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. January 14, 2002 Kenneth L. Zwick, Director Office of Management Programs Civil Division U.S. Department of Justice Main Building Room 3140 950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20530 Re: September 11th Compensation Fund 2001 Interim Final Rule Dear Mr. Zwick: I am writing to urge reconsideration of the interim final rule with regard to "capping" compensation for pain and suffering and the formula for computing compensation for economic loss. A number of my constituents lost family members in the attacks of September 11th. As we all know, no amount of money can truly compensate for these losses. However, the Federal Government, in Title IV of Public Law 107-42, has sought to establish a system by which reasonable payments can be made both to provide survivors with quick relief and to avoid lengthy, costly, and potentially unsuccessful litigation against the airlines, among others. However, the system proposed in the interim final rule, particularly when applied to victims who were both low-wage-earners and older than many of the World Trade Center victims, as is the case for constituents of mine, does not appear to adequately address the magnitude of their pain and suffering or their economic losses. I would urge amendments either to raise the "cap" on compensation for pain and suffering to a substantially higher dollar amount or to give the Special Master flexibility to fully consider the individual cases of claimants, and to adjust the formula for compensation for economic losses to increase the amounts for survivors of older and low-income victims, who are surely the most vulnerable of all the survivors of the catastrophe of September 11 th. With thanks for your consideration and best wishes, I am Sincerely, Jose E. Serrano Member of Congress January 14, 2001 Kenneth L. Zwick, Director Office of Management Programs Civil Division U.S. Department of Justice Main Building Room 3140 950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20530 Re: September 11th Compensation Fund 2001 Interim Final Rule Dear Mr. Zwick: I am writing to urge reconsideration of the interim final rule with regard to the "24-hour rule" for compensation for expenses of medical treatment of injuries incurred in the attacks of September 11th. The Federal Government, in Title IV of Public Law 107-42, has sought to establish a system by which reasonable payments can be made both to provide victims with quick relief and to avoid lengthy, costly, and potentially unsuccessful litigation against the airlines, among others. However, I am informed by affected individuals that the interim final rule defines "physical harm" in a way that effectively denies compensation to persons who were injured, sometimes severely, in the attacks but who were unable to seek medical treatment within 24 hours. A number of New Yorkers were seriously injured in the attacks on the World Trade Center but for various reasons, ranging from lack of care for very upset children, to lack of regular medical providers, to the severe emotional toll of experiencing the attacks in person, were unable to seek and receive treatment until the 24 hour period specified in the rule had passed. I would urge that the rule be amended to provide compensation for expenses of medical care without regard to when an injured victim sought treatment. At the very least, the Special Master should be given the flexibility to consider the individual circumstances of persons injured but not seeking treatment within 24 hours. With thanks for your consideration and best wishes, I am Sincerely, Jose E. Serrano Member of Congress September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2002-01-14 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 dojN002423.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. 2002-01-14