575 20 70359 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. Congress of the United States House of Representatives Washington, DC 20515-3004 January 8, 2002 Kenneth L. Zwick, Director Office of Management Programs, Civil Division U.S. Department of Justice, Room 3140 950 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20530 Dear Mr. Zwick: I am grateful for the opportunity to comment regarding the Interim final rule for the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001, particularly, the Eligibility rule as it relates to "physical harm" sustained and verified within 24 hours of an injury. In fairness to the victims and families of the September 11th terrorist attack this rule must be changed. of , New Jersey worked in 2 World Trade Center with his brother and sister-in-law. All three were employed by the . , in fleeing the building sustained physical injury to his back and neck but cannot file under the Victim's Compensation Fund. The present interim rule relative to "eligibility" excludes from participation as treatment did nor occur within 24 hours of the injury. What the rule fails to consider is the unique circumstance of each victim. In this instance, the tragic death of brother and sister-in-law and the preoccupation of the family in locating missing family members. Consequently, was treated for his injury on September 13th and not within the arbitrary time limit imposed by the rule. I am confident, that the circumstances as outlined in statement will strengthen our case for change in the interim eligibility regulation. I would appreciate an expeditious review and I look forward to hearing from you within a reasonable time frame. If you have any question or if I may assist in some particular way, do not hesitate to contact me either in Washington, DC or at my Whiting District Office. Your attention to this sensitive issue is greatly appreciated. Sincerely, Christopher H. Smith Member of Congress September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2002-01-08 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 dojN002429.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. 2002-01-08 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, December 05, 2001 7:59 AM accessing help Whe people respong to needs they need to be handled in good faith QUICKLEY, COMPUTERS CAN FACILITATE THAT AND GIVE ACCOUNTABILITY THAT FUNDS REACH ALL VICTIMS mANY RESPONCES WERE FIRST TIME GIVERS TO MAJOR DISASTER. aDVERSE REACTION AND MISHANDLING BY NOT REACHING ALL INTENDED WILL IMPACT ALL GIVING FOR THE FUTURE pLEASE PRUDENTLY HANDLE NOW AND IN THE FUTURE111111 Individual Comment September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2001-12-05 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 dojA000702.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. 2001-12-05 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. Sent: Thursday, December 06, 2001 1:36 AM Subject: Please... For the "September 11 Victim Compensation Fund," I urge that you please ensure that compensation is available to all surviving families of those killed, including the committed partners and non-biological children of gay and lesbian victims. Individual Comment Monterey, CA 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 dojA001093.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, December 19, 2001 12:17 PM Equal Access to Benefits for Sept 11 victims 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 Campbell, 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 dojA003184.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. Tuesday, January 08, 2002 12:43 PM Objection to the proposed regulations for the Victims' Compensation Fund SIRS: I am writing this to object to the proposed regulations for the Victims' Compensation Fund. The settlement is inadequate in all regards. It is minimal in economic damage and heartless in compassion for the extraordinary pain and suffering and loss of companionship the 9-11 WTC destruction caused. I am concerned about two aspects of the proposed regulations for the Victims' Compensation Fund. One it is very cheap in comparison to jury awards and two that the definition of family is so restrictive. It smacks like a cookie cutter approach to get the survivors out of the way. Much the way Vietnam Vets were handled. The Families of September 11 of which I am a member and which represents many families that are affected by these proposals has made a very careful analysis of the gross inadequacies of the interim regulations. I urge you, if you have a soul to take it to heart. Concerns of Families of September 11 with DOJ's Interim Final Regulations Governing the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund Families of September 11 has serious concerns with the interim final regulations issued by the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Special Master to govern payments under the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund established by Congress as part of the Air Transportation Safety and System Stabilization Act, Public Law 107-42. Families of September 11 is a non-profit organization of injured victims and families of those killed in the recent terrorist attacks. We represent hundreds of victims' families from 26 states. The group's mission is to ensure that the victims' and families' interests are protected and to advocate public policies that will improve the prevention of and response to terrorism. More information is available at www.familiesofseptember11.org. Our primary concern with the interim final regulations is that DOJ has ignored the fundamental mandate of the Act to provide full and fair compensation to victims and their families and instead has concocted a bureaucratic response that bases compensation on irrelevant federal programs. The purpose of the regulations appears to be to hold down the amount of the awards, rather than to carry out the intent of Congress so clearly set forth in the law. We ask your help in urging DOJ to abandon its misguided proposal and to issue new regulations that fulfill, rather than flout, the legislative mandate of Congress. Background The Victim Compensation Fund was created by Title IV of the airline bailout bill passed by Congress shortly after the September 11 attacks. The Act gave the airlines $15 billion of taxpayers' money and capped the airlines' liability for the