233 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 Saint Petersburg, FL 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 dojA003956.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. Friday, January 18, 2002 10:20 AM WTC - Victims Compensation Dear Mr. Zwick, My son in law - was killed at the WTC. . Due to the way &nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp has structured the " rules " for compensation my daughter and grandchildren will receive nothing or almost nothing. Please change those rules !! Change the arbitrary income limits he proposes as well as the concept of subtracting any collateral assets I do not believe that congress and the President intended to penalize hard working young men for prudently proividing for their families. &nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp often comments that he must comply with State laws -- If you how about insisting that he comply with the New York State statuates that deal with this type of situation. Furthermore &nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp should seriously consider his personal demeanor in dealing with the grieving families. Respectfully Submitted: Individual Comment Rockville Centre , N. Y. September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2002-01-18 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 dojN001974.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. 2002-01-18 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. Tuesday, March 19, 2002 11:02 PM jerks! This is to voice my opinion that your policy of omitting gays from your compensation program is cruel sick and inhuman...too bad people like you survived Sept 11th! you think you might have learned a few things about understanding and compassion...SHAME ON YOU!!! Individual Comment September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2002-03-19 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 dojR002283.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. 2002-03-19 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 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, March 16, 2002 11:07 PM compensation for survivors I was very distressed to learn that family members of gay and lesbian people who died during the September 11 attacks will not be receiving the same benefits as those of others who died in this tragedy. This discrimination is un-American. The partners of gay and lesbian people who lost their lives in the attacks have suffered just as much emotionally and financially as anyone else, and they deserve the same compensation. Thank you for your attention. Sincerely, Individual Comment Weathersfield, VT September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2002-03-16 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 dojR001275.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. 2002-03-16 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. Saturday, March 16, 2002 9:14 PM What a horrible and unfair exclusion! How can you make this decision and wipe out people who have had such a painful loss through a tragedy from which the whole country still reels? Such an inhuman act is surely a heavy load that you will have to carry for the rest of your life...I pity you, your inhumanity, and the pain that you will reap from such a cruel and heartless decision. This act of yours is what is truly indecent and immoral. Individual Comment September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2002-03-16 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 dojR001246.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. 2002-03-16 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. Wednesday, December 26, 2001 3:21 PM Protect Traditional Marriage Mr. Kenneth Zwick Office of Management Programs Department of Justice Washington. DC Dear Mr. Zwick: I want to express my opposition to any effort by the federal government to provide 9-11 victim compensation funds to "domestic partners" of unmarried survivors of the terrorist attack upon our nation. Funds disbursed through the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 should only go to the surviving family members of those who died on 9-11. Funds must go to the widows, widowers, orphans, and other blood-related or adopted members of the family--not to unmarried sexual partners of those who died. To provide funds to "domestic partners" is to undermine the traditional definition of marriage and family to include any number of sexual liaisons between same-sex or opposite-sex unmarried couples. Many homosexuals and swinging heterosexuals, for example, engage in sex with multiple partners. Do we provide funds to each of the sexual partners? Where do we draw the line on how many "domestic partners" a person may have?Homosexual activists are exploiting the 9-11 tragedy by asking the federal government to redefine what constitutes a legitimate "family" under the law. In fact, homosexual activist &nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp , writing in Out magazine has openly called for the subversion of the concept of marriage between a man and a woman. He has urged homosexuals to fight for the legalization of homosexual marriages and once legalized to "redefine the institution of marriage completely . . . . to debunk a myth and radically alter an archaic institution. . . . The most subversive action lesbians and gays can under take--and one that would perhaps benefit all of society--is to transform the notion of 'family' entirely." If the DOJ provides funds to "domestic partners," it will be helping &nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp accomplish his goal: That of redefining marriage and altering what he calls an "archaic institution." We also oppose September 11th Funds going to the estates of the deceased instead of to their surviving family members. No one can know for certain where these funds will end up if they are deposited in the estate of a person who has died. The person may have willed his estate to a terrorist, racial hate group, or even to an organization like the North American Man-Boy Love Association. No one will know unless each person's will is examined by a DOJ lawyer. The money should go to the surviving family members of the deceased, not to the estate or to the surviving "domestic partner." Individual Comment Reseda, CA September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2001-12-26 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 dojN000953.