158 20 12614 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. December 13, 2001 Special Master Kenneth R. Feinberg September 11th Victim Compensation Fund U.S. Department of Justice 950 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, DC 20530 To Mr. Feinberg: I am writing to urge you to ensure fair treatment for all surviving families of the tragedy on September 11th, including the children and families of low-wage workers and gay and lesbian families. Under traditional rules based on lost wages, the survivors of a bond trader earning millions of dollars per year might receive thousands of times as much compensation as the survivors of a dishwasher in one of the restaurants destroyed. Justice requires looking far beyond the last paycheck to the inherent worth of all those killed, so that a high minimum compensation level is set to lessen the disparities. It would be a double blow to the survivors to first lose their loved one and then watch as most of the taxpayer money went to those who were already well off in the first place. The second major issue has to do with recognizing the legitimacy of gay and lesbian relationships and families. Gay and lesbian families are especially vulnerable when one partner is killed. Because the option of marriage is unavailable, these families may find themselves in the traumatic predicament of having to prove that their union is legitimate. Fortunately, both the Red Cross and the State of New York have already announced that they will not discriminate against gay and lesbian families. The Department of Justice should do the same. Thank you for considering my comments. I look forward to hearing how you will act on these very important issues. Sincerely, Individual Comment Oakland, CA September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2001-12-13 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 dojA003654.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. 2001-12-13 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 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, December 04, 2001 7:56 PM Dear Mr. Zwick: I am writing in response to the Department's request for public comments regarding the forthcoming regulations for implementing and administering the "September 11 Victim Compensation Fund." I strongly urge the Department to draft regulations that ensure compensation is available to all victims of the attack, including the committed partners and the non-biological children of gay and lesbian victims. It is unquestionable that the devastating grief and economic losses suffered by the families of gay and lesbian victims are no less than that of other families. Just as the terrorists drew no lines in choosing their victims, our country must draw no lines in compensating those who suffered the most personal of losses from these horrific attacks. Many Americans lost their lives on September 11, each of whom left behind loved ones. I urge the Department to honor these bonds by treating the families of gay and lesbian victims as you would any other. Sincerely, Individual Comment Chicago, IL September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2001-12-04 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 dojA000529.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. 2001-12-04 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. Thursday, March 21, 2002 9:06 AM Domestic Partners I think domestic partners should be covered in the compensation fund. Some states recognize such relationships and upon proof of the relationship, we should not judge... lest we be judged. Please extend our national sense of community to these victims and their surviving loved ones. Individual Comment Montgomery, AL. September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2002-03-21 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 dojR002486.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. 2002-03-21 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. Monday, January 21, 2002 5:00 PM comments on the comp plan my name is and my son was killed in the north tower. The federal government should help the parents and the brothers and sisters of the victims. The rest of our life's will be filled with pain. We will forgive grief our son. brother will always be with out his brother. When and I die he will be alone. Try walking in our shoes and then you will get the full picture. You should walk in the shoes of everyone connected with 9/11 to understand how we all feel. I would like you to read the letter I sent today to our President. Individual Comment Morganville nj Attachment 1 I want to address the fact that the government has forgotten about the parents and brothers and sisters of the victims of 9/11. I want you to understand our lives since 9/11.What is our life as parents like? In order to tell you that I have to give you some background. On 9/11 my wife ran out of when she learned that there was a fire in one of the twin towers. She did not know that a plane flew into the building yet. When she got outside she could see that the top of the building on fire. Our son worked in on the floor of 1 WTC. fell to the ground crying. She might not have made it through that day except for a man that moved her away from the burning building. The man would helped my wife was who might have just saved my wifes life. My wife watched her son being burnt alive while I watched it on the television. Not many parents can say that they saw their son killed over and over. Thank G-d for that. You do not have any idea what that was like and still is to this day. Pictures of the World Trade Center will be in newspapers and on TV for a long time. 9/11 has become a word. That