dojN002200.xml

dojN002200.xml

born-digital

email

yes

no

2002-01-21

Monday, January 21, 2002 11:10 PM
September 11th Victim Compensation Fund for 2001 comment

January 21, 2002

The Honorable John Ashcroft
Attorney General
U.S. Department of Justice
10th Street and Constitution Avenue
Washington, D.C. 40530

Dear Attorney General Ashcroft:

I was in shock at the level of destruction and loss of
life from the September 11th terrorist attacks. My
hearts goes out to the family and friends of the victims
of this most despicable act.

Even though our family struggles from paycheck to
paycheck like many Americans, we still felt that we
needed to give assistance to the families who lost loved
ones. This assistance was given by making a donation to
one of the national charities that setup a fund for
providing such assistance.

Part of the reason for our financial struggle is we plan
for the death of either my wife or myself. A reasonable
person knows or should know that death can happen at any
time. Thousands of people die each day in America
unexpectedly from a multitude of causes. All of us as
individuals need to plan for an unexpected or expected
death of a husband and/or wife. My wife and I
specifically budget for life insurance to compensate the
survivor for loss of income. We do not expect the
American taxpayer, through our federal government to
come to our rescue if either one of us dies. Life
insurance is affordable if you are willing to make the
commitment.

It is our belief that minimal assistance should be
provided by our federal government to the victim's
families. To provide such a huge sum of money to the
victim?s families does a great disservice to the
American taxpayer and families who have lost loved ones
from an accident, crime, or other non-preventable cause.

Millions of American?s, multinational companies, and
other people around the world have given very generously
to relief agencies and charities that have received more
than one billion dollars in donations. We sincerely
believe that these funds should be used to assist the
victim's families to compensate for the loss income. It
is also our belief that the victim?s families should
hold responsible and seek compensation from the airline
companies whose aircraft were hijacked.

We feel the American taxpayer should not be forced to
absorb the burden of compensating the victim?s families
who did not pre-plan for the loss of a spouse or both
husband and wife.

Very Sincerely,

Individual Comment
Bothell, WA

2002-01-21