dojN002687.xml

dojN002687.xml

born-digital

email

yes

no

2002-04-26

January, 2002

The Honorable John Ashcroft
Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20530

Re: "September 11th Victims Compensation Fund of 2001" P.L.107-42

Dear Mr. Ashcroft,

Please, allow me to introduce my daughter. , 34 years old in July and married 2 days short of 6 months, was a Catering Sales Manager at Windows on the World, located in Tower 1 on the 106th and 107th floors of the World Trade Center. She had worked many hard hours over many years to climb to the "peak" of her industry. She believed she was at the "top of the world", in the "greatest city" in the "greatest country" in the world. She was the ultimate New Yorker and the most loyal and proudest of Americans.

Early in the aftermath of the heinous September 11th attacks upon the United State of America, Congress enacted the above referenced legislation to compensate the relatives of the victims of those brutal attacks. We firmly believe the interim rules issued on December 20th by the Special Master satisfy neither the letter nor the spirit of the enacted legislation.

This legislation authorized payment for economic and non-economic loss. Economic loss was
defined as "any pecuniary loss...including the loss of earnings... to the extent recovery for such loss is allowed under applicable State law." (Sec. 401(5)). Non-economic loss was defined to include among other things "physical and emotional pain, suffering ... mental anguish ... and loss of consortium." (Sec. 402(5)).

The sole offsets to the payment for economic and non-economic loss were the "collateral
sources" as specified in Sec 402(4). These offsets included "life insurance, pension funds ... and payments by Federal State or local governments related to the attacks of September 11th." These were clearly intended to be the only offsets.

In his proposed rules, however, the Special Master has imposed outrageous offsets which are in no way authorized by the statute. Specifically, he imposes arbitrary income limits and restricts pain and suffering awards to $250,000 - no matter what the extent of the pain and suffering may have been. To this I take particular offense. How dare he, or any living soul trivialize the pain, the suffering and the anguish these murder victims, must have experienced.. It is a matter of record that there were many in both towers fighting for their lives for over an hour even while realizing that they had no means of escape and no hope of rescue. Indeed, a very, very long hour for them and for us as we watched and waited. I watched from my office window knowing that my daughter, my best friend was trapped. Times $250,00 over and over again and it will not do them justice.

The practical effect of these caps is to drastically reduce the award from what the statute
intended. Relatives of the victims who were in the financial services sector or in the public service sector police officers and firefighters will suffer a particularly adverse effect. This is not only contrary to the legislation but also entirely unfair. By what right does the Special Master penalize those victims for their ability and foresight to provide for their families after they were gone? For the virtue of working long and hard to care for their families and insure their families future, they are being denied a fair share of compensation.

and all the other victims were killed precisely because of who they were, where they were and what they represented. All the victims of this terror personified American business and commerce. They wanted the best, they were willing to work for it and that is why they worked in the World Trade Center. They exemplified America, and that is why they were targets that day. Our enemies would settle for nothing less than America's best. Police and firefighters died during the most successful rescue operation in the history of the United States. They too were victims of a demon called Bin Laden Do not dishonor our loved ones by allowing their families to fall victim to bureaucracy. Mayor Giuliani in his farewell address stated that the nation has an obligation to those people who died. The families need to be protected and provided for as if they still lived on. We need to be able to hold our heads high as a tribute to their sacrifices and as proud Americans. No compromise should be broached on their behalf.

The Victims Compensation Fund was created as part of a comprehensive legislative package
with the saving of the airline industry in mind. It imposed restrictions on the rights of the victims' relatives to recover from the airlines in court. However, the Fund was established to protect the rights of the victims' relatives. The Special Master cannot and must not take it upon himself to restrict those rights.

Additionally, at the time the legislation was enacted, the number of fatalities was thought to be between 6,000 and 10,000. Gratefully, the final number is showing to be less than 3,000. This will result in a significant reduction in the expected expenditures and makes the Special Master's false economics even less defensible. While the lowering of this tragic statistic is gratifying, it does not alter the fact that our daughters, sons, sisters, brothers, mothers or fathers are forever lost to us. WILL NEVER COME HOME. Do not make light of her memory and the memories of her fellow victims.

We, the family of , hereby request that the interim rules be amended and redefined to the extent that income caps be removed when computing economic loss and that each victim's case be addressed separately when computing the non-economic loss attributable to pain and suffering. Justice demands no less. 3,000 victims of American's bleakest hour demand no less.

Sincerely,

Individual Comment
Brooklyn, NY

2002-04-26