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. Monday, March 11, 2002 3:33 PM Kenneth Feinberg's remarks I am quite distressed over Kenneth Feinberg's published remarks concerning compensation for the gay and lesbian victims of Sept. 11. "[Gays and lesbians are] left out of my program to the extent that their own state doesn't include them. I cannot get into a position in this program, which has a one-and-a-half or two-year life start second-guessing what the state of New York or the Commonwealth of Massachusetts or the state of Virginia or New Jersey, how they treat same-sex partners, domestic live-ins, etc. I simply say this: What does your state law say about who is eligible? If your state law makes you eligible, I will honor state law. If it doesn't, I go with the state. Otherwise, Tim, I would find myself getting sued in every state by people claiming that I'm not following how the state distributes money. I can't get into that local battle. I've got to rely on state law." - Kenneth Feinberg on NBC's "Meet the Press," March 10, 2002. While I appreciate Mr. Feinberg's legal and political situation, the argument doesn't really hold up. He also said "The attorney general, in consultation with Immigration, etc., undocumented aliens who come forward, the families will not suffer any consequences. They are covered by this program. They will get a check. The employer, where we need the economic information about the undocumented alien, will not be penalized," I have a hard time believing that all states have laws which allow compensation to illegal immigrants, while those same laws would not apply to domestic partnerships and same-sex relationships. Also, overlooking local law in favor of state laws means that those who should be eligible for benefits will be denied because of political wrangling. The fallout from the Sept. 11 attacks has produced unique situations for all people affected, and we all must respond to the situation in a fair, open and generous manner. I live in New York and could see the smoking towers from my rooftop. One of the families who lost someone lives in my building and I could see the devastation in all of his families eyes every day. I ask that all the administrators of the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund review the policy outlined by Mr. Feinberg regarding gay and lesbian family members of victims. Please, help to ease the pain of all those affected. Individual Comment Long Island City, NY September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2002-03-11 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 dojR000189.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. 2002-03-11