crashes at the limits of their insurance coverage. Thus the airlines face no out-of-pocket expenses for the widespread death and destruction caused by the crashes of their aircraft into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Acknowledging the fact that this airline liability cap severely restricted the victims' right to sue the airlines, Congress created the Compensation Fund to provide victims and their families with full payment for a wide range of specified non-economic damages (e.g., pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, loss of consortium between husband and wife, and more) and full restitution for economic damages (e.g., lost future income), minus collateral payments. In this way, Congress sought to ensure that the airlines' bailout would not be funded by the victims' families, who had already suffered the most from the horrible tragedy of September 11. Unfortunately, DOJ was unmoved by Congress's compassionate and reasoned approach and, perhaps goaded by the Office of Management and Budget, determined that it could abandon the statutory framework in favor of a bean-counting mentality that limits awards with no basis in law. Congress's unmistakable intent was not carried out by DOJ, and we need your help to correct these problems by January 22, 2002, the end of DOJ's comment period on the regulations. News media reports that families will receive an average of $1.65 million are inaccurate, because this estimate fails to account for deductions of collateral payments, such as life insurance and pension plans. Actual payments from the Fund would be substantially less, and many families would get nothing under the parsimonious interim final regulations because collateral payment deductions required by the statute would wipe out their entire award. (A recent New York Times article quoting the Special Master suggested that he was considering a minimum payment of $250,000, regardless of collateral deductions. This amount is still far too low to compensate for the damages the victims and their families have suffered.) The three primary defects in the interim regulations concern the valuation of non-economic damages, the calculation of economic damages, and the provisions for hearings. Proposed Non-Economic Awards Are One-Tenth Those Made in Comparable Cases The DOJ's proposed awards for non-economic damages ($250,000 per victim plus $50,000 for a spouse and each dependent) are only one-tenth the level paid in comparable cases. In other cases of airline crashes and terrorism, non-economic damage awards of $2 million to $5 million are typical, and much higher awards have been made in some cases. Moreover, Congress explicitly enumerated a broad range of non-economic damages for which victims and their families shall be compensated: 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. Sec. 402(7). In the case of a victim killed in the attack, all of the above except physical impairment, disfigurement, and injury to reputation are applicable and payable to the victim's estate or (as in the case of loss of consortium and loss of society and companionship) to members of the surviving family. Thus there are at least eight relevant elements cited in the statute: (1) physical pain, (2) emotional pain, (3) suffering, (4) inconvenience, (5) mental anguish, (6) loss of enjoyment of life, (6) loss of society and companionship, (7) loss of consortium, and (8) hedonic damages, in addition to the catch-all "all other non-pecuniary losses of any kind or nature." In fact, Congress enumerated more kinds of non-economic damages than are normally paid in any single state jurisdiction. Thus, it would be reasonable to expect that payments made under the Victim Compensation Fund would be at least as high, if not higher, than previous awards for non-economic damages. As one example, in the case of the Lockerbie bombing, a spouse was awarded $5 million in non-economic damages. Under DOJ's plan for the September 11th Fund, a widow and two surviving dependent children would receive only $400,000, subject to reduction by the collateral offset provision. Shockingly, DOJ tacitly admits that it did not even look at the elements of non-economic damages that Congress required to be compensated. Rather, in the only justification for the presumed award, DOJ's notice states that "the $250,000 figure is roughly equivalent to the amounts received under existing federal programs by public safety officers who are killed while on duty, or members of our military who are killed in the line of duty while serving our nation." The regulation then cites to the statutory provision for a group life insurance program under which servicemembers can elect to purchase policies with a death benefit up to a maximum of $250,000, commonly known as the Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance (SGLI) program, and a newly amended federal statute under which the government pays to the families of fallen public safety officers $250,000-on top of any other amounts they may receive from other sources. Neither of these programs was intended to, nor does, compensate a victim's family for the full range of non-economic damages identified by Congress in the statute establishing the Fund. DOJ flouted Congress's specific mandate and instead replicated existing, inapposite, and limited federal death-benefit programs. The absurdity of DOJ's approach is illustrated by its reliance on SGLI as the basis for the amount awarded. If a serviceman killed at the Pentagon had elected the SGLI at $250,000, the offset of life insurance proceeds required by the Act would wipe out the non-economic damages entirely (unless there were a spouse or other dependents, at $50,000 each under the DOJ scheme). DOJ's approach therefore assumes that Congress intended the non-economic damages to be merely illusory-to be given with one hand and then taken away with the other. Not only is this clearly incorrect-it flies in the face of basic principles of statutory construction. In short, it is the epitome of an arbitrary and capricious approach to implementing the Act. Presentations made at a recent meeting of the National Association of Forensic Economists support our contention that DOJ's presumed non-economic damage awards are unreasonably low. Another problem with respect to non-economic damages is the Special Master's insistence on using the probate laws