day is burned into our brain as well as our heart. We were forced to watch on television the repeated shots of the plane going into the Trade Center while we waited for news that never came. Our son, had disappeared. Our son was married for 5 years. He had a two-year-old son. On September 15, his wife gave birth to twin girls. never saw his two babies. His daughters will never know what a great father would have been to them. There was no one better than him. He was looking forward to the birth of his new daughter. We joked about how loud he would be when gave birth. He said they would hear him in California. I told him that he was wrong and that they would hear him around the world As parents but not next of kin we are the forgotten people. The American people have poured their hearts out to the wifes and husbands of people who were killed that day. They also poured their hearts out to the children left behind. I am very glad that they are being taken care of my sons family. Now let me tell you about the forgotten people. These are the parents of those killed that day. They are also the brothers and sisters of those killed that day. When flags were given to next of kin they were excluded. A flag would have cost $11.50 cents and would have helped us feel like the country knows about our lose and how great our lose is. We are not even worth that. When urns were given to next of kin they were excluded. In short we are not part of the process when it comes to our children. Is this the message that you want to give to us? How can you not recognize the fact that we have lost someone more precious to us than life itself? Life is not suppose be like this. We are not supposed to bury our children. In this case we do not even get to bury our son. I have heard two fathers say" Thank g-d that they found my sons body. How sick is that but you know what, they are right. They have some sort of closure. But still their lose is great. We are going to grief counselors and to support groups to help us to deal with our lives. We are told that losing a child is the greatest loss that there can be yet our government does not care. You do not know who we are. You have not made an attempt to find us and help us. No one is government has lifted a finger to try to find and help us. This is not a contest to see who can hurt the most. During the past 4 months we have come in contact with a number of parents that have had loses like ours. We have seen one woman who is unable to work because she sells a product and needs to always be perky to make a sale. Who wants to buy from her when see is crying all the time? She has not worked in 4 months .We have seen one man who lost his job because of the effects of 9/11 as well as his son. His wife and daughter are afraid that he might do harm to himself. We have seen the relationship between in laws dissolve and erode. While this is a small sampling of parents I think that there are thousands of parents that need help to make it through life. We are trying to deal with our pain. As parents we will need help for the rest of our lifes to get through this. Our loss will always be with us. The government has turned their backs on us. We need you to acknowledge our loss. We feel that no one cares about us. This makes our lose much worse. We hear about the fireman. We hear about the policemen. We hear about the wifes. We hear about the children. Sometimes we even hear about the victims. We never hear about the parents. We never hear about the brothers and sisters. Is their lose any less of a lose than a wifes loss. Who is going to help us deal with our pain? We did not just raise and then forget about him. Yes he did marry and had started a family but is was still our son for life, how ever short it was. A parent or a brother or sister will always be the parents and the brother or sister. A wife can be a widow or a wife again. We have seen over the last few months the effect of losing a child has on parents. We cannot make it through the day without crying. We cannot stand in long lines without having an anxiety attack. We carry pills to help us if need them. We have many triggers that cause us to cry. If we see a father with a young child we cry. If it is our birthdays we cry because our sons or daughters will not be calling. Tomorrow is our anniversary and will not be calling. He will not be coming to take us out to celebrate. This has made us cry over this weekend. In short almost anything can cause us to cry. When a parent loses a child a part of the parent dies. It feels like a hole opened in our body and we cannot seem to seal that hole. Please consider how we as parents feel and acknowledge our great lose. If this had happened to a child of yours you would feel the same thing that we feel every minute of every day. You would need the same help that we will need for the rest of our lifes or what is left of them. Last week we went to a meeting set up by a group that works with self-support groups around the country. They had people from the Pam Am flight and people from the Lebanon attack and others. The thing that stuck me the most was how hard it was for the father who lost his son over 18 years ago in Lebanon to speak to us. He tried to hold back the tears but could not do it. We will never stop crying for our children lost on 9/11. How can we go on? The answer is that we have to. We have to go on for our other children and our wifes or husbands no matter how we are suffering. Let me tell you what happens in a normal day to us. You get up in the morning and take a shower and cry while you do so. No one can hear you so it is a good place to cry. You have breakfast and maybe you cry. Then you get in your car