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. Tuesday, January 22, 2002 9:42 AM Victim's Compensation The events of September 11, 2001 rate as one of the darkest moments in the history of the United States. There is no denying that it was a tragedy of unparallel evil that has had an impact on all Americans. It changed the world that we live in, forever. Despite the magnitude of this despicable event, I take great exception to the enormity of the funds ($4.6 billion) that will be provided by the government to the victimâ??s families. I, like millions of people, gave generously to charitable organizations directing that the donations be used exclusively to help those directly affected. Now, I am being asked to donate additional funds through my taxes. It seems to me that the one and a half billion dollars that has been donated to charities,plus life insurance benefits, plus social security benefits, plus retirement benefits, plus tax relief, plus free college educations, etcetera, etcetera, should be enough to provide sufficient relief to families of victims. Itdisturbs me that a very dangerous precedent has been established. In these unsettled times we hear a greatdeal about the potential for terrorism with chemicals and biological agents. It is conceivable that many thousands ofpeople might be killed in the future in this manner. Without even trying, over 5000 people were killed by nerve destroying chemicals in Bhopal, India. Is our government prepared to hand out money to many thousands ofvictims? Were not the terrorist actions of the past just as tragic as September 11th. What about the 270 victims of Pan Am 103 over Lockerbie? What about the servicemen killed in the barracks inLebanon? What about the 17 sailors killed on The Cole in Yemen? What about the 224 people killed in the embassies in Tanzania and Kenya? What about the six people killed in theWorld Trade Center in 1993? What about the 19 servicemen killed by a bomb in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia in 1996? How about the 168 people killed in OklahomaCity? Did they not have the same disastrous impact on families of the victims? You surely will hear from their families, if you havenâ??t already. Aside from the magnitude of September 11th, what make it more tragic than the catastrophes mentioned above? Is it any less tragic than the seven families whose loved ones were killed by a runaway van on the streets of New York last week or the 30 year old mother thatdied of cancer leaving a husband and baby? Death is heartbreaking in any form. I have heard that the reason for the government assistance is to eliminate the potential for legal suits against the airlines, the World Trade Center and others. Experts agree that the likelihood of successful litigation is remote. The Al Qaeda is responsible and how is one to sue them? I do business all over the United States and I am hearing unanimous agreement that the government has made a terrible mistake with this package of relief. My colleagues at work, my friends, my family and my neighbors also speak this sentiment. We want to know what you had in mind when you voted to provide our tax dollars after we all made generous contributions to aid those families. I feel confident that my letter is just one of many that you haveand will receive on this subject. Already we are hearing that people are using the monetary compensation in very inappropriate ways such as decorating their homes, buying new appliances, taking vacations etc. all sponsored by taxpayer's dollars. This letter constitutes the opinions of 32 of my co-workers at all levels at , Old Bridge, New Jersey. Yours truly, Individual Comment 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 dojN002222.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