of the various states to determine the distribution of the entire award among family members and other claimants. While appropriate for some damages (e.g., pain and suffering of the victim), this approach fails to recognize that other non-economic losses are incurred by specific claimants, not by the estate. For example, the surviving spouse suffers loss of consortium. Under the DOJ plan, payments for loss of consortium could be divided among the heirs and, where there is a will, might be awarded entirely to a claimant other than the spouse. While the Special Master reserves the right to overrule the probate courts, it is unreasonable to force a claimant to plead extraordinary circumstances and appeal to the Special Master to prevent such an inappropriate distribution of funds. DOJ's Plan Significantly Undervalues Economic Damages DOJ's proposed awards for economic damages significantly underestimate actual economic losses. We have asked DOJ and the Special Master for all of the assumptions and methodology used in calculating the "presumptive awards," in order to better understand and analyze them, because DOJ has provided only general guidance on how it determined these award levels. Even before we receive this detailed information, however, it is clear that there are major problems with DOJ's approach. The National Association of Forensic Economists recently participated in a conference at which experienced economists pointed out significant flaws in DOJ's methodology. For example, DOJ unnecessarily relied almost exclusively on federal government data that was out of date and inapplicable to the groups to which DOJ applied it. One forensic economist with experience in air crash cases (for both plaintiffs and defendants) indicates that actual life-cycle earnings for firefighters are 27% higher than the DOJ estimate, the actual life-cycle earnings of all college educated workers are 30% higher than DOJ indicates, and the actual life-cycle earnings growth of college-educated Securities and Financial Services workers is more than 100% higher than the DOJ estimate. Moreover, DOJ also seriously underestimates "real" (beyond inflation) increases in earnings by administrative support and clerical workers. Rather than utilizing aggregated national data, this experienced economist stated that the Special Master could use readily available data to create 8-12 prototype earning patterns, based on occupation and education, that would much more closely match the expected earnings patterns of the victims. In the case of high-income victims, the undervaluation of increases in compensation is exacerbated because the regulations arbitrarily cap a victim's income at $225,000 a year. Thus, DOJ starts off with an artificially depressed earnings level, and then uses unrealistically low models for projecting increases from that level. This cap, for which there is no justification in the statute, would result in some families receiving severely reduced compensation for their actual economic losses. The only justification DOJ has offered for capping incomes is that not doing so would result in awards greater than what the families "need." But DOJ has provided no explanation of how it determined these needs. The human cost of the income cap is that many widows and some widowers will have to sell their homes, deplete their children's college funds, give up their plans of being full-time parents while their children are young, and make other wrenching adjustments at a time when they already have more than enough burdens to bear. In general, there is a significant underestimation of promotions and other increases in earnings for victims. DOJ apparently relied on the Boards of Actuaries of the federal civil service and military retirement systems, which track federal worker incomes and pension requirements, not the higher-paying private sector career paths. Experts at the NAFE conference pointed out that data on federal workers is irrelevant for assessing private sector earnings projections. DOJ's error, coupled with its emphasis on past 3 years of income (which the Special Master "may average"), makes it appear that DOJ used a federal pension approach to ascertaining economic damages , rather than considering the likely income-earning potential of the decedent, as is routinely done in wrongful death cases. Sadly, this DOJ/OMB approach appears to be an attempt to distort the tort-based provisions of the Act into just another bureaucratic, formulaic, federal program based on concepts the agencies are already familiar with, rather than what the law requires. One economist dubbed the failure of DOJ to tailor its economic loss model to the actual circumstances of the victims the "Reverse Cinderella Effect" -- where DOJ is trying to make one shoe fit all of the feet. Other problems pointed out by the economists are the fact that the worklife estimates used by DOJ are seriously outdated, particularly for women. DOJ's aggregation of this outdated data means that its worklife estimates are low for both men and women, thus underestimating awards for both genders. There is also a serious underestimation of the economic value of household services performed by victims, particularly women. These, along with the use of pre-tax discount rate, further widen the gap between DOJ's flawed approach and a proper valuation of economic loss. DOJ Makes a Mockery of the Right to a Hearing A particularly insidious notion inherent in the interim final regulations is that a family's award may be increased above the "presumptive" award only by a showing of "extraordinary circumstances"-beyond those suffered by other victims or victims' families. This makes the hearing or appeal to the Special Master a mere charade. DOJ has constructed a scheme that provides extremely low awards to those who lost loved ones due to the extraordinary events of September 11, and then declares that only in cases that are extraordinary, beyond those already extraordinary events, will awards be increased. This is virtually an impossible standard to meet, especially in light of the Special Master's statements that he cannot and will not make "Solomon-like" distinctions between the suffering of individuals or families. The problem is that the presumptive award levels are so low, they do not compensate the families adequately for the extraordinary suffering they and their loved ones