and drive to work. Half of the trip you cry and try to see the road at the same time. At work you cry during the day. You go to the bank to make a deposit. You start shaking from being in line. The bank employees know what happens to me. They take the deposit and I go sit down while they get me some water. I take a pill and after about 15 minutes I can leave the bank. This condition was not there before death. You go home after work and you cry when you see a beautiful sunset and you cry because your son is part of that sunset. You have dinner and then a few more cries and it is time to go to sleep. You think of your son as you close your eyes. You hope that you will dream about him tonight. This is our life. Talk to other parents and you will find the same thing happening to them. There is nothing that can bring back our son. The government does not know who we are. There is no list of parents that are not next of kin. There is no list of the brothers or sisters. We hope that one day the government will find a way to say that they are sorry for our loss. We hope that someday you walk in our shoes for a few moments to see what life is like for the parents. Only then could you understand the life that is now ours. A few weeks ago a person kill herself because her husband died on 9/11. Each person in our support group understood why she did what she did. Life is so hard for each of us every minute of everyday. We think about 9/11 everyday. Our sons and daughters went to work and never came home. They disappeared. The building they worked in disappeared. We ask ourselves, How can that be? We ask you to help us coupe with our pain. We do not know what the answer is but we do know the great suffering that each parent goes through ever moment of their lifes. Now and forever. September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2002-01-21 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 dojN002184.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. 2002-01-21 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. Wednesday, March 13, 2002 1:28 PM You truly are bigots in the same fashion as the killers who murdered . How can you blatently discriminate against homosexual/same-sex couples and not honor their commitment and love for one another when it comes to the distribution of financial compensation to 9/11's survivors' families and loved ones. It is this exact kind of shameful, unholy discrimination that lead to the terrorist acts on 9/11. Your discrimination of this love only perpetuates the evil that you are trying to compensate for. You even provide compensation to aliens not belonging to this country. Shame on you. Individual Comment September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2002-03-13 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 dojR000621.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. 2002-03-13 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 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. Monday, March 18, 2002 7:07 PM 9//11 Fund Exclusion of Gay Partners I am truly horrified that Mr Feinberg would think to discriminate against gay partners under the cloak of state laws. After all of the gay heroes killed 9/11, to slap their loved ones in the face this way is reprehensible. I implore the fund to reconsider and treat gay partners with the dignity and fairness they deserve. Individual Comment September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2002-03-18 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 dojR001746.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. 2002-03-18 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, December 16, 2001 1:44 PM EQUITY Please, respect the dead and their grieving families -- those who made less for their jobs must not make less for their LIVES! Please, compensate the people who need it most! Signed -- A New Yorker who knows what it is like to just be making it.... Individual Comment September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2001-12-16 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 dojA002068.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. 2001-12-16 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. Monday, March 11, 2002 4:00 PM Benefits for Gay and Lesbian Victims of 9/11 I am appalled by the stance that the government has taken regarding giving benefits to Gay and Lesbian Americans who lost their life partner in the tragic events of 9/11. Apparently it would be too time consuming to clearly outline who should receive death benefits of those killed in the 9/11 attacks, so you are defaulting to individual state laws to decide it... unfortunately, most state laws do not recognize domestic partners and/or same-sex marriages. Which basically means partners of Gays and lesbians killed at the WTC or Pennsylvania or the Pentagon are pretty much out of luck. Hiding behind the guise of following state law is despicable. Especially since you are bending the rules for victims who are not even legal citizens of the United States. If this is the way the government is going to proceed, then you should have the courage to visit each and every partner of a gay and lesbian victim of 9/11 and personally explain to them why their relationship does not "qualify" as a legitimate one; explain to them why their grief is less than those of heterosexuals; and why, in the so-called Land of the Free, where we are supposedly fighting for everyone's individual freedom on a daily basis in foreign lands, you can systematically limit our fellow citizen's freedom to choose who he/she can and cannot love. I am always proud to be an American, but I am increasingly embarrassed by the actions of my government regarding the Gay and Lesbian population. Especially since they are a community of very active voters. If for no other reason than your re-election concerns, you should do something to correct this injustice. Sincerely, Individual Comment September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2002-03-11 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 dojR000231.