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. 2001-12-26 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 15, 2001 7:48 AM Protect Traditional Marriage Mr. Kenneth Zwick Office of Management Programs Department of Justice Washington. DC Dear Mr. Zwick: I want to express my opposition to any effort by the federal government to provide 9-11 victim compensation funds to "domestic partners" of unmarried survivors of the terrorist attack upon our nation. Funds disbursed through the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 should only go to the surviving family members of those who died on 9-11. Funds must go to the widows, widowers, orphans, and other blood-related or adopted members of the family--not to unmarried sexual partners of those who died. To provide funds to "domestic partners" is to undermine the traditional definition of marriage and family to include any number of sexual liaisons between same-sex or opposite-sex unmarried couples. Many homosexuals and swinging heterosexuals, for example, engage in sex with multiple partners. Do we provide funds to each of the sexual partners? Where do we draw the line on how many "domestic partners" a person may have?Homosexual activists are exploiting the 9-11 tragedy by asking the federal government to redefine what constitutes a legitimate "family" under the law. In fact, homosexual activist &nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp , writing in Out magazine has openly called for the subversion of the concept of marriage between a man and a woman. He has urged homosexuals to fight for the legalization of homosexual marriages and once legalized to "redefine the institution of marriage completely . . . . to debunk a myth and radically alter an archaic institution. . . . The most subversive action lesbians and gays can under take--and one that would perhaps benefit all of society--is to transform the notion of 'family' entirely." If the DOJ provides funds to "domestic partners," it will be helping &nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp accomplish his goal: That of redefining marriage and altering what he calls an "archaic institution." We also oppose September 11th Funds going to the estates of the deceased instead of to their surviving family members. No one can know for certain where these funds will end up if they are deposited in the estate of a person who has died. The person may have willed his estate to a terrorist, racial hate group, or even to an organization like the North American Man-Boy Love Association. No one will know unless each person's will is examined by a DOJ lawyer. The money should go to the surviving family members of the deceased, not to the estate or to the surviving "domestic partner." Individual Comment Sugar Hill, GA September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2001-12-15 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 dojA001999.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. 2001-12-15 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 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. January 18, 2002 Kenneth L. Zwick, Director Office of Management Programs Civil Division US Department of Justice Main Building, Room 3140 950 Pennsylvania Ave Washington DC 20530 Dear Mr. Zwick: This is in response to the request for comments on the Interim Final Rule (Rule) implementing Public Law 107-42. Public law 107-42, the Air Transportation Safety and System Stabilization Act (Act), is designed to provide Federal financial relief to the American airline industry due to losses from management mistakes and potential losses the airlines could sustain from their negligence in failing to maintain reasonable security standards. It provides airlines Federal grants of $5 Billion, and loan guarantees of $10 billion. More importantly it ex post facto limits damages that airlines are faced with from their negligence on September 11th to their insurance coverage. As part of the stabilization of the airline industry, as well as to protect other potential business defendants, the government has agreed to a fast track system for victim compensation. In exchange for giving up their right to sue under various Federal statues and state tort or wrongful death laws injured claimants or personal representatives of deceased claimants acting on behalf of the decedents will be compensated by the Federal government. Claimants are giving up a valuable right as judgements for damages resulting from other terror attacks have been in the $100 million range. The purpose of the victim compensation part of the Act is to compensate those injured or killed on September 11th (Act, Sec 403.) Unfortunately the Special Master has interpreted his mandate as not to compensate, that is to make whole for the loss incurred, but rather to "bring some measure of financial relief." From this misinterpretation, presumably deliberate in an attempt to reduce Federal expenditures, flow many of the problems with the Final Rule. The first major problem with the Rule as written is that the Rule turns the application for compensation into a crapshoot. Both the Act and Rule (as well as ancillary documents developed by the Special Master) are vague as to what will be considered in determining compensation as well as "collateral compensation" (setoffs.) While a claimant has no idea what if any compensation they will receive since economic loss is unclear as well as setoffs, the claimant by the simple act of filing precludes other more appropriate remedies (Rule, Sec 104.21 (d).) There is no methodology in the Rule for a claimant to obtain an accurate assessment of whether it would be more beneficial for them to pursue other remedies then file a claim under the Act. The Rule should be amended to include a procedure for an assessment to be given prior to a claim being considered filed. Such an initial assessment is not precluded by the Act. The second major problem (and related to the first) is that the Rule gives no indication of how the Special Master decides the many issues or how issues are settled as claims are paid. There are no prior legal decisions providing precedent. A record of decisions needs to be created. As the Act precludes judicial review such a record would assist claimants and assure that there is no abuse of discretion. In particular, Rule, Sec 104.31 (b) 1, should be amended to indicate that the Claims Evaluator will notify the claimant of "... the amount of the presumed award, the basis for the decision..." In view of the above, Rule, Sec 104.33 (g), should be changed to read "... the final amount of the award and a written decision of the basis of the award. This document will be made available to the public." Damage awards and other legal matters are generally public records. That the compensation awards and decision making are public record infringes on no right to privacy, provides transparency, and precludes abuse and safeguards equity in the decision process. The third major problem is the inherent conflicts between the Act and the Rule. My comments will be based on the perspective of a personal representative of a decedent as the claimant as they may differ from the issues affecting an injured claimant. The personal representative of the decedent has no legal authority over the spouse, beneficiaries or dependents of the victim (decedent claimant.) Spouses et. al. may have separate causes of action (e.g. intentional infliction of emotional distress, loss of consortium or companionship) arising out of state or federal law. Rule, Sec 104.21 (b) (1), should be changed to eliminate all after "...of the Act." The claimant is the "...personal representative of the decedent who files the claim on behalf of the decedent." (Act, Sec 405 (c) (2) (C). ) Under Act, 405 (c) (3) (B) (i), only the "...claimant waives the right to file a civil action..." The personal representative has no legal authority to demand that individuals other than the claimant (dependents, spouse or beneficiary of the victim) waive their rights. Pensions, either as economic loss or as collateral compensation are not discussed in any detail in any of the material provided by the Special Master or in the Rule. Almost twenty percent of those murdered by Moslem fundamentalists on September 11th were rescue workers (firemen, police, paramedics) or military. Their pension benefits are an essential and valuable part of their compensation as the government has long recognized that the arduous and dangerous nature of their occupations preclude long term employment. Neither the Rule nor the Special Master's Presumed Economic and Non-Economic Loss Tables (Loss Tables) consider pension benefits in determining economic loss. The Act broadly defines economic loss as "...any pecuniary loss resulting from harm (including...other benefits resulting from employment..." (Act, Sec 402 (5).) The Rule, however, narrows economic loss to "...loss of earnings or other benefits related to employment..." and confines itself to a table based on the individual's earnings in the last three years (Rule, Sec 104.43 (a)) (Underlining added.) Further, the Loss Tables are based on the anticipated working life (till age 65), whereas the pension benefit is normally a lifetime benefit (and ceases on the death of the recipient.) The Rule and Loss Tables severely distorts to their detriment the actual economic loss sustained by rescue worker and military decedent claimants. For example, a military retiree working at the Pentagon would receive both civil service pay and a military pension. On the day of death, both his pay and pension ceased. There is no pension benefit for the spouse of a military retiree. The military retiree decedent claimant's economic loss is his lifetime pension plus loss wages. Based on the Rule and Loss Tables, however, the only economic loss is the loss civil service wages, a mere pittance of the actual economic loss. Many of the rescue workers had vested pensions; others had anticipatory rights to pensions. Valuation is not an issue as Courts have long dealt with such valuations in damage awards and divorce cases. Pensions as economic loss need to be addressed in the Loss Tables and Rule. The words in Rule, Sec 104.43 (a), stating "related to employment" should be changed to read "resulting from employment." All after that should be totally revised to include consideration of pensions as economic loss. The Loss Tables need to be revised to include