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<item xmlns="http://omeka.org/schemas/omeka-xml/v5" itemId="26673" 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/26673?output=omeka-xml" accessDate="2026-04-04T14:19:03-04:00">
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        <elementContainer>
          <element elementId="50">
            <name>Title</name>
            <description>A name given to the resource</description>
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              <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>
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            <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



Dear Mr. Feinberg:

I am writing to urge you to ensure fair treatment of 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 citizens who serve heroically as
police,
firefighters, soldiers, medical personnel and in other critical occupations.  We also must keep in
mind
the gay and lesbian citizens 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

Plainville, NJ


 
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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>
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            <text>2002-03-12</text>
          </elementText>
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        <element elementId="50">
          <name>Title</name>
          <description>A name given to the resource</description>
          <elementTextContainer>
            <elementText elementTextId="332838">
              <text>dojN002655.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="332839">
              <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="332840">
              <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="332841">
              <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="332842">
              <text>yes</text>
            </elementText>
          </elementTextContainer>
        </element>
        <element elementId="56">
          <name>Source</name>
          <description>The source of this item.</description>
          <elementTextContainer>
            <elementText elementTextId="332843">
              <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="332844">
              <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="332845">
              <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="332846">
              <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="332847">
              <text>2002-03-12</text>
            </elementText>
          </elementTextContainer>
        </element>
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