1017 20 70359 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. Monday, January 21, 2002 12:48 AM Comments Dear Mr. Feinberg: I lost the sole provider for my family on September 11, 2001, when my husband was killed in the Pentagon. My husband and I have two young children and I am a stay-at-home mother. I am losing sleep and can hardly eat over the anxiousness I feel about our financial future. I pray that you will listen to the comments made and will incorporate those suggestions that make sense to you and are feasible. I am not trying to become wealthy, but want to be able to provide for my children the way my husband would have if he had not been killed. My comments about the fund are as follows: ECONOMIC LOSS The baseline for earnings should NOT be calculated using the average of income from tax returns over 1998, 1999, and 2000. They should be based upon the current salary level at the time of death. My husband had 27 more years of work ahead of him. He had just received a promotion in the fall of 2000, which would not be reflected using the currently proposed formula. My husband was definitely going to continue to be promoted; however, the currently proposed formula would cause his earnings to DECREASE! Since the intent of this portion of the formula is to project future earnings, please use the 2001 salary level as a baseline. NON-ECONOMIC LOSS This amount should not have collateral offsets deducted from it, but should be protected and preserved. Therefore, please consider excluding it from the formula. The amounts suggested for non-economic loss are too low--especially for the dependents. The pain and suffering my children will experience for the rest of their childhoods and lives is most certainly worth much more than $50,000. My family should receive well over $100,000 more than someone without children. The trauma I am feeling is multiplied threefold by the pain of my children. While it is impossible to put a figure to the suffering felt, the amounts need to be much higher. If we decide to participate in the fund, we would be giving up our right to sue for wrongful death; therefore, the figures should be somewhere in between life insurance figures and historical litigation awards. My suggestion would be $750,000 per victim plus an additional $250,000 per dependent. I hope that you will incorporate some of our suggestions to come up with a program that is a compromise to litigating and attractive enough for us to choose. Individual Comment Manassas, VA September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2002-01-21 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 dojN002154.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. 2002-01-21 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. Sunday, January 20, 2002 2:45 PM The Fund Dear Mr. Feinberg, On September 11th we were enveloped in a horrendous nightmare that we have been unable to awaken from. The unimaginable happened. Four of our own planes were used as guided missiles to topple landmark buildings and kill innocent civilians. How could this happen have happened? Four months later that question remains unanswered and haunting. Four months later we are still overwhelmed with disbelief. Many of the surviving loved ones have still not gotten out of bed. While we were struggling to deal with our own despair, unbeknownst to us there was another force at work. On September 12th while we were calling hospitals, filling out missing persons reports, running in to the city looking for our loved ones in the hopes that they were among the lucky to have survived, one hundred lobbyists were hired by the airlines. The airlines felt that they needed protection from the families of the victims. Before we, the families, could stand up on our own two feet, the airlines and the government designed a plan, not to help the victims' families or change and improve aviation security for all of America, but to protect American Airlines and United Airlines from bankruptcy. The airlines were given a "get out of jail free" pass. The legal rights of the victims were severely curtailed. The airlines had to know that they were responsible or they would not have run to congress asking to be bailed out and stabilized. Thus the Victim's Compensation Fund was born. The intent of Congress with this fund seemed to be that if they were protecting the airlines they should give some thought to the families of the people who were killed on September 11th. The thought was brief, mistakes were made. We are only now beginning to understand the ramifications of what we have been dealt. In the midst of our grief and suffering we have been forced into a political arena which we are struggling to understand. The government deadlines on many of these issues are causing further anxiety. In short, the government has said the victims' families have to give up their rights to sue in order to settle for an undetermined and undisclosed amount. When in America would that ever be an acceptable option? While the appointed Special Master of the Fund has continually advertised his 1.6 million dollar award he does not stress that it is before the deductions of life insurance, death benefits and pensions. The truth is that after those deductions are applied most people will only be entitled to the minimum award. The truth is that prior to September 11th these deductions were never applied in a wrongful death case. The truth is that the victims families DID NOT ask the government for this Settlement Fund. It was forced upon them. In a "normal" wrongful death case one would sue to recover economic and non-economic losses as well as punitive damages to insure that the negligence that caused the wrongful death never happens again. Where along the way did we, the families, lose our constitutional rights? Our lives that were once filled with normal daily routines (grocery shopping carpooling childcare etc.). are now filled with therapy, support groups, advocacy meetings, attorney and accountant meetings and media sessions. Our daily routines now include, fighting to get back remains of our loved ones in a timely and humane manner, spending the day calling our Congressmen and Senators to fight for our legal rights, spending the day doing those things necessary to fight for financial security for our families, and fighting to retain our sanity and the sanity of our children, advocating on behalf of our loved ones so that their lives would not have been lost in vain, and not giving into the sadness which is paralyzing but must be felt. We have lost so much. We do not want to feel further victimized. We do not want our children to be further scarred. The families of the victims need to be able to pick up the pieces of our lives and move on from here without anger and with our faith restored in our country. We are pleading with the powers that be ,be our voice. let at least one part of the nightmare end. Respectfully Yours , Individual Comment September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2002-01-20 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 dojN002129.