dojW000251.xml

dojW000251.xml

born-digital

email

yes

no

2001-11-07

Wednesday, November 07, 2001 4:00 PM
Comments - 9-11 Victims Compensation Fund

Public Comment re: September 11th Victims Compensation Fund.
I welcome the opportunity, as an American citizen and taxpayer, to offer my opinion on this subject. Please note that my comments come with all due respect and sympathy to those who lost the lives of loved ones and/or property as a result of these dastardly acts. However, I believe the bill including this Fund should never have been passed in the first place. I was disappointed that our "leaders" in Washington felt obliged to respond with such haste and such little thought. One expects leaders to recognize that doing nothing (at least until the situation can be properly assessed) is also an option. At the height of public hysteria and chaos, one expects cooler heads to prevail. Having said that and realizing that the horse is out of the barn, I most assuredly expect that families who are deemed eligible will not receive funds for expenses already covered by charities and further, will have charitable benefits taken into account as collateral sources of compensation. I have given to some of those charities because I wanted to. I don't want to end up with an additional tax burden or another budget deficit because our leaders went off half-cocked - again! We're going to have plenty of places where we will need money to protect the citizens of this country.

It is always a tragedy when loved ones die and/or there is a disaster that results in property loss. All citizens must prepare every day for the possibility that something might happen - yes, even something of this magnitude. Sure, there are exceptions, emergencies beyond our wildest imaginations - that's why we have FEMA. If we start compensating victims of war - and we know these were acts of war, not just acts of terrorism - we don't have enough money, now or ever. And how far back do we go? What have we done for the victims of the other recent and not so recent acts of terrorism - the USS Cole, the embassies in Africa, the barracks in Libya, the plane over Scotland - and what's yet to come. We have been told there is more to come, haven't we? Did we ever compensate people who suffered loss from the bombing of Pearl Harbor? If we didn't, so be it - how is this different? If we did, how did it work - could it be our model?

We Americans seem to think the answer to everything is throwing money at the problem. It, more often than not, is not the answer. Why can't we just take the models we have in place - they work don't they - and not open up a can of worms that we'll regret for a long time to come? None of us will be the same after 9-11 but creating a monster in the name of relief that will be the source of controversy, lawsuit, debate, and potential abuse is not going to get us closer to getting on with our lives. Stop worrying about speed so much and consider fairness to all the Americans who were impacted - and that is all of us.

From the bits I've seen and read, those folks who were family members of the big-bucks people who died, have access to computers, have been well educated, and can probably afford the time to communicate with every possible agency to seek out money. Who's going to do that for the little guy? I suggest you take some of that money and start figuring out how to really identify those who were impacted and to what degree. It amazes me, with all our so-called technology; we still have the city of New York identifying about 2,500 more missing than the charities that are handing out money. I don't believe if there's money being handed out, people are not going to come forward.

As far as how to solve this dilemma, I suggest keeping in mind the words "reasonable and fair". The only way I can imagine it is if very strict rules (not guidelines) are established and then adhered to. That means putting the necessary controls into place to ensure there are no exceptions. Draw up a table - like the IRS does. Lost, a parent. Head of household? Yes, you get x dollars. No, you get y dollars. Lost a child. Was the child married? Yes, you get nothing - it goes to his/her surviving spouse. No, one (and only one) surviving parent gets x dollars. Etc., etc. until all the bases are covered. Then, finally, was there income from collateral sources (including charities)? Yes, subtract it from the amount on line x - you receive the balance. No, you get this amount. As for disputes among relatives over filing a claim, that's where you must stand firm. There must be a deadline for filing and a date for final payment. You must have the capability to attach all claims to one person (social security number) or property (legal description). Prior to any payment, all multiple claimants against one person/property must agree to one recipient and retract all other claims. If not, the lowest computed settlement goes to "the estate of" the person or property owner and the courts can work it out through the probate process if needs be.

Nobody said this would be easy but it's important you get your best minds working on this, tighten it down, and then - and only then - publish it to the world and get on with it. Remember, no amount of money is going to make these victims whole. Knowing they live in a free country where their leaders do everything possible to protect them and treat them reasonably and fairly will go a lot further.

Thank you for the opportunity to provide my input.

Individual Comment
Knoxville, Tennessee

2001-11-07