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. November 28, 2001 The Honorable Kenneth Feinberg Civil Division Department of Justice 950 Pennsylvania Avenue Washington 20530 Dear Mr. Feinberg: Congratulations on your appointment to run the federal compensation fund. Attorney General Ashcroft picked the right man for the job. We write to support you in any way we can in deciding how, under federal law, to distribute the $11 billion dollar victim compensation fund. For your information, Common Cause had been working with New York Attorney General Elliot Spitzer on issues related to public oversight and input on the millions of dollars of money that charities have raised for the victims of September 11 and the aftermath. Given the sweeping powers that your office will have to draft the fund's rules and procedures, oversee the operations, and to personally sign off on all the awards made to claimants, it is important that every effort is made to ensure that citizens do not perceive that any of the funds are wasted or mismanaged. Moreover, fairness to all victims, regardless of their citizenship or immigration status, must be assured. Simply stated, the American public must be secure in the knowledge that taxpayer dollars are being used for the purposes for which they were intended. Because of the oversight responsibilities, which you have, you are in a position to ensure that the public has confidence in the governmental entity responsible for overseeing the funds. In light of the extraordinary circumstances and because the amount of money is unprecedented, we urge you to continue to review the hundreds of written public comments about the fund and meet with victims rights groups, plaintiffs lawyers and officials from leading charities We also recommend that you consider establishing a citizens' commission or advisory board that would assist you in fulfilling your oversight role. Such a commission - made up of publicly respected individuals of recognized high ethical standards - would help increase public confidence that these funds are being used in the public and common good, not siphoned off for questionable or unintended uses. It would also assure the public that an appropriate authority is exercising legal oversight over this unprecedented situation. As a former Attorney General of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the head of a non-profit advocacy group that has 30 years experience in dealing with public input and citizen advocacy, I know how difficult it is to assume and play a leadership role in complicated and emotionally charged matters. However, as you know, it is vitally important to take constructive action to guard against public cynicism and disillusionment. Common Cause stands ready to assist you in any way we can. Sincerely, Comment by: Common Cause Washington, DC September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2001-11-28 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 dojN002416.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. 2001-11-28