endured and continue to endure. Absent a change in the regulations, these award levels will not be increased to reflect the compensation contemplated by the Act for the actual damages suffered by each victim and family. What is extraordinary is the suffering inflicted on all of the victims and their families on September 11-not differences in degrees of suffering among them. Victims aboard airplanes suffered through a kidnapping/highjacking and horrific plane crashes. Victims at the World Trade Center suffered through the trauma of the plane crash and a raging fire (so intense and unbearable that some victims thought it better to jump 100 stories to their certain death than to endure the fire), and others suffered from the unthinkable collapse of the massive towers upon them. Victims at the Pentagon suffered a horrible death from the impact of the plane into their "secure" offices or by burning in the raging inferno of jet fuel. Family members themselves have had to endure the inescapable coverage and regurgitation of these events on TV, in the newspapers, and even in ordinary discourse with neighbors, acquaintances, and others. It is fundamentally unfair for DOJ to trivialize the extraordinary suffering of each victim and family (for example, by valuing non-economic damages at 10% of the level of compensation in comparable cases and valuing economic damages at less than 50% in some cases) and then to state that only upon distinguishing a claim from all of the other claims that are also undervalued by DOJ will an award be increased. Instead, the standard should be that DOJ compensate each victim and family for the types of damages enumerated by Congress at levels comparable to those recoverable in the tort system the Fund was designed to replace. Conclusion During the 30-day comment period, Families of September 11 will work with DOJ and the Special Master to try to improve the payment levels to reflect the provisions of the Act. Your assistance will be most helpful in persuading DOJ and the Special Master to follow the Act. If the interim final regulations are not substantially changed by DOJ, the victims' families may have to challenge the regulations in court in order to ensure compliance with the law. And many families, seeing no adequate remedy from the Fund, may decide to sue the airlines and others, despite the handicap of the liability limits. DOJ can and should avoid such unfortunate confrontations by recognizing the need to make significant revisions to conform the regulations to the statutory requirements. Please urge DOJ to do so, and eliminate the need for the families to go to court in order to implement the clear congressional intent for fair, compassionate compensation. Specifically, we want DOJ to (1) increase its non-economic loss award by an order of magnitude (from 10% to 100%), to properly reflect the damages that Congress has determined are compensable, (2) correct the methodological flaws in its calculation of economic damages and use accurate, up-to-date data in making those calculations, and (3) recognize that a claimant should not have to show "extraordinary circumstances" to increase the "presumed award," but rather, should only have to show that the "presumed award" does not accurately reflect the damages incurred by the victim and his or her family. We strongly believe that if the nation can find $15 billion to bail out the airlines, which may have been responsible for the attacks because of lax security, it can provide the full amount necessary to fairly compensate the families of the innocent victims of the attacks. Thank you in advance for your assistance on this pressing matter. Individual Comment Newton MA September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2002-01-08 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 dojN001449.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. 2002-01-08 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. Tuesday, March 12, 2002 9:41 AM Just to place my remarks into some sort of perspective, I am a 62 year-old heterosexual with a wife of 38 plus years, two daughters and a grandson. Upon reading of a conversation on one of Sunday's political talk shows, I became incensed. A "gentleman" who works under the direction of the misanthropic U.S. Attorney General informed the moderator and the public that significant others and dependants of gay or lesbian 9-11 victims would recieve no help from the victims fund if the state involved (assuming the victim's home state) did not recognize same sex unions. That is disgusting! Carrying Ashcroft's despicable discrimination into the dissemination of charitable funds points out just how un-Christlike this digusting self-styled musician/preacher has become. It also underlines not only the total stupidity of the man who nominated Ashcroft to begin with, but how moronically sheep-like the Congress was to have confirmed the nomination. 9-11 and its heroes notwithstanding, this administration has, once again, made me ashamed of being an American. Individual Comment Bristol, CT 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 dojR000380.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. Wednesday, December 19, 2001 10:15 AM Equal Access to Crisis Relief Benefits for Surviving Gay and Lesbian Partners 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 San Diego, 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 dojA002952.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. Kenneth Zwick, Director Office of Management Programs, Civil Division U.S. Department of Justice Main Building, Room 3140 950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20530 Director Zwick: As the Chairman of the New York State Senate Crime Victims, Crime and Corrections Committee, I would like to take this opportunity to provide comment on the record regarding the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 [Public Law No: 107-42, Title IV] and its proposed regulations. The specific source of my concern arises from the broad definition of 'collateral source' [Section 402(4)] and the possible interpretation which could include charitable contributions. It is of the utmost importance that the tremendous amount of charitable contributions after the September 11th tragedies are not included as a collateral source which, under Section 405(b)(c),'...shall reduce the amount of compensation