lifetime pension benefits. Non economic loss is based on the decedent claimants loss, not damages suffered by others who have there own separate causes of action. Why, therefore, does a decedent claimant with a spouse and dependents receive more? The non economic loss of all decedent claimants is hard to measure; the value of their life experiences should be the same for all. Rule, Sec 104.44, should be changed to read "The presumed non economic losses for all decedents shall be $250,000" (or whatever amount may be more appropriate.) All after should be deleted. The issue of what payments are collateral sources considered as collateral compensation is not clarified by the Rule, Loss Tables and the Special Master's Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ). A review of the responses to date to the Rule indicates this is a major sore point. Perhaps if the Special Master issued his Death Compensation Form clarification as to his intent would be forthcoming. The Act identifies collateral sources. It also specifically states that compensation received by the claimant is reduced by the collateral source compensation "...the claimant has received or is entitled to receive as a result of the terrorist-related crashes..." (Act, Sec 405 (b) (6).) The Rule, Sec 104.47 (a), however, deletes that portion of the above that states collateral compensation are payments to the claimant. The Rule should be changed to read "...reduced by all collateral source compensation the claimant has received or entitled to receive, including..." This would conform to the Act. Failure to designate who is the recipient of collateral sources considered may result in grave miscarriages. For example, a partnership may have a substantial policy on a decedent claimant. That payment goes to the partnership, not to the decedent's survivors. To reduce compensation to the claimants estate for this policy would be unconscionable. The tenor of the comments from the Special Master, though not stated directly, is that benefits paid to others than the claimant will be deducted from the compensation award. Yet exceptions are made. The FAQ at 1.11 indicates that the Special Master will not subtract from the award amount collateral sources where "...the contribution to the plan were deductions from the the victim's compensation." Does this mean all plans where the contribution was from compensation? For example, a military retiree's pension ceases on his death; there is no benefit for the spouse. If the retiree so chooses, however, the retiree could contribute 14% of his monthly retirement compensation to purchase a Survivors Benefit Plan that pays a surviving spouse 55% of the retiree's retirement benefit. This is a voluntary plan purchased by the retiree. Other retirement plans may have similar survivor benefit provisions. None of these plans make payments to the claimant or the claimant's estate or the personal representative of the decedent acting on behalf of the decedent as claimant. The Rule should be rewritten to eliminate all the ambiguity regarding the issue of collateral compensation particularly in light of the lack of judicial review and the amount of discretion provided the Special Master. The fundamental flaw with the Rule is the discrepancy between the Act as written and the special masters intent to limit compensation. This was not the congressional intent. When the Act was enacted the Government was aware that its prior lack of action made the Moslem fundamentalist attack on the United States so successful. The United States was under constant attack by Moslem fundamentalist beginning with their bombing on the World Trade Center in 1993. In response all our government did was issue proclamations, make speeches, and fire a couple of missals in the air, landing God knows where. The government's impotence supported the Moslem fundamentalist perception that America was morally weak. President Clinton reinforced this perception by his own degenerate personal behavior as well as his often publicly proven tendency to lie to achieve his ends. Retaining Clinton in office made us a joke to the world. It also bolstered the perception in this country that laws need not be enforced if inconvenient, making the terror attacks easier to carry out. Needless to say Clinton was not totally alone in being responsible for his eight years in office. Our members of Congress from both parties failed to demand Clinton take responsible action. Mesmerized by greed and the good times that globalization was supposedly accomplishing; no one wanted to force Clinton to take real action that would require hard decisions. When Congress passed this Act it was their attempt to assuage their conscience for their failure to protect the citizens of this country. A liberal interpretation as to what is just compensation under the Act is required. Thank you for your consideration. I realize many of these comments have been made before, however, the vagueness of the proposed rule and the lack of response to the prior comments by others compel me to respond as I have. Sincerely, Individual Comment San Francisco, Ca September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2002-01-18 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 dojN002652.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. 2002-01-18 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. Thursday, December 27, 2001 2:19 AM Equal access the crisis relief benefits December 27, 2001 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 Decatur, GA September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2001-12-27 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 dojN000987.