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. 2002-03-11 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. Thursday, March 21, 2002 8:56 AM To Whom It May Concern: Please give equal donations and charity to homosexual partners of the World Trade Center victims. Their grief is the same as everyone else's, and so are their bills. Sincerely, Individual Comment September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2002-03-21 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 dojR002485.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. 2002-03-21 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 6:03 PM Victim's compensation I don't believe the government should pay the victim's any amount for what happened on 9 eleven. Please explain how it is the airline's fault or the government's responsibility. The airlines were not negligent. These people did not bring anything on board they were not allowed to do. What happens if the next time, God forbid, 100,000 people lose their lives. What happens in Israel when a terrorist kills himself along with innocent people. Is the Israel government to blame? 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 dojN002330.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 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. December 13, 2001 Special Master Kenneth R. Feinberg September 11th Victim Compensation Fund U.S. Department of Justice 950 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, DC 20530 To Mr. Feinberg: I am writing to urge you to ensure fair treatment for all surviving families of the tragedy on September 11th, including the children and families of low-wage workers and gay and lesbian families. Under traditional rules based on lost wages, the survivors of a bond trader earning millions of dollars per year might receive thousands of times as much compensation as the survivors of a dishwasher in one of the restaurants destroyed. Justice requires looking far beyond the last paycheck to the inherent worth of all those killed, so that a high minimum compensation level is set to lessen the disparities. It would be a double blow to the survivors to first lose their loved one and then watch as most of the taxpayer money went to those who were already well off in the first place. The second major issue has to do with recognizing the legitimacy of gay and lesbian relationships and families. Gay and lesbian families are especially vulnerable when one partner is killed. Because the option of marriage is unavailable, these families may find themselves in the traumatic predicament of having to prove that their union is legitimate. Fortunately both the Red Cross and the State of New York have already announced that they will not discriminate against gay and lesbian families. The Department of Justice should do the same. Thank you for considering my comments. I look forward to hearing how you will act on these very important issues. Sincerely, Individual Comment Pleasant Hill, CA Berkeley CA Berkeley CA September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2001-12-13 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 dojA002179.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. 2001-12-13 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 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. February 11, 2002 VIA TELEFAX AND OVERNIGHT MAIL Kenneth Feinberg, Esq. Special Master September 11th Victim Compensation Fund 780 Third Avenue, 22nd Floor New York, New York 10017 Dear Mr. Feinberg: We want to thank you and your colleagues for meeting with us and with the representative of the victims' families last week. While we were pleased by some of your comments at the meeting, other concerns remain. We were encouraged to hear that you intend to amend the Interim Final Rule in several important ways, including: (1) providing protections for undocumented aliens: (2) easing the restrictions governing proof of physical harm; (3) clarifying that no charitable contributions will be counted as collateral sources; and (4) providing flexibility so that some pension, 401(k) and other benefits may not be classified as collateral sources. In addition, although no specific commitments were made, we understand that you are still "considering" the following issues: (1) whether noneconomic damages should be excluded from collateral source reductions: (2) changing the "extraordinary circumstances" standard to overcome the presumed awards; (3) providing claimants more specific award calculations before requiring a waiver of the right to sue: and (4) finding ways to protect the interests of domestic partners, fiances and other individuals dependent upon the victims. All of these issues are of great importance to us. However, on the one issue that we spent the most time discussing - the $250,000 "presumed award" for noneconomic damages - your statements were not encouraging, and so we are submitting this letter to provide additional comments on that issue. The $250,000 cap on noneconomic damages is both inadequate and contrary to federal law. Although you stated your view that tort litigation is not an appropriate "model" for calculating noneconomic damages, that is exactly the model that Congress intended to follow. Indeed, ATSSSA defines noneconomic damages as meaning "losses for physical and emotional pain, suffering, inconvenience, physical impairment, mental anguish, disfigurement, loss of enjoyment of life, loss of society and companionship, loss of consortium (other than loss of domestic service), hedonic damages, injury to reputation, and all other nonpecuniary losses of any kind or nature." These specific types of losses are compensated in wrongful death actions, and thus wrongful death litigation provides the most appropriate comparison for calculating noneconomic damage awards. The Interim Final Rule was accompanied by commentary that the $250,000 figure is "roughly equivalent" to the amounts received under existing federal benefit programs for public safety officers and military personnel. Reliance on those programs is misplaced, however, because neither the public safety officer benefit (42 U.S.C. § 3796) nor the military death benefit (38 U.S.C. § 1967) is intended to provide full compensation for noneconomic (or economic) damages. Moreover, Congress did not adopt, or even reference, the $250,000 benefit level set forth in those statutes when ATSSSA was enacted, and instead specifically required the Special Master to calculate noneconomic damages for each claimant based upon the proof submitted at the hearing. The Department of Justice can turn to numerous sources of information in determining an appropriate level of noneconomic damages. As I am sure you are aware, settlements and jury verdicts following the crashes of Pan Am Flight 103, TWA Flight 800, Swiss Air Flight 111 and other aviation disasters included specific noneconomic damage awards far in excess of the $250,000 "presumed award" set forth in the Interim Final Rule. Existing damage award reporters provide a wealth of additional information about jury verdicts and settlements in tort actions. (Many of the settlement amounts, of course, are lower due to the uncertainties regarding proof of liability, but Congress placed no such burden on the claimants seeking awards under ATSSSA, and instead required full compensation regardless of fault.) We certainly recognize that calculating noneconomic damages is a difficult task Nevertheless, we know that you have spoken personally with many relatives of the victims, and those conversations undoubtedly demonstrated that in virtually all circumstances, the $250,000 threshold would be inadequate compensation for the victim's pain and suffering alone, which is just one of the components of the statutory noneconomic damage award. Moreover, while the task may be difficult, Congress specifically required the Special Master to determine the amount of noneconomic damages in each case. While we appreciate your reluctance to make fine distinctions among similarly-situated victims, that understandable desire to treat victims similarly does not supersede the Special Master's core responsibility to provide full compensation to all victims. Finally, we want to express our vigorous objection to the provision requiring claimants to establish " extraordinary circumstances" in order to exceed the 250,000 cap on noneconomic damages. Not only is that standard devoid of statutory support, but it also places an unnecessary and unjustifiable emotional burden on the victims' families. These bereaved family members should not be forced to worry weather they will be able to marshal sufficient proof at the hearing to meet an undefined "extraordinary circumstances" threshold, and thereby obtain compensation commensurate with their losses. Instead, the family members should be assured, in the final rule, that they will be fully compensated based upon the evidence presented at the hearing. In sum, while we were encouraged by some of your statements at last week's meeting, it is clear that more needs to be done, particularly with respect to domestic partners and fiances, the waiver of the right to sue, and the amount of noneconomic damages. On this last issue, the $250,000 presumed amount for noneconomic damages must be increased, and the "extraordinary circumstances" standard must be eliminated, so that all victims receive full compensation for the losses incurred, as Congress has required. Thank you once again for taking the time to meet with us. Sincerely, GEORGE PATAKI ELIOT SPITZER Governor Attorney General CC: Hon.John Ashcroft Paul Harris Kenneth Zwick September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2002-02-11 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 dojP000545.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. 2002-02-11 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, December 04, 2001 6:53 PM September 11 Victim Compensation Fund December 4, 2001 Kenneth L. Zwick, Director Office of Management Programs, Civil Division U.S. Department of Justice Dear Mr. Zwick: I am writing in response to the Department's request for public comments regarding the forthcoming regulations for implementing and administering the "September 11 Victim Compensation Fund." I strongly urge the Department to draft regulations that ensure compensation is available to all victims of the attack, including the committed partners and the non-biological children of gay and lesbian victims. It is unquestionable that the devastating grief and economic losses suffered by the families of gay and lesbian victims are no less than that of other families. Just as the terrorists drew no lines in choosing their victims, our country must draw no lines in compensating those who suffered the most personal of losses from these horrific attacks. Many Americans lost their lives on September 11, each of whom left behind loved ones. I urge the Department to honor these bonds by treating the families of gay and lesbian victims as you would any other. Sincerely, Individual Comment Newbury Park, CA September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2001-12-04 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 dojA000479.