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. February 13, 2002 Kenneth R. Feinberg, Special Master September 11 Victim Compensation Fund U.S. Department of Justice 950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20530-0001 Dear Mr. Feinberg, My comments regarding the formation of the September 11 Victim Compensation Fund ("Fund") were acknowledged previously as being incorporated in the official record. I expressed a deep concern that the U.S. Department of Justice has acted illegally in a broad range of areas regarding structured settlements, including the exclusion of brokers introduced to a claim settlement process by the claimant, in violation of the whole body of procurement law. In that context, I had deep reservations that the U.S. Department of Justice would be able to administer the distribution of assets from this fund in a manner that is fair to settlement brokers who do not seem to have special influence with Justice Department personnel. I understand that the preamble to the proposed regulations to distribute the Fund, 66 Fed. Reg at 66280, gives discretion to the Special Master "to provide claimants with information regarding annuities or other financial planning devices or to offer structured awards with periodic payments." I trust that you will not be bound by the illegal tactics and practices of the Torts Branch, as detailed in my grievance of March 12, 2001, to Attorney General Ashcroft (part of the commend record described above), to which I have not received even the courtesy of an acknowledgment. What is your current procedure for involving structured settlement brokers? Are you or your staff making the selections and if so, on what basis? In the event a structured settlement broker is invited by a claimant or claimant's attorney to handle a structured settlement transaction involving the Fund, would your office accept that person as the broker of record? I am a structured settlement broker who has been routinely excluded from participation in structured settlements handled through the Department of Justice under the Federal Tort Claims Act, in favor of other brokers anointed by the government attorney handling the claim. (This is all documented in my March 12, 2001, grievance that is part of the record.) How are structured settlements being handled? It is my understanding that the Fund was created either as a Designated Settlement Fund under I.R.C. 468B or a Qualified Settlement Fund under Treasury Regulations 1.468B. If so, under Revenue Procedure 93-94 the fund can create the future payment obligation to the claimant then make a "qualified assignment" under I.R.C. 130. Is that the procedure adopted, or are you following the traditional Torts Branch approach of having the United States own the annuity with the claimant agreeing to look only to the issuing life insurance company for future payments? There seems to be no authority for a claimant to receive the exclusion under I.R.C. 104(a)(2) if the latter method is used, placing the claimant at risk for an adverse tax ruling. I would appreciate very much your response to these questions. Sincerely, Individual Comment Tulsa, OK September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2002-02-13 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 dojP000617.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. 2002-02-13