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. 2001-12-27 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, December 19, 2001 4:18 PM Equal Access to Crisis Relief Benefits December 19, 2001 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 Valencia, CA September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2001-12-19 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 dojA003517.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. 2001-12-19 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 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, December 17, 2001 7:52 PM EQUALITY for ALL! Dear Mr. Zwick: Please do what is the RIGHT and JUST thing. The victims of September 11th, mostly civilians, became our nation's heros simply by going to work ( offices, firefighters, police, dishwashers..etc) or taking a plane trip. They left behind their homes and THEIR families, in whatever form those "families" took -- it was THEIR FAMILY. Obviously, this means husbands and wives AND domestic partners -- same-sexed or not, and dependent children, and dependent "blood-relatives". All lived their lives as they chose (wonderful) and did NOT know they would not return home that night. I am truly down-hearted and in disbelief when I read comments as expressed in A001523 and the subsequent form letters like it. Those types of cruel, paranoid, and "tunnel-visioned" ideas are EXACTLY what this country and it's citizens DO NOT NEED at this time. It's hard to know that these sentiments exist in this place and time. How dare they use the name of GOD and Christ to further their agenda of bigotry and narrow-mindedness. And in case these folks have forgotten -- there IS a separation of Church and State in this country -- live with it or LEAVE -- I understand there are openings now in the Taliban for you. The Department of Justice's role is to provide justice, equality, and fairness to ALL of the citizen's of these United States of America. Please protect and compensate traditional and NON-TRADITIONAL families ALL equally as equally ALL were lost on that tragic day. Those of us directly involved lost our LOVED ones and may never, never be the same again. Thank you for your consideration. September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2001-12-17 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 dojA002133.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. 2001-12-17 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. 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 Jamaica, NY 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 dojA001882.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. Thursday, March 14, 2002 11:37 AM Sept 11th fund - outright hypocrocy September 11th was a tradegy for America and ALL of her families. Millions of Americans contributed to the funds with the expectations that ALL families would benefit. I applaud your inclusion of illegal aliens as part of those who will benefit from the fund and for not looking to incur further hardships for those families by stating you will not pursue extradition of any sort for coming forward . In this case you are looking beyond the letter of the law to what most would be considered to be the most humane thing to do. However, it is with outright hypocracy that you then turn around and say that the families of GLBT victims will not be afforded the exact same humane treatment. Instead, in this case, you pretend that you want to follow the 'letter of the law dictated at the state level'...what caused you to migrate from that stance on illegal aliens? You are now saying that GLBT victims contributed less and their families deserve less. It's immoral and outright stupidity. I'm outraged and I want my money back. I will never again contribute to any types of these kinds of funds and if you are now going to say that the families of some of our citizens that perished in 9/11 don't count....you should be ashamed. Individual Comment September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2002-03-14 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 dojR000755.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. 2002-03-14 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, March 19, 2002 12:04 PM Hello, My name is and I am from Louisiana. I am writing to let you know that I am personally shocked and greatly saddened to hear that gay and lesbian partners of those who died on September 11 are not automatically going to receive the same benefits as heterosexual spouses. Individual Comment September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2002-03-19 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 dojR002175.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. 2002-03-19 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 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. January 5, 2002 Kenneth L. Zwick, Director Office of Management Programs Civil Division U.S. Dept. of Justice Main Building, Room 3140 950 Pennsylvania Avenue Washington, D.C. 20530 Re: VICTIM COMPENSATION FUND Dear Mr. Zwick: We lost our only son in the World Trade Center attack on September 11, 2001. He was 38 years old. While we truly believe that most of the compensation should go to his wife and children, however, as the law stands now, we have no right as parents to receive compensation for our horrific pain and suffering. Our pain is devastating and will last a lifetime. Our son can never be replaced. A parents' Pain and Suffering should be part of the non-economic fund's regulation. Our Pain & Suffering should be separated and apart from the compensation that the wife and children are going to receive. Thanking you in advance, we remain Sincerely yours, Individual Comment Monroe Twp., NJ September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2002-01-05 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 dojN002594.