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. 2001-12-04 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. Saturday, December 08, 2001 1:45 PM Setember 11 Victim Compensation Fund Dear Mr. Zwick: I am writing in response to the Department's request for public comments regarding the forthcoming regulations for implementing and the administering "September 11 Victim Compensation Fund." I strongly urge the Department to draft regulations that ensure compensation is available to all victims of the attack, including the committed partners and the non-biological children of gay and lesbian victims. It is unquestionable that the devastating grief and economic losses suffered by the families of gay and lesbian victims and their children are no less than that of other families. Just as the terrorists drew no lines in choosing their victims, our country must draw no lines in compensating those who suffered the most personal of losses from these horrific attacks. Many Americans lost their lives on September 11, each of whom left behind loved ones. I urge the Department to honor these bonds by treating the families of gay and lesbian victims as you would any other. Sincerely, Individual Comment Saint Paul, MN September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2001-12-08 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 dojA001337.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. 2001-12-08 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. Wednesday, November 07, 2001 1:46 PM Title 4 - Hearing oFFICERS It will help expedite the review and disposition of victims'claims if the DOJ would immediately publish the requirements for hearing officers and disclose the process whereby the Master will screen and appoint them. There are many retired and semi-retired former trust executives with the requisite experience, skill and objectivity to render just and fair determinations. They could be screened, vetted and put in action quickly because many have already been cleared by the OCC, the Federal Reserve and/or the FDIC, and all that would be needed would be to update their background checks. Individual Comment Parsippany, NJ September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2001-11-07 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 dojW000193.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. 2001-11-07 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. Thursday, December 06, 2001 9:35 AM Kenneth L. Zwick, Director Office of Management Programs, Civil Division U.S. Department of Justice Dear Mr. Zwick: I am writing in response to the Department's request for public comments regarding the forthcoming regulations for implementing and administering the "September 11 Victim Compensation Fund." I strongly urge the Department to draft regulations that ensure compensation is available to all victims of the attack, including the committed partners and the non-biological children of gay and lesbian victims. The families of the gay and lesbian victims have suffered the same devastating losses as the families of every other victim of this terrible attack. Gay and lesbian victims have left behind surviving partners and children who are not only devastated by grief, but are also suffering from the loss of their primary financial support. Just yesterday, I read an article about a woman in Virginia who is in danger of losing her home, because her partner was killed in the attack on the Pentagon. In fact, the families of gay and lesbian victims may need even more aid from the government than the families of other victims, because some state funds and private charities are refusing them aid, not because they are not in need, but simply because of the kind of family they have. Just as the terrorists drew no lines in choosing their victims, our country must draw no lines in compensating those who suffered the most personal of losses from these horrific attacks. Please help these families and demonstrate that the United States believes in fairness, compassion, and justice for all. Thank you for your consideration of my comments. Sincerely yours, Individual Comment Baltimore, MD September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2001-12-06 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 dojA001125.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. 2001-12-06 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. Wednesday, January 09, 2002 9:12 PM final interim rules of the victims compensation fund of 2001 Dear Special Master Fienberg: Please accept the following comments to the final interim rules you published on December 21, 2001. I am an attorney who represents two New Jersey families who lost their husbands and fathers on September 11, 2001. I submit that the rules you published fall far short of the clear intent of congress expressed in the passage of the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001. You accepted a position the madates that you follow the statute, not creat law or a program that might pass muster with the public or the elecorate. This fund, nor the comments made to the proposed regulations and the final interim rules are not a referendum or a popularity contest. I have read every comment made and published on the Department of Justice website and understand the frustration of all commenters. But your accepted task is to implement the program set out by statute by the people the citizens of this country elected to make such decisions. And