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. 2002-01-20 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. Tuesday, February 05, 2002 2:02 PM Hello To whom it may concern: Both myself and my family had been greatly affected by the Trade Center Disaster on 09/11. I, indeed, lost my father. At the time of his passing, I was receiving financial support that was vital to myself and to the rest of my family, including my infant son, . I turned to many private charities for their help, and must admit, that the Red Cross was that which was best able to aid us in this financial difficulty. I have been going through a lot, but although the help received was great, the bills are once again beginning to pile up, and fast. I am writing this letter asking for help. Like I said previously, I have turned to many organizations for help, and only the Red Cross and the Salvation Army was able to help me. Truth be told, I am a young parent, who was still dependant on my father for financial help. With his passing, came many hardships for my family. I would like someone to respond as promptly as possible. I appreciate that which I have already received, but as aforementioned, I need Help!!! Individual Comment Kenilworth, NJ September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2002-02-05 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 dojP000418.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. 2002-02-05 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. Friday, March 15, 2002 5:17 PM gay and lesbian victim benefits How can you even begin to pretend that it is fair and judicious to entitle illegal aliens the right to victim funds, yet deny the partners and famililes of gay and lesbians any rights because of "legal" issues. For the record i am a 46 year old, white female, Republican who voted for George W., soccer mom, small town, business owner who makes $500,000+ per year.......with a cheerleader for a daughter and a star athlete for a son, married 25 years......in other words with the exception of the income i AM your sterotypical white republican.....all the rules went out the window on 9-11......do what's right and screw the politics!!!!!!!!!! Individual Comment Grants Pass, OR September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2002-03-15 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 dojR000870.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. 2002-03-15 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. Thursday, November 29, 2001 3:18 PM Please include consideration of my concerns! Dear Members of the DOJ & Director Kenneth L. Zwick, I urge you in the strongest language of which I am capable to include among those who may receive compensation from the September 11 Victim Compensation Fund those who lost their life partners or de facto parents or children, regardless of sexual orientation or marital status. In other words, please include lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgendered Americans among those who deserve recognition for their losses. All of us as human beings are affected by death & loss; do NOT set aside the love & family units created by human beings whose sexual orientations might be other than heterosexual. Please recognize their families as deeply affected by these tragedies, please recognize their financial situations as being of EQUAL merit to ANY OTHER citizen of this nation who lost a loved one or was injured in the heinous attacks of September 11, 2001. This is an historic time, after events that were never imagined before September 11th. I urge you as strongly as I can to act with compassion & common sense. Please include language that includes ALL AMERICANS & their families as worthy or compensation by the September 11 Victim Compensation Fund who can document domestic & financial interdependence. Thank you. Emphatically yours, Individual Comment September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2001-11-29 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 dojA000195.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. 2001-11-29 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. Thursday, December 20, 2001 4:18 PM 9/11 Victims December 20, 2001 Dear Mr. Kenneth Zwick, I write as a member of Amnesty International, a worldwide human rights movement committed to ensuring respect for the basic human rights of people without discrimination, in support of equal access to benefits under the September 11 Victims Relief Fund for all victims, regardless of sexual orientation or marital status. As you know, the United States has committed to uphold international human rights standards, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which prohibit arbitrary discrimination. As you consider rules for administering the relief fund, I ask that you apply basic international human rights standards, and the general principle of equality, by including among relatives eligible for compensation those who lost their life partners, as well as de facto parents or children, without regard to sexual orientation or marital status. The State of New York has already adopted such a policy, granting compensation benefits "on a showing of mutual interdependence with the victim, in recognition that anyone who shared with the victim living expenses, day to day activities and the emotional bonds of family deserves help in this time of need." Many lesbian and gay people were killed in the September 11th attacks. Since then, lesbian and gay surviving partners of those killed have had mixed results in obtaining equal treatment at the local level in the distribution of relief funds by private and state agencies. An inclusive policy on the part of the federal government would help establish an important principle for other such funds. In compensating victims, real justice will be served only when all families - and all types of families - impacted by the human rights tragedy of September 11 are treated with dignity and equality. Thank you for considering my concerns. I look forward to hearing from you about your efforts to ensure that all surviving victims of the September 11 attacks have equal access to the relief fund. Sincerely, Individual Comment Kalamazoo, MI September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2001-12-20 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 dojN000024.