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 January 17, 2002 Mr. Kenneth L. Zwick Director United States Department of Justice Office of Management Programs-Civil Department 950 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. Main Building Room 3140 Washington, D.C. 20530 Dear Mr. Zwick: Let me begin by commending you and Special Master Kenneth Feinberg on the time, effort and dedication that you have invested in your roles for September 11th Victim Compensation Fund. I understand the monumental responsibility with which you are charged, and appreciate the enormity of the task at hand. However, many constituents in my district have expressed grave concern regarding the interim rule that you have issued to administer the Fund. I concur with their trepidation. This letter, then, serves to express the disappointment that my constituents and I feel toward the current administration of the Victim Compensation Fund. More than 50 people in the Eighth Congressional District died in the September 11th attacks. Their family members and loved ones still live with the indescribable suffering and sadness of loss. While we do not pretend that these families can ever be fully compensated, the award for their damages must strive to reflect their pain to the greatest extent possible. The Victims Compensation Fund simply fails at this. The non-economic award of $250,000 is too low. Even without comparing this sum to higher court-awarded damages in recent years, I feel that this figure does not adequately reflect a family's pain and anguish. Furthermore, I am also concerned that the formulaic chart whereby economic damages are determined does not adequately address the full range of potential economic loss a family may experience. It is my hope that families, regardless of their income, will be awarded their actual economic losses. To do this, each claimant must be evaluated on an individual basis for careful consideration of the individual circumstance. Finally, I wholeheartedly believe that compensation awards under the Fund should in no way be reduced by insurance and pension payments. It is wrong that families who purchased life insurance may be penalized. It is imperative that these families are treated fairly. The collateral source rule in the Fund does not do this. I look forward to hearing from you soon, and working with you in the near future to correct the discrepancies listed above. The task before you is great and I offer you any assistance you may need. Sincerely, Bill Pascrell, Jr. Member of Congress September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2002-01-17 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource dojN002426.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. email Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-01-17