it must be remembered that the Fund was created to create a compensation program that would replace what otherwise would be overwhelming litigation against a variety of businesses, industries and governmental agencies. It is not for you or I to determine whether or not such litigation, without the restrictions the same congress created in the Ait Transportation Safety and System Stabilization Act would or would not successful. It is mine task to represent my clients and their respective best interest. It is yours to implement the Act by regulation not alter it by tortured logic or created 'law'. First, I agree with your conclusion that the statute requires the collateral source deductions you have announced and beleive your offer to sit with claimants and explain the Fund and its offsets is a reasonable one. However, it is my understaanding that legilation is now pending in congress which would remove that collateral source deduction. Your final rules should at least advise that any law passed in the future will be honored regrding this issue for all claimants, even those few who may choose to enter the Fund now (for reasons such as severe economic need). Second, the noneconomic loss calculation is incorrectly based on other federal entitlement programs, not designed for the purpose which this Fund was created. Nontherless, I agree that there is no amount of money which would compensate for the noneconomic loss. To award a different sum of money to any one victim on this issue would be impossible. Each story is more compelling than the next and I do not think you have violated the law by assessing the amount of noneconomic loss, although there in no jury award that could possible be as low as your assigned damage amount. I believe you had to come up with a single amount for noneconomic loss and while i strongly urge you to increase the amount to reflect a better value for what the claimants are foregoing (by act of congress as nush as their personal choice). Third, the economic loss calculations are simply illegal. The Act clearly set forth what the term meant and your cap is simply not sustainable under the law. No state law in this land assumes economic loss is too hihg to be awarded becasue an individual is in teh highest two percent of income earners. The assumptions you made regarding gowth of income and reduction for consumption factors (and not accounting at all for the loss of fringe beneifts) are debatable. As such i believe your decision to use the calculations you do are defendable and would not be upset in a legal attack on the regulations. However, not following the Act with respect to the definition of economic loss cannot be sustained. Challenges to the final rules are already being actively considered. I understand that many commentators think the government is creating some awful precedent and giving taxpayer money away to make 'instant millionaires.' It must be stated that it is for Congress in its wisdom and with its elected madate to act in the nation's best interests to create a land of law. It has done so. It is not for others, or you, or me, to debate that in this forum. It is your responsibility to see that the intent of the Act is met by the regulations, your interim final rules fall far short of the mark. Many will be forced into the Fund by need, fear of the unknown or the need for finality. But it will not take so many years to litigate cases with exclusive jurisdiction placed by the Act in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. The real problem is the Act's limitation on the potential liability of the airlines. Those able to move quickly (those with the highest abvailable assets to bring litigation quickly and to a conclusion more quickly than others) amy deplete what is available in litigation. The Congress determined that it should act to avoid litigation of these claims and your job is to implement that decision. Clearly, not considering economic loss to the extent the law clearly provides for is not consistent with your task or the law. I urge you to reconsider the limitation you have placed and the impossible standard you have placed for overcoming the limitation. Proving extraordinary loss in this circumstance is near impossible. If the regulations were changed to make clear that the guideline's limitation would not apply if a claimant proved a greater loss, then many of the objections which are likely to succeed in a legal challenge to the rules would be eliminated. Thank you for the opportunity to comment on the final interim rules. God bless America. Individual Comment Cranford, New Jersey September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2002-01-09 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 dojN001482.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. 2002-01-09 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 01, 2002 11:53 AM Concerning September 11 Relief Fund January 01, 2002 Dear Mr. Kenneth Zwick, I write as a member of Amnesty International, a worldwide human rights movement committed to ensuring respect for the basic human rights of people without discrimination, in support of equal access to benefits under the September 11 Victims Relief Fund for all victims, regardless of sexual orientation or marital status. As you know, the United States has committed to uphold international human rights standards, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which prohibit arbitrary discrimination. As you consider rules for administering the relief fund, I ask that you apply basic international human rights standards, and the general principle of equality, by including among relatives eligible for compensation those who lost their life