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. 2001-12-20 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. Thursday, December 27, 2001 10:03 AM Protect Traditional Marriage Mr. Kenneth Zwick Office of Management Programs Department of Justice Washington. DC Dear Mr. Zwick: I want to express my opposition to any effort by the federal government to provide 9-11 victim compensation funds to "domestic partners" of unmarried survivors of the terrorist attack upon our nation. Funds disbursed through the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 should only go to the surviving family members of those who died on 9-11. Funds must go to the widows, widowers, orphans, and other blood-related or adopted members of the family--not to unmarried sexual partners of those who died. To provide funds to "domestic partners" is to undermine the traditional definition of marriage and family to include any number of sexual liaisons between same-sex or opposite-sex unmarried couples. Many homosexuals and swinging heterosexuals, for example, engage in sex with multiple partners. Do we provide funds to each of the sexual partners? Where do we draw the line on how many "domestic partners" a person may have?Homosexual activists are exploiting the 9-11 tragedy by asking the federal government to redefine what constitutes a legitimate "family" under the law. In fact, homosexual activist &nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp , writing in Out magazine has openly called for the subversion of the concept of marriage between a man and a woman. He has urged homosexuals to fight for the legalization of homosexual marriages and once legalized to "redefine the institution of marriage completely . . . . to debunk a myth and radically alter an archaic institution. . . . The most subversive action lesbians and gays can under take--and one that would perhaps benefit all of society--is to transform the notion of 'family' entirely." If the DOJ provides funds to "domestic partners," it will be helping &nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp accomplish his goal: That of redefining marriage and altering what he calls an "archaic institution." We also oppose September 11th Funds going to the estates of the deceased instead of to their surviving family members. No one can know for certain where these funds will end up if they are deposited in the estate of a person who has died. The person may have willed his estate to a terrorist, racial hate group, or even to an organization like the North American Man-Boy Love Association. No one will know unless each person's will is examined by a DOJ lawyer. The money should go to the surviving family members of the deceased, not to the estate or to the surviving "domestic partner." Individual Comment Half Moon Bay, CA September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2001-12-27 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 dojN000993.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. 2001-12-27 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. Thursday, March 21, 2002 2:08 PM Discriminate I AM SO SICK OF OPENING UP MOST COMMENTS AND READING ABOUT THE GAYS BEING DISCRIMINATED. TIME TO CHANGE THE SUBJECT!! REALLY!! WHERE IS THE CONCERN FOR DIVORCED MOMS OR DADS THAT ARE ELIMINATED? WE HAD THE DECEASED' CHILDREN. ALSO WHAT ABOUT CHILDREN OVER THE AGE OF 18. THEY AREN'T AN EXEMPTION ON THE TAX RETURN ANY LONGER ALTHOUGH THEY RESIDE WITH PARENTS. THEY ELIMINATED TOO COME ON. I AM SO SICK OF READING YOUR TALE OF WOE ON DISCRIMINATION. THERE ARE OTHERS BEING ELIMINATED. Individual Comment WHITE PLAINS, NY September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2002-03-21 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 dojR002532.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. 2002-03-21 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. Tuesday, March 19, 2002 6:28 PM Gays and Lesbians can be heroes also! 3/19/02 To Whom It May Concern: Gays and Lesbians seem to be worthy enough when it comes to our government taking our tax money to support government officials perks and fund government officials pork spending, but we're not worthy enough to be American Heroes. If September 11 has taught us anything, it's that our patriotism and love of country transcend our differences and unite us all. We were told that September 11 was the day that "hyphenated-Americans" were no more, and rather than being Italian-Americans, African-Americans or gay-Americans, we were now simply Americans, all of us together as one American family. Apparently, that family just got a divorce. The hyphens seem not to matter when our government wants to use our heroism to inspire others, but when it comes time to actually aid the families of those heroes, the hyphens come back with a vengeance, and it seems that some American heroes are now more equal than others. I'm extremely outraged that gay and lesbian partners of those who died on September 11 are not automatically going to receive the same benefits as heterosexual spouses. Yes, I am a proud, gay, American.. but right now I?m not proud of a government, MY government that would deny proceeds from the September 11 Victim Compensation Fund to worthy individuals, just because they are gay. Respectfully, Individual Comment September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2002-03-19 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 dojR002241.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. 