dojW000744.xml

dojW000744.xml

born-digital

email

yes

no

2001-11-26

November 26, 2001

Mr. Kenneth L. Zwick
Director, Office of Management Programs
Civil Division, U.S. Department of Justice
Main Building, Room 3140
950 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, D.C. 20530

Subject: Comments to Notice of Inquiry and Advance Notice of Rulemaking for
September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001

Dear Mr. Zwick:

We represent , , , three victims of the terrorist bombing of the U.S. Embassy in Kenya on August 7, 1998.

The September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 is an appropriate measure to
provide compensation for individuals who were killed or physically injured as a result of the September 11th terrorist attacks on America. The scope of the legislation, however, should be broadened to include the handful of other Americans who have been directly harmed by similar strikes by the same foreign terrorists on what is commonly understood to be American soil.

Just three years before the September 11th attacks, the U.S. Embassies in Kenya and
Tanzania were the targets of other terrorist bombings - this time by truck instead of aircraft. The attacks killed 22 Americans and seriously injured 26 more. was left blind, and has endured seven surgeries and remains permanently disabled. The survivors, as well as the families of the deceased, continue to grieve and to seek ways to deal with their losses.

These Americans were employees of the U.S. Department of State and were doing
America's work - building peace, supporting justice, and promoting America's interests and
foreign policy. However, because of the United States' role in promoting democracy worldwide, and because of the symbolic value of their office buildings, the embassies were targeted by those who oppose our principles.

As President George W. Bush confirmed in his address to Congress on September 20,
2001, the same terrorist organization is responsible for the bombings of the World Trade Center in New York, the Pentagon in Washington D.C., and the U.S. Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. There is no rational basis for treating the victims of these attacks differently. Our government must provide equal treatment to all Americans who have been killed or injured by these same foreign terrorists.

The Bush Administration should seek an expansion of the September 11th Victim
Compensation Fund of 2001 to include the American victims of the August 7, 1998, terrorist
attacks on the U.S. Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.

Sincerely,

Individual comment
Washington, DC

2001-11-26