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. November 19, 2001 Mr. Kenneth L. Zwick, Director Office of Management Programs U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Division Main Building, Room 3140 950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20530 Dear Mr. Zwick: This letter is being written on behalf of our family members and friends who have lost loved ones in the attack on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. Following are some of our concerns regarding the regulations that are to be written on the Victim's Compensation Fund: We feel that the government should be held to the 120 day limit they have self imposed regarding handling the cases. However, if the claimant's need additional time to gather their evidence regarding losses incurred, they should be able to request an extension. Dealing with the personal loss, financial concerns, endless paperwork, and everyday life may make it difficult for some claimant's to prepare properly for their hearing. We are hopeful that when the regulations are published on December 21, 2001, there will be sufficient information for the claimants to ascertain approximately how much their settlement would be. This is only fair, as they are giving up all rights to pursue private lawsuits for their loss. The formula that will be used to determine economic loss should be clearly stated. In addition, we request an approach such as that used in personal injury actions with a retirement age set at 68 years. Regarding non-economic losses, again the regulations should clearly stipulate how this will be evaluated in order the claimants to make an informed decision regarding filing a claim or pursuing a lawsuit. Each person's situations should be evaluated individually. Pain and suffering for all affected family members should be taken into consideration. Children over the age of 18 have still lost a parent because of this crime and are suffering greatly from that loss. We are very concerned about the use of collateral sources to offset any amount recovered from the fund. Donations made by the American public to charities to assist these families should not be deducted from the settlement. They were made to show compassion and patriotism and to help the families with the immediate financial hurdles as they begin to deal with their new situation. Further the act of deducting these donations from the settlement may deter future donations to charities in the even of another disaster. Claimants should be given the right to appeal the decision of the Special Master regarding their settlement. We, the undersigned, thank you for allowing us the opportunity to voice our feelings regarding the regulations to be written for the Victim's Compensation Fund. Although we cannot make up to these families for the losses they have suffered, we do ask your help in giving them a fair settlement. Publish the regulations so that they will be easy for all to understand, and make filing the claims as simple as possible, while giving each claimant the opportunity to a full hearing on their situation. Comment by multiple individuals Freehold, NJ Neptune, NJ Belford, NJ Mauasquan, NJ Leonardo, NJ West Belmar, NJ Forked River, NJ Pt Pleas Beach, NJ Matowan, NJ Middletown, NJ Hazlet, NJ All Head NJ Whiting,NJ Highlands, NJ Morganville, NJ September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2001-11-19 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 dojW000454.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. 2001-11-19