize the sanctity and legitimacy of gay and lesbian relationships and 
families as you make these crucial decisions is imperative. Gay and lesbian families are
especially vulnerable when one partner is killed. Because the option of marriage is
largely unavailable, these families often find themselves in the traumatic predicament of 
having to prove the legitimacy of their union. Both the Red Cross and the State of New
York have already announced that they will not discriminate against gay and lesbian
families. Our United States Department of Justice must follow suit.

As an American, I ask you to keep in mind the gay and lesbian citizen who serve
heroically as police, firefighters, soldiers, medical personnel and in other critical
occupations. We also must keep in mind the gay and lesbian Americans who donated to 
the compensation fund trusting that their gift would be distributed without prejudice. It
would be unconscionable to dispense their monies while denying the legitimacy, worth
and humanity of other gay and lesbian Americans.

Thank you for considering my comments. I look forward to hearing how you will act on
these very important issues.

Sincerely,
Individual Comment
E. Bridgewater, MA 

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      <element elementId="66">
        <name>September 11 Email: Date</name>
        <description>The local time and date when the message was written.</description>
        <elementTextContainer>
          <elementText elementTextId="330701">
            <text>2001-12-30</text>
          </elementText>
        </elementTextContainer>
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        <element elementId="50">
          <name>Title</name>
          <description>A name given to the resource</description>
          <elementTextContainer>
            <elementText elementTextId="330702">
              <text>dojN002567.xml</text>
            </elementText>
          </elementTextContainer>
        </element>
      </elementContainer>
    </elementSet>
    <elementSet elementSetId="4">
      <name>911DA Item</name>
      <description>Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item.</description>
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        <element elementId="52">
          <name>Status</name>
          <description>The process status of this item.</description>
          <elementTextContainer>
            <elementText elementTextId="330703">
              <text>approved</text>
            </elementText>
          </elementTextContainer>
        </element>
        <element elementId="53">
          <name>Consent</name>
          <description>Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item.</description>
          <elementTextContainer>
            <elementText elementTextId="330704">
              <text>full</text>
            </elementText>
          </elementTextContainer>
        </element>
        <element elementId="54">
          <name>Posting</name>
          <description>Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item.</description>
          <elementTextContainer>
            <elementText elementTextId="330705">
              <text>yes</text>
            </elementText>
          </elementTextContainer>
        </element>
        <element elementId="55">
          <name>Copyright</name>
          <description>Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item.</description>
          <elementTextContainer>
            <elementText elementTextId="330706">
              <text>yes</text>
            </elementText>
          </elementTextContainer>
        </element>
        <element elementId="56">
          <name>Source</name>
          <description>The source of this item.</description>
          <elementTextContainer>
            <elementText elementTextId="330707">
              <text>born-digital</text>
            </elementText>
          </elementTextContainer>
        </element>
        <element elementId="57">
          <name>Media Type</name>
          <description>The media type of this item.</description>
          <elementTextContainer>
            <elementText elementTextId="330708">
              <text>email</text>
            </elementText>
          </elementTextContainer>
        </element>
        <element elementId="59">
          <name>Created by Author</name>
          <description>Whether the author created this item.</description>
          <elementTextContainer>
            <elementText elementTextId="330709">
              <text>yes</text>
            </elementText>
          </elementTextContainer>
        </element>
        <element elementId="60">
          <name>Described by Author</name>
          <description>Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author.</description>
          <elementTextContainer>
            <elementText elementTextId="330710">
              <text>no</text>
            </elementText>
          </elementTextContainer>
        </element>
        <element elementId="61">
          <name>Date Entered</name>
          <description>The date this item was entered into the archive.</description>
          <elementTextContainer>
            <elementText elementTextId="330711">
              <text>2001-12-30</text>
            </elementText>
          </elementTextContainer>
        </element>
      </elementContainer>
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