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 12:15 PM Sept. 11 Victim Compensation Comments Kenneth L. Zwick, Director Office of Management Programs U.S. Department of Justice Wednesday December 5, 2001 Dear Mr. Zwick, I am writing today to ask you to invest a few minutes in the cause of justice and equality. I understand that, in the aftermath of the September 11 terrorist attacks, the U.S. Justice Department established the "September 11 Victim Compensation Fund." If I understand correctly, the purpose of this fund is to provide assistance to persons who were injured as a result of the attacks, and to compensate the relatives of those who were killed. I understand that the U.S. Department of Justice is now inviting public comments on how this fund should be administered and how funds should be distributed. I strongly encourage you to remember that justice will be served ONLY when all families -- and all types of families, including those of a gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered nature -- that were impacted by September 11 are treated with equality. >From the brave young gay man who lost his life on the plane attempting to save the lives of innocent people... to the gay priest who lost his life while ministering at Ground Zero... to the many lesbian and gay employees working in the World Trade Center... it is vitally important that our government treat all of our families with dignity and respect and equality. Within my own denomination ofMetropolitan Community Churches, the lives of our congregants have forever been touched by the death of a member of MCC New York, and the horrific loss experienced by her life partner and their teenage son. I put myself in partner's shoes every day. How would I ever explain to my 6 1/2 year old son that his , my partner and his parent, was killed in a tragic, horrific nightmare? And how would I explain, further, that our government, which is to stand behind each and every one of us, does not "approve" of our family and, therefore, will not be helping us in any way? Our pain is no less. Our loss is no less. And our access to justice and equality in the aftermath of this crisis must be no less. Therefore, I implore you to include 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. I would ask my federal government to follow the example already set by New York's Governor Pataki in 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." Thank you for taking a stand for justice -- and a stand on behalf of all lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered families impacted by the events of September 11. We are Americans too. We are families as well. We wake up in the morning, get our kids dressed and fed, and take them to school just like you do. We come home at night, have dinner together, read bedtime stories and tuck our kids in at night, just like you do. We are soccer mom's and baseball dads, just like you. We bake cookies and sing songs and attend PTO meetings, just like you. Please remember that we are families too. And, as I said before, Our pain is no less. Our loss is no less. And our access to justice and equality in the aftermath of this crisis must be no less. Thank you for taking my comments into consideration and remembering that ALL American families deserve equal assistance and compensation in the aftermath of this horrific tradgedy. Sincerely, Individual Comment Mount Joy, PA 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 dojA000935.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