determined under paragraph (l)(B)(ii)....' To do so would not only be an insult to the donors and benefactors, it would be contrary to the very law which established the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 and contrary to New York State law. In addition to the obvious policy reasons for excluding charitable contributions from the definition of 'collateral sources', and the fact that charitable contributions were not included in the statutory definition of 'collateral source,' such an interpretation should not be made, because the Act as a whole requires the Department to exclude such contributions from its definition. Looking at the language Congress used in defining 'collateral source' and the law in its entirety, it is clear the intent is to include only entitlements as an offset to the compensation awarded to a claimant under this act. Sections 405(a)(2)(B)(iii) and Section 405(b)(6) both use 'collateral source' in context as compensation a claimant has, '...received or is entitled to receive...'(emphasis added). Compensation from a 'collateral source' in this Act is an entitlement in the true definition of the word- arising from a contract or by law. Section 402(4) simply provides major examples--life insurance, pension funds, death benefits, and payments made by Federal, State or local governments-which create an entitlement under contract of law. Although under a moral obligation to provide assistance to those they have collected donations for, and under a general, legal obligation to their donors to ensure the money collected for a specific purpose is used for that purpose, charities are under no contractual or legal obligation to provide assistance to any particular benefactor. Finally, please allow me to concur and restate the position of the memorandum to the Honorable Phillip Perry, Acting Associate Attorney General, from the offices of Governor Pataki, Attorney General Spitzer and Mayor Giuliani, which excludes charitable contributions from potential offsets under this Act as consistent with the dictates of New York's collateral source law: .............Section 4545(c) of the New York Civil Practice Law and Rules provides: In any action brought to recover damages for personal injury, injury to property or wrongful death, where the plaintiff seeks to recover for the cost of medical care, dental care, custodial care or rehabilitation services, loss of earnings or other economic loss, evidence shall be admissible for consideration by the court to establish that any such past or future cost or expense was or will, with reasonable certainty, be replaced or indemnified, in whole or in part, from any collateral source such as insurance (except for life insurance), social security (except those benefits provided under Title XVIII of the social security act), workers' compensation or employee benefit programs (except such collateral sources entitled by law to liens against any recovery of the plaintiff). To be deemed a collateral source, the court must find that such cost or expense was replaced or indemnified from any collateral source. [T]o find that any future cost or expenses will, with reasonable certainty, be replaced or indemnified by the collateral source, the court must find that the plaintiff is legally entitled to the continued receipt of such collateral source, pursuant to a contract or otherwise enforceable agreement, subject only to the continued payment of a premium and such other financial obligations as may be required by such agreement. Id. Similarly, awards made by the New York Crime Victims Board are reduced only by public funds or payments mandated by law or contract. Exec. Law §631, 9NYCRR 525.11. Individuals are not legally entitled to the receipt of charitable contributions, pursuant to a contract or otherwise enforceable agreement. See Wasau Business Insurance Co. a/s/o Central Synagogue v. Turner Construction Co. Et al., No. 99 CIV 0862 (RWS)(amicus brief)... In summary, while Section 402(4) does not specifically exclude charitable contributions from the definition of 'collateral source,' Title IV, in its entirety, is not meant to include charitable contributions as a 'collateral source.' The statutory language, legislative intent and consistency with New York Law all require the regulations and the application of the Act should not consider charitable contributions when making the 'collateral source' adjustment to the compensation awarded to a claimant under this Act. Thank you for considering my comments on this important matter. If you have any questions regarding any of the issues discussed in this letter, please feel free to contact me. With best wishes. Sincerely, Individual Comment September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2001-11-21 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 dojW000430.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. 2001-11-21 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, November 06, 2001 7:59 AM Award Rules While we mourn this terrible tragedy, logic should rule over emotion in the drafting of award rules. It is more equitable that September 11th Victims Fund Awards be reduced to reflect awards made by charity. Individual Comment September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2001-11-06 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 dojW000021.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. 2001-11-06 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. Friday, January 18, 2002 2:21 PM Absolutely terrible As an American citizen and taxpayer, I am outraged by the distribution proposals for this fund. This fund was created to protect both the families and the airlines; however, it seems to me that the airlines are the ones who will most find relief. While there is nothing that can make the deaths of so many loved ones less painful for the affected families, the least we can do as a society is to try to provide ALL families with monetary comfort. I do not see how we can differentiate between the families -- in the name of fairness, the fund should be distributed EQUALLY to ALL who were affected. How can you penalize a family who scrimped and saved to purchase life insurance? Perhaps they have less saved than others who did not pay out the sums to purchase such security. Also, addressing the most outrageous shortcoming of this proposal, how do you discriminate against the families of those men and women who sacrificed their lives to save others? Yes, firefighters, police officers, and other emergency workers have a level of danger in their jobs, but the September 11 terrorist attacks went beyond any "reasonable" risk one could have imagined. Thus, their pensions and line of duty compensation should be considered above and beyond any other compensatory awards. Anything less is an insult to the heroic efforts of these men and women (how many thousands of people did they save on September 11?) and their families who now must live without them. I do hope you reconsider the distribution of this fund. Our Constitution says that "All people are created equal"; it would be nice if the September 11th Victims Compensation Fund reflected this. Individual Comment 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 dojN001999.