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. Tuesday, December 18, 2001 9:43 PM Crisis relief benefits December 18, 2001 Dear Mr. Kenneth Zwick, With other human rights supporters, I write to ask that all victims, regardless of sexual orientation or marital status, be granted equal access to benefits under the September 11 Victims Relief Fund. The United States has committed to uphold international human rights standards, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. These prohibit arbitrary discrimination. Though I am part of a religious tradition (Christian) that raises profound questions about the morality of homosexual activity, I also believe these gay and lesbian victims of 9/11 are human beings who have lost loved ones. They need our support. As you consider the task before you, I ask that you apply basic international human rights standards, and the general principle of equality, by including those who lost their life partners, as well as de facto parents or children, among relatives eligible for compensation, without considering sexual orientation. The State of New York has already adopted such a policy, 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." Many lesbian and gay people were killed in the September 11th attacks. Since then, surviving partners of those killed have had mixed results in obtaining equal treatment at the local level in the distribution of relief funds by private and state agencies. This should sadden and anger us. Gays and lesbians suffer like everyone else. An inclusive policy on the part of the federal government would help establish an important principle to help these victims. Thank you for considering my concerns. I look forward to hearing from you on this matter. Sincerely, Individual Comment Grand Rapids, MI September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2001-12-18 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 dojA002370.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. 2001-12-18