partners, as well as de facto parents or children, without regard to sexual orientation or marital status. The State of New York has already adopted such a policy, granting compensation benefits "on a showing of mutual interdependence with the victim, in recognition that anyone who shared with the victim living expenses, day to day activities and the emotional bonds of family deserves help in this time of need." Many lesbian and gay people were killed in the September 11th attacks. Since then, lesbian and gay surviving partners of those killed have had mixed results in obtaining equal treatment at the local level in the distribution of relief funds by private and state agencies. An inclusive policy on the part of the federal government would help establish an important principle for other such funds. In compensating victims, real justice will be served only when all families - and all types of families - impacted by the human rights tragedy of September 11 are treated with dignity and equality. Thank you for considering my concerns. I look forward to hearing from you about your efforts to ensure that all surviving victims of the September 11 attacks have equal access to the relief fund. Sincerely, Individual Comment Maryville , MO September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2002-01-01 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 dojN001274.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. 2002-01-01 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. Thursday, January 17, 2002 11:43 AM Coalition for Victim's Compensation January 17, 2001 To Our Elected Officials: In the immediate aftermath of the tragic attack of The United States, on September 11, Congress enacted the Victims" Compensation Fund of 2001 P.L. 107-42, to compensate the relatives of the victims of that brutal attack. As you know, this Fund was enacted as part of a comprehensive package which bailed out the airline industry and imposed restrictions of the rights of the victims" relatives to recover damages from court. We implore upon you, as our elected officials, to demand changes to the interim rules issued by Kenneth Feinberg, the Special Master. As it stands, Mr. Feinberg's self-imposed rules fail to satisfy the letter or the spirit of the legislation, which was enacted. Specifically, we request that you act on our behalf and demand the following changes to the interim rules: 1. Remove arbitrary income limits. The arbitrary income limits imposed by the Special Master are not only unfair but also inconsistent with the letter and the spirit of the law. Those victims from the financial industry are specifically harmed by this limit. They were targeted and murdered precisely because of the jobs they held and where they worked-the World Trade Center, the Financial capital of the world, the embodiment of financial success. Those who achieved such success should see that reflected in their awards. They personified American Business and commerce, democracy and freedom. We ask that you demand that Mr. Feinberg lift the arbitrary income limits so that each family can be treated fairly; commensurate with the support they provided their families before their death. 2. Increase non-economic rewards. Mr. Feinberg has arbitrarily restricted the non-economic awards for pain and suffering, no matter what the extent of the pain and suffering. This is unacceptable. In the words of Congressman Peter King,"Severe death is tragic. A murder is particularly tragic. But to have your love one murdered in a burning building in full view of the world - in a scene which will be repeated in the media for decades to come - is a horror these families will never escape from. The Special Master cannot take it upon himself to restrict the rights of the families." Therefore, we request that the interim rules be amended to more appropriately compensate the victims' families' for the immeasurable pain and suffering endured by our loved ones. As Mayor Giuliani stated in his farewell address: "we have an obligation to the people who did die. Their families need to be protected just as if they had been alive, financially and every other way that we can help and assist their families. There should be no compromise about that ever." We request that the interim rules be amended and that compensation for pain and suffering more accurately reflect that horror which was suffered. Justice demands no less. Sincerely, Individual Comment Atlanta, GA September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2002-01-17 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 dojN001937.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. 2002-01-17 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 15, 2002 8:26 PM Help same sex partners of terrorist victims Dear Mr. Zwick: The very humane Fund for relatives of victims of the September 11 terrorist attacks must include all relatives of all the victims. This importantly should include the partners and children of same sex unions. They suffer just as grievously for their deceased loved ones as do other survivors, and their need for assistance is just as great. Please do not give in to the importuning of callous homophobic groups and individuals who would have the Department of Justice limit compensation to survivors of heterosexual unions. They are interested in a political victory, not humane assistance. This Fund is intended for humane purposes; it is not a political statement, Mr. Zwick. Sincerely, Individual Comment September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2002-01-15 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 dojN001699.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. 2002-01-15