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. 2002-01-05 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 20, 2002 11:22 AM equal compensation I should not have to be sending you this e-mail but I have to. Every family that suffered from our great tragedy should be equally compensated , whether gay or white black or green. I am a mother of a gay son and I fight everyday for his equal rights. I am also a teacher and I fight for equal rights for all of our children. Please here our loud voices. Compensate every family equally. Thank You you know the right thing to do and I know that you will come through. Thank you Individual Comment September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2002-03-20 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 dojR002343.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. 2002-03-20 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. 9 January 2002 To our Elected Officials: In the immediate aftermath of the tragic attack of September 11th upon our nation, 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 on the rights of the victims' relatives to sue the airlines in 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. 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. 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 Rep. Peter King, "...every death is tragic. A murder is particularly tragic. But to have your loved 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 redefined to the extent that income caps be removed when computing economic loss and that compensation for pain and suffering more accurately reflect that horror which was suffered. Justice demands no loss. Sincerely, Individual Comment Brooklyn, NY September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2002-01-30 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 dojN002409.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. 2002-01-30 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, March 12, 2002 1:20 AM 9/11 Fund To Discriminate Against Gays Dear sirs, I just a commentary which describes how the 9/11 fund will intentionally discriminate against gays and lesbians who's partners died as a result of the terrorist attacks on 9/11. Is this so? I certainly hope not for such a thing would be a travesty and an insult to ALL Americans. Please let me know what, exactly, the policy the 9/11 Fund has for distributing its funds to those who file compensation claims. Sincerely, Individual Comment September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2002-03-12 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 dojR000347.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. 2002-03-12 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 4:13 PM Publication of Names of Claimants - what do you think? Dear Mr. Zwick: I am concerned about the publication of the names of claimants to the Fund on the Department of Justice Website and in other sources. Although I understand that the purpose of publication is to give notice that someone is making a claim on behalf of a particular victim, such publication also makes it easy to identify the victim's family members for anyone who wants to prey on them. These people deserve to have their privacy protected as much as possible. At the very least, the names of the claimants should be shielded and only the name of the victim about whom a claim is being made should be published. However, it seems possible to allow a procedure whereby the personal representative of a victim can contact the Department of Justice or the Special Master's Office, present proof of his or her capacity as personal representative as defined under the Regulations, and request that notice be sent to him or her in the event that any other individual makes a claim on behalf of such victim. In that way, the proper parties have notice of any other claim being made and there would be no need to publish either the name of the victim or the claimant. If there is concern that some members of victims' families who are not personal representatives under the statute are not getting notice of the actions taken by the personal representative, perhaps regulations could be drafted which would allow notice of claims made by the personal representative to be sent, on request, to certain categories of persons who can document special ties to the victim (such as life partner, parent or guardian of children of prior marriage etc.). I recognize that these procedures would take some extra time and would entail some extra cost; however, it does not seem to me that they would be overly utilized. In the vast majority of cases, there will be no conflict between the personal representative and other members of the victim's immediate circle. At any rate, steps to protect the privacy of the victims' families should be taken. They have suffered enough and do not need to have the public at large know that a claim for compensation has been made and that they are expecting a payment in the near future. Thank you for your consideration. Individual Comment New York, NY 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 dojN002584.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. 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 Snowmass, CO 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 dojA003934.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