dojA000977.xml

dojA000977.xml

born-digital

email

yes

no

2001-12-05

Wednesday, December 05, 2001 4:59 PM
Attn: Kenneth L. Zwick, Dept. Justice

Kenneth L. Zwick, Director
Office of Management Programs, Civil Division
U.S. Department of Justice

Dear Mr. Zwick,

I am writing in response to the request by your office for public feedback
concerning the drafting, implementation, and administration of the
"September 11 Victim Compensation Fund." I think it is very important for
the language included in forthcoming regulations to include compensation for
the widows of gay and lesbian partnerships, as well as their children,
biological or not. Family is defined more broadly today than it ever has,
and I think it valid that those who considered themselves the family of a
victim or victims in this tragic event be included and compensated equally
as those in a more traditional scenario.

Furthermore, as the supervising manager of a restaurant that proudly took
part in the nation-wide "Windows of Hope" charity day, a day where a portion
of our proceeds and those of hundreds of other restaurants for one evening
went to the families of those restaurant workers that were killed in Windows
on the World, I strongly lend my voice to the families of those victims as
well. Many of those people who worked for Windows on the World as well as
those that worked in the World Trade Center, were undocumented residents of
this country. Therefore, their families, many of whom are either living
elsewhere in the world or are also undocumented, have not recieved the kind
of governmental aide that those who are citizens of the United States have.
I feel that your Compensation Fund also ought to take the stance that the
American Red Cross has by encouraging those who are victims and may be
illegal to come forward for help without the fear of arrest and deportation.
In this trying time, we must look past such petty laws and look into the
lives of those that have lost so much. This a human issue, a global issue,
and one that supercedes, for the time being, immigration law.

Thank you for your time.

Respectfully,
Individual Comment
Coral Gables, FL

2001-12-05