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 20, 2001 2:30 PM relief benefits for gay and lesbian partners December 20, 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 Denver, CO September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2001-12-20 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 dojA004529.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. 2001-12-20 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. Thursday, November 08, 2001 3:15 PM I'm a victim I am a victim of the 9/11 disaster: I was forced out of my home, which is 4 blocks south of ground zero. I was evacuated by boat to a shelter, and spent the next five nights with friends of friends and family. I then moved to a hotel, where I have stayed since. Although my building was officially reopened on 9/22, the apartment was covered with dust, and everything needed to be cleaned, at great expense. The air quality in the neighborhood has been terrible, and full of toxins. Because I have a one year old baby, who has been wheezing since 9/11, his pediatrician stated that he must not live in that neighborhood. My wife and I also have severe coughs, runny noses, headaches, sore throats, itchy eyes, and skin problems which have lasted continuously for the past two months. Because of the health concerns, especially for our baby, we must find another place to live. Our old apartment had the perfect combination of being bright and quiet, and it was also only a ten minute walk from our office. A similar place uptown where the air is cleaner will cost us at least $1,500 per month more, and we will also incur a realtor fee of over $10,000 and moving expenses of about $3,000. I have spent considerable time at work on the personal matter of trying to find out about the air, and its long and short term effects on the health of babies, and being in my home when the cleaning was done. My income has sufffered from lack of attention to my work. I own my own business. My offices were forced closed on 9/11 for six days, over which time no sales were made. I was still responsible for my expenses (rent, payroll, etc.). This adds up to several thousand dollars. I also spent $2,000 on HEPA filters for the office, and bought respirators for all the employees. Besides the physical health and financial issues, the tragedy of 9/11 had psychological impact, as well. Having heard planes flying low over head and hearing booms and crashes followed by horror, I am brought back to 9/11 whenever I hear a plane or a lound boom. My baby has lived in 6 places in the last two months with no idea what is going on. I don't know which of his toys and furniture we can keep and which must be thrown away. No one seems to be able to answer these questions for us. We don't know when and how we will ever be settled. Eventually these problems will be resolved, but it is very difficult for us at the moment, which puts a strain on everything we do. No, I am not the hardest hit victim of the tragedy of 9/11, as I was fortunate to not die, or have a family member who died. And my business was not destroyed. But my family and I are victims nonetheless. Since the government has set aside a large amount of money for victims, please consider my request for compensation. Individual Comment September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2001-11-08 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 dojW000262.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. 2001-11-08 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. Monday, February 11, 2002 12:30 PM Compensation greed I think the compensation of victims by taxpayers was a mistake from the beginning, but the greed that is being shown today by some victims is atrocious. Many people are hurt and suffer every day for no fault of their own. The taxpayer is not expected to compensate them, not should they. I think help for the victims of this attack should have been handled under existing law and precedent, with no special treatment. I am especially opposed to the idea that I, as a middle class taxpayer, should be expected to subsidize the lives of people who made far more than I do, and that the rich are being subsidized to a greater extent than the poor.Individual Comment Saint Paul, Minnesota 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 dojP000487.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. Friday, December 28, 2001 5:02 PM Please Do Not Support Equal Access To Same ### Partners December 28, 2001 Dear Mr. Kenneth Zwick, As you may know, Amnesty International has recently issued a letter in support of same ### partnerships receiving the equal access to benefits for the September 11 Victims Relief Fund. I as a member of Amnesty International want to ask that you DO NOT SUPPORT equal access to the relief fund, giving same ### partnerships the benifits that would be granted to those who were married. Amnesty has called it an "arbitrary discrimination" to not grant rights to same ### partnerships. As a member, I am personally disappointed in Amnesty for trying to pursue an agenda under the words "human rights." They in themselves are pushing the same ### agenda, without any justification for it being a basic human right. It is discriminating against the institution of marriage, and makes it useless. By their action they are trying to redefine human rights by pushing an agenda that is not so fixed or assumed. Please honor only those who have the legitimate right of marriage to be seen as a legal marriage partnership, please do not support Amnesty's push to redefine marriage. These are rights that would not be considered for opposite ### partnerships that are outside of marriage, and so it is not discrimination to deny those who are of same ### partnerships. Thank you for considering my concerns. I look forward to hearing from you about this critical issue. With much Thanks Sincerely, Individual Comment Las Vegas, NV September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2001-12-28 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 dojN001130.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. 2001-12-28 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 3:05 PM a REAL tragedy I got the email below from a friend in Florida. I'm a Canadian citizen and this is my 2 cents worth. It is high time people got off their butts and did the RIGHT thing! Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals AND Transgendered people ALSO died in the Sept 11th tragedy. Their FAMILIES deserve to be considered and recompensed EQUALLY to those of straight Americans. Screw what the OLD laws say. MAKE NEW ONES! The old rules from way back discriminated against black people, women, and other minorities and they were ALL WRONG! SO are laws that discriminate against LGBT people! CLUE IN ALREADY! WHY is it you politicians ALWAYS take the cowards route and choose to discriminate rather than do the honorable thing? WHY!?!? Right now I am VERY proud to NOT BE an American of ANY type! I hope you smarten up damn quick... I GUARANTEE that EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU has a relative, friend, AND coworker that fits into the LGBT spectrum. I sincerely hope that you get off your collective asses and do the right thing, include LGBT people while you can still look those same friends, family and coworkers in the eyes! Don't let those who use the bible as a WEAPON to harm LGBT people be the ones that dissuade you from doing the right & honourable thing. Let them adjust and learn to actually "love thy neighbour" for a change. Individual Comment Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. 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 dojR000475.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. Tuesday, November 06, 2001 11:41 AM September 11 Victim Compensation Fund Dear Attorney General Ashcroft and DOJ Staff, Thank you for the opportunity to submit commentary on the rules for this Fund Program. The major point that I wish to make is my strong opposition to such a Fund without both individual claim caps (per victim and per decedent) and for a total cap on the Fund itself. Without such upper limits, I cannot see how the Special Master in charge can possibly adjudicate awards which will not seriously impact the federal budget. Who can put an income projection (for life onto a bread-winner, now deceased, and then add in Pain and Suffering, as well as specific damages, and not come to an amount which is well in excess of the budget capacity of this country for all 5000 to 6000 affected families? In view of the fact that Mrs. Kennedy and her children were not given a blank check, nor the families of posthumous winners of the Congressional Medal of Honor, nor the Killed-In-Action from US armed forces, nor familes of others lost in acts of war (PanAm Lockerbie, KAL007, The Lusitania, etc.), an unlimited Fund with unlimited caps is simply untenable. It undercuts American sacrifices made in prior conflicts and acts of terror. It breaks the bank. And it will diminish the generosity of Americans in their charitable giving, if they believe the Fund will beget future such unlimited federal funds for earthquakes, tornados, and acts of war. Why give to charity, if Uncle Sam has an unlimited pool of money for the victims? Write the rules, Mr. Attorney General, with sensible caps and limits. Please. Thank You Sincerely, Individual Comment Johnstown, Ohio September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2001-11-06 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 dojW000099.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. 2001-11-06 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. Thursday, February 28, 2002 11:04 AM Military and WTC Fund To: Special Master, Victims Compensation Fund From: Date: February 27,2002 Re: Physical Harm to Military Personnel at WTC I was only made aware of the fact that rescue workers could submit claims if obtained physical harm and qualified under conditions of this fund. After months of pulmonary testing it has become apparent that I have sustained significant lung damage as a result of my duty at ground zero from 11 September thru October 15. I have been told that the damage to my lungs is equivalent to a 20 year, 3 pack a day smoker. I have never smoked a day in my life and went to ground zero, walking 10 miles per day without becoming short of breath. My Pulmonary Function Tests show my small airways functioning at 40% vs. 100%.(60% loss). I have clear black and white documentation of damage. I cannot speak for any length of time or eat more that 1/2 of a sandwich without becoming winded. My quality of life has changed drastically and am getting worse each day. I am having difficulty teaching &nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp for the &nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp and working as a &nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp part time at &nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp where I have been employed part time for the last 17 years. I was at ground zero from 12 to 15 hours per day for 31 days. We were given masks at Styvesant School cafeteria (black with purple filters). They were substandard at best. The filters were to be changed each day. There were no filter replacements. I served on a "Critical Incidence Team" at ground zero. My duties were to speak to as many soldiers on site throughout their 24-hour shifts. We worked with on site CISM Teams, Chaplains, social workers to support the health and mental well being of the troops. I, as a member of the CISM team, was initially given some protection. There were many soldiers (101st Cavalry from Staten Island and 69th BN from Troy and Hudson Falls, NY ) who were on 12 hour shifts day in and day out from hour one that were not given masks for the first week. As I made my rounds each day, speaking to an average of 200-300 