Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Department of Justice Emails Description An account of the resource The Department of Justice received more than 11,000 e-mails in response to the agency's public solicitation for comments upon its plans to distribute the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 established by Congress to benefit the victims of September 11 and their families. These e-mails have been organized here by date. September 11 Email September 11 Email: Body The basic content, as unstructured text; sometimes containing a signature block at the end. Wednesday, November 07, 2001 1:25 PM Comments re Rules for Victims Fund I am writing concerning the government's impending distribution of funds to Sept. 11 victims and/or their families. Specifically, I wish to comment on possibly reducing public payments in some proportion to distributions from private charities, like the 9/11 fund, to these same beneficiaries. It is my understanding these funds, whether public or private, aim to compensate 9/11 victims and/or their families, to both: (1) provide immediate assistance with respect to near-term living expenses, financial obligations, memorial arrangements, etc., and (2) to some degree ensure victims' families' future financial security. Between various public and private funds, both (1) and (2) are attainable. But if multiple distributions from various sources pay for the same things each time, i.e., double or triple paying, resulting in huge financial windfalls over what is needed to achieve (1) and (2), with taxpayers footing the bill, then something is seriously amiss. Already, 9/11 has brought sweeping changes to our country, which are just beginning. The financial costs will be prohibitive, between prosecuting a war, intelligence gathering, international aid, homeland security (securing various public and private buildings, improving aviation security, guarding against bioterrorism, etc.), reconstruction, business relocations, business slowdowns and failures due to a faltering economy, etc. The hundreds of billions of dollars needed for these efforts have to come from somewhere. To "waste" some of these dollars, even if they are given to incredibly sympathetic recipients, is wrong. [For the record, a member of my extended family was lost in the WTC attack, and so besides my feelings as a citizen, I have a personal connection to 9/11] It is clear both the private and public sector each has a role to play going forward, and in helping those whose lives were shattered on 9/11. To this end, while the government must lead in assisting victims, various private 9/11 funds must also play a role in this "partnership." I do not suggest the government abrogate its responsibilities, but rather, a sense of teamwork, financial sensibility, and fairness guide "solving the equation." If hypothetically 70% government money and 30% private dollars (which have already been gathered) will make 9/11 survivors "whole", it makes no sense and is grossly unfair for survivors to receive 100% from the government plus 30% from the private sector. Survivors should not be receiving financial windfalls at taxpayers' expense, and it is wrong for the country at large to lose out on the benefits that more sensible use of the money will yield. Finally, as an aside, there are thousands of people each year who perish in horrible circumstances, through no fault of their own, whose families are left in dire straits. In a sense, their deaths and their families' situations are little different than 9/11's victims. The only difference with 9/11 is that its victims met their end in an appalling, high profile situation, which, for good reason, has touched us as a nation and individually in a way most of us have not previously experienced. But as a close parallel, in December 1988, hundreds perished in the terrorist bombing of Pan Am 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, another event to which I had a personal connection. While there was some financial compensation to this tragedy's survivors, there were certainly no financial windfalls. In essence, Pan Am 103's victims were no different than those of 9/11, except that they were attacked outside of the U.S. So, I fail to see why "double or triple paying" is appropriate in the case of 9/11. Again, the government must lead in aiding 9/11's victims, and not shunt the burden off on private charities. But where there is private assistance already planned for and in place, it should not be seen as some kind of "bonus", but should be integrated into the process in a sense of partnership, for the good of all Americans. For all the emotional resonance of 9/11, it is imperative that fairness, good sense, and responsibility still be the overriding forces guiding the rudder going forward. Respectfully, Individual Comment New York, NY September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2001-11-07 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource dojW000183.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. email Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2001-11-07