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. Sunday, January 13, 2002 2:34 PM Victims relief Fund Comments Attachment 1: January 13, 2002 RE: Victims Compensation Fund Dear Mr. Feinberg: On September 11, I lost my husband , in the World Trade Center. worked for on the floor of Tower One. He was a of the firm and had worked for them just over thirty years. I have a 29 year old son, , who also works for . On that day, was working at located in mid-town Manhattan where his office faces the World Trade Center. He had just spoken to his Dad at about 8:15 when shortly thereafter he heard the roar of a large aircraft fly over his building. As he looked from his office he saw that this plane was about to crash. He watched in horror as the plane flew lower and faster and hit Tower One head on. My son and I spoke moments later and together lived through the next thirty minutes, culminating in the second plane hitting Tower Two where my brother, , was working for . We learned after several agonizing days that my brother had also lost his life in the attack. I have lost a husband of just under thirty two years. My son has lost a father, a mentor and companion. My mother in-law, has lost a son and her sole provider. had recently moved from North Dakota to Connecticut to live with our family. has lost a highly respected and productive colleague. We have also lost countless friends and acquaintances. As you are aware, lost 295 people and 196 in the attack. We feel that the Federal Fund in a sense is making us lose them again.We object strenuously to the structure of the Fund on the following grounds: 1) The Government is protecting the culpable parties (airlines, airports, INS, FBI, etc.) and limiting our opportunity to litigate. 2) Based upon its guidelines, the fund fails to provide any economic damages for our family. The offsets of life insurance, pension, workersÕ compensation etc. bring our settlement to zero. 3) We question the basis used to project a victimÕs loss of earnings (National vs. New York). 4) My husband was a highly successful business man, a contributor in every way. To talk of a minimum award (possibly $250,000) bears no relationship to the value of this person. We feel that the following points should be taken into account in order to make the fundÕs distribution more equitable to all parties: 1) We want the caps of yearly earnings to be eliminated so that the true earnings are reflected. 2) We want life insurance proceeds to be eliminated as an offset. Although we know this was legislated, it unfairly penalizes the families whose lost family member paid premiums to provide protection for his/her surviving family members . 3) We want recognition that highly paid executives like paid substantial federal taxes over many years so that others who were lost could be compensated. 4) We want the caps on non-economic damages to be raised or eliminated. Did my husband suffer? What about my son who was a witness? traveled throughout the world conducting business for in countries such as Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, and Russia. He survived all of the trips to third world countries however, eventually lost his life sitting at his desk in lower Manhattan. The non-economi õc damages should be increased to at least balance the economic offsets that are in place. 5) As stated earlier, my husband was the sole provider for his mother, , who is 88 years old. We feel that this is an economic issue that needs to be taken into account by the fund. In summary we want to feel that the Government will recognize my husbandÕs worth, will accept its failure to protect him and thousands of others and will deliver to the victimsÕ families as they promised. We would like the legislature amended. We pray that you will reconsider your position on both the economic and non-economic damages. We hope for justice. Sincerely, Individual Comment Riverside, CT September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2002-01-13 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 dojN001547.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. 2002-01-13