soldiers per day, I was amazed at the time it took to provide them with masks but can understand completely that noone could predict this incident or the need for 1000's of very expensive masks and filters to protect soldiers lungs against harm. I am not attempting to find fault with anyone. I raised my hand knowing the risks I might someday ensue. The problem lies in the following; Gov. Pataki ordered us to active duty under SAD,( New York State Active Duty). Do to the fact I was on "State" active duty vs. "federal" active duty, I am not entitled to the same compensation we would have had had we been activated on federal status like many of our Air Force counterparts. We are NOT entitled to federal retirement benefits, only state (similar to NY state workers compensation). If soldiers had less than 15 years of service they are NOT qualified to being medically retired from the New York Army National Guard. (I will loose my military career if deemed physically unfit thru a medical board). If soldiers have over 15 years service, they can be medically retired (at a far less rate that if they finished their military careers with a lot less retirement points). In addition, would loose the monthly income the military provides. In my case, as a major, would loose 500-1000.00 per month if I am discharged from military service at a minimum and the ability to remain in the army until my mandatory removal date of 2007 or to be promoted to Lt. Colonel and continue my career as a military officer. Furthermore, because of the Ferry's Doctrine and the fact that I was wearing the uniform of the US Army, am not allowed to suit any government agency. I have absolutely NO recourse, unlike the fireman and police and the many injured workers involved in the WTC Rescue. None could predict planes would terrorize our country. I found it unethical to suit anyone. I made many phone calls when I was made aware of the lung damage as to what would happen to me, my career and financial future. I was upset to hear what little recourse I had under the terms of SAD and wearing the uniform. I called an attorney representing the firefighters union and was informed I too could make a claim to the WTC Fund. I was shocked and amazed. I took me until the next day to gather enough courage to call and reluctantly made the call to the fund claim assistant. I shook as I dialed the phone for I felt uncomfortable making the inquiry, for I did not loose a loved one and saw first hand the suffering. I cannot believe I am in this predicament. I have documented lung damage and fear for my future and what is in store. I am experiencing a real disability and am filing a LINE OF DUTY with the New York Army National Guard. I will pursue this but am sure that my military career is over. I fall under the 96-hour statute but not the 24-hour condition. We filled out (600"s), the military's medical documentation form that stated we had respiratory irritation. Our eyes burned for days as well as our skin. We had a cough the first week. However the real damaged was not realized until the last few months after significant testing such as CT of chest with contrast, chest x-rays, stress echoes, Doppler studies, blood work, EKG's, PFT's, Methacholine challenge, Cold air challenge etc. All pulmonary tests are abnormal. I was told I would need to be followed indefinitely by the head of &nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp Pulmonary Department. I did not write in before the January 22 deadline. I learned about the fact that we could make claim yesterday when reading the entire fund requirements. I feel you may have not heard the military voice after speaking to many. I never would have been aware of the 22 Jan deadline for it is not common place that those in uniform would have ever dared made claim amongst those who have lost so much. I never would have imagined I would be in this mess and appreciate any help you can give in this matter. Are the military personnel who have acquired a definitive disability, including myself, entitled to compensation under the fund when the injuries were not realized until a few months after the exposure, as in my case. Does it fall under "latent" or not at all? I hope you consider my thoughts as you finalize the rules in this fund. I thank you for your time I have forwarded this to my district representative as well, in attempts to make legislature aware of the military unique circumstance and the fact that we have little recourse for damages suffered in such an unfortunate event. Individual Comment September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2002-02-28 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 dojP000572.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. 2002-02-28 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 13, 2001 3:22 PM victim comp 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 San Francisco, 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 dojA001581.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, November 06, 2001 1:55 PM Charitable contributions to victims funds I strongly object to Congress reducing award amounts less the charitable contributions received. The victims of the 9/11 disasters are the remaining families left behind. How can our government even contemplate making these victims suffer even more grief at a time like this. I for one did not contribute to those funds with the anticipation that the US government would seek to use those contributions as a resource. Those of us that gave, did so out of an act of humanity to our brothers and sisters. Please do not make a mockery of that by making these victims suffer more by having to beg for what is rightfully theirs. We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit. -- Aristotle Individual Comment September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2001-11-06 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 dojW000105.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. 2001-11-06 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. Thursday, December 20, 2001 11:10 PM Human Rights December 20, 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 Fern Park, FL September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2001-12-20 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 dojN000175.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. 2001-12-20