2002-03-19 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. Saturday, March 16, 2002 4:54 PM I protest the discrimination by the 9/11 victim fund against the partners of gay victims. It is unworthy of our Congress and this country. Individual Comment Louisville, KY September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2002-03-16 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 dojR001105.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. 2002-03-16 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. Saturday, December 22, 2001 2:35 PM Protect Traditional Marriage Mr. Kenneth Zwick Office of Management Programs Department of Justice Washington, DC Dear Mr. Zwick: I want to express my opposition to any effort by the federal government to provide 9-11 victim compensation funds to "domestic partners" of unmarried survivors of the terrorist attack upon our nation. Funds disbursed through the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 should only go to the surviving family members of those who died on 9-11. Funds must go to the widows, widowers, orphans, and other blood-related or adopted members of the family--not to unmarried sexual partners of those who died. To provide funds to "domestic partners" is to undermine the traditional definition of marriage and family to include any number of sexual liaisons between same-sex or opposite-sex unmarried couples. Many homosexuals and swinging heterosexuals, for example, engage in sex with multiple partners. Do we provide funds to each of the sexual partners? Where do we draw the line on how many "domestic partners" a person may have? Homosexual activists are exploiting the 9-11 tragedy by asking the federal government to redefine what constitutes a legitimate "family" under the law. In fact, homosexual activist , writing in Out magazine has openly called for the subversion of the concept of marriage between a man and a woman. He has urged homosexuals to fight for the legalization of homosexual marriages and once legalized to "redefine the institution of marriage completely . . . . to debunk a myth and radically alter an archaic institution. . . . The most subversive action lesbians and gays can under take--and one that would perhaps benefit all of society--is to transform the notion of 'family' entirely." If the DOJ provides funds to "domestic partners," it will be helping accomplish his goal: That of redefining marriage and altering what he calls an "archaic institution." We also oppose September 11th Funds going to the estates of the deceased instead of to their surviving family members. No one can know for certain where these funds will end up if they are deposited in the estate of a person who has died. The person may have willed his estate to a terrorist, racial hate group, or even to an organization like the North American Man-Boy Love Association. No one will know unless each person's will is examined by a DOJ lawyer. The money should go to the surviving family members of the deceased, not to the estate or to the surviving "domestic partner." Individual Comment Westminster, CO September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2001-12-22 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 dojN000744.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. 2001-12-22 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. Wednesday, December 19, 2001 6:47 AM don't discriminate based on race, gender, age, nationality or sexual preference December 19, 2001 Dear Mr. Kenneth Zwick, I write as a member of Amnesty International, a worldwide human rights movement committed to ensuring respect for the basic human rights of people without discrimination, in support of equal access to benefits under the September 11 Victims Relief Fund for all victims, regardless of sexual orientation or marital status. As you know, the United States has committed to uphold international human rights standards, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which prohibit arbitrary discrimination. As you consider rules for administering the relief fund, I ask that you apply basic international human rights standards, and the general principle of equality, by including among relatives eligible for compensation those who lost their life partners, as well as de facto parents or children, without regard to sexual orientation or marital status. The State of New York has already adopted such a policy, granting compensation benefits "on a showing of mutual interdependence with the victim, in recognition that anyone who shared with the victim living expenses, day to day activities and the emotional bonds of family deserves help in this time of need." Many lesbian and gay people were killed in the September 11th attacks. Since then, lesbian and gay surviving partners of those killed have had mixed results in obtaining equal treatment at the local level in the distribution of relief funds by private and state agencies. An inclusive policy on the part of the federal government would help establish an important principle for other such funds. In compensating victims, real justice will be served only when all families - and all types of families - impacted by the human rights tragedy of September 11 are treated with dignity and equality. Thank you for considering my concerns. I look forward to hearing from you about your efforts to ensure that all surviving victims of the September 11 attacks have equal access to the relief fund. Sincerely, Individual Comment Brooklyn, NY September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2001-12-19 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 dojA002532.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. 2001-12-19 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. Thursday, December 20, 2001 11:20 AM Equal access for all victims December 20, 2001 Dear Mr. Kenneth Zwick, I write as a member of Amnesty International, a worldwide human rights movement committed to ensuring respect for the basic human rights of people without discrimination, in support of equal access to benefits under the September 11 Victims Relief Fund for all victims, regardless of sexual orientation or marital status. As you know, the United States has committed to uphold international human rights standards, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which prohibit arbitrary discrimination. As you consider rules for administering the relief fund, I ask that you apply basic international human rights standards, and the general principