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, November 07, 2001 1:44 PM Comments concerning the Victims Compensation Fund Please accept the following comments concerning the Victims Compensation Fund. I have read several news articles concerning the Victims Compensation Fund (the "Fund"), many of which indicate that this Fund will be difficult at best to administer, and which, when looking at how funds could be doled out, would ensure that many families would actually receive nothing from opting into the Fund. I lost my oldest brother in the WTC terrorist attacks. He was a trader with Keefe, Bruyette and Woods. He left behind a wife and three teenage children who we anticipate will attend college. As a result, our family has been advising my sister-in-law to seek that recovery which can best provide for the well-being and financial security of her and her children. I have several comments concerning how I believe the Fund should operate to ensure this. According to some of the initial information on the Fund, the government will be subtracting any collateral sources from any amount which the special master would award. My brother acted responsibly and purchased life insurance (paying premiums) for his family which the government now would like to penalize him for and reduce any Fund award accordingly. As for charity funding, this will not be an issue since my sister-in-law has received virtually nothing. However, once you subtract any insurance proceeds, the government is practically ensuring that my brother's will get nothing. I do NOT believe that any collateral sources should be applied to reduce the amount that the victims' families should get. I believe the government should also promulgate a scheme which is similar to that which a litigant would be afforded in a civil personal injury or wrongful death claim. The amount awarded as damages should encompass all funeral, burial and estate administration expenses incurred, as well as an amount that will fairly and adequately compensate my brother's family for contributions they would have received between the time of his death and the end of his life expectancy such as future lost wages. My brother's gross earnings, including all fringe benefits between the date of his death and his life expectancy, must be factored in. Additionally, all moneys that my brother would have spent for or given to his family for such items as shelter, food, clothing, medical care, education, entertainment, gifts and recreation, taking into account his salary and age, must also be considered. The amount awarded should also consider the comfort and friendship that he would have given to his family had he lived and such other elements as work around the home and provisions of society and comfort. Additionally, a component should be added for the physical pain and suffering endured by my brother at the time of his death as a result of the wrongful conduct of numerous parties and/or potential defendants. Furthermore, the amount awarded by the Fund should be intended to restore my brother's family's loss and thus should not be considered as "Income" which is taxable by the federal government or the states. At present, the government is also demanding that families who opt into the Fund forego the right to sue without giving them any kind of idea what they can anticipate at the other end. Without a skeleton scheme in place concerning what factors will be looked at when reaching a settlement, the amounts awarded could be completely arbitrary based on the special master's whims on a particular day. I have read the the Fund provisions would also make such award decisions unappealable. Would you recommend that your client settle a claim without having any idea what kind of settlement you are actually recommending to him or her? No competent attorney would do any such thing as it would be legal malpractice. The families need to be fully aware in advance what they can approximately expect to receive based on an analysis of the above factors. Only then can the government ensure that there will be an incentive for the families to sign onto the Victims Compensation Fund. It is my hope that the above will aid in your analysis and will echo the sentiments of many families that are in the same tragic situation as my brother's family currently is. Sincerely, Individual Comment East Windsor, New Jersey September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2001-11-07 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 dojW000185.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. 2001-11-07