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. Sunday, March 17, 2002 9:25 PM Exclusion of Gays from 9/11 Fund I was distressed to learn that Kenneth Feinberg, the head of the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund, said that gay partners of the victims of September 11th will not necessarily be eligible for the same compensation as heterosexual family members who lost their loved ones. I'm not sure that there's a way to handle distributions from the 9/11 fund without making some people feel like they've gotten sort shrift, but I think it is an outrage that our government is bending over backwards to give 9/11 benefits to illegal aliens, but attempting to deny benefits to U.S. citizens who are the Gay life partners of victims. I recognize that there are some tough issues involved. In places where Gay couples are not allowed to register as life partners, how do you distinguish a bona fide life partner from someone who was in less-committed relationship with one of the victims or, worse, from some low-life who may or may not actually even be Gay who invents a relationship with one of the victims in order to cash in? If you allow benefits for Gay life partners who are not registered, do you open yourselves up to litigation for not affording the same benefits to non-Gays who were living with (but not married to) the victims? But then, I imagine there are similar issues regarding the illegal aliens. If you're not from here and weren't married here and we have no record of your marriage, how do we know you were actually married? How do we know that those who claim to be children of illegal aliens killed on 9/11 really are those people's children, when we have no birth records to validate the claims? I'm glad I'm not the one who has to make the decision about who gets 9/11 money and who doesn't. It's a quagmire, and I admit I don't have all the answers on how to navigate through it. But I do know that it's outrageously discriminatory and totally un-American to ignore U.S. federal laws and provide benefits for illegal aliens, while hiding behind the letter of discriminatory state laws to deny benefits to Gays who lost their life partners in the 9/11 attacks. Just so you don't think I am being self-serving, let me assure you that I am not Gay. I spent 25 years in the military service of the United States, supporting and defending the U.S. Constitution and the rights it guarantees to all Americans. Among the most fundamental of those rights are the rights to liberty and the pursuit of happiness, and those rights clearly encompass the right to be free to choose one's own lifestyle and to fall in love with whomever one will. It pains me to see our Constitution undermined by government actions that reveal a Judeo-Christian agenda and a moral judgment that all men are created equal, but only so long as they happen to be heterosexual. Looking at it from that perspective, perhaps I am being self-serving. By advocating for the rights of Gays today, I am also acting in defense of my own rights, which might be threatened tomorrow if the government suddenly decides that my lifestyle lacks the proper moral center required to be considered a full-fledged U.S. citizen with entitlement to all the rights and benefits thereof. I urge you not to allow the discriminatory policy stated by Mr. Feinberg to stand. Individual Comment September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2002-03-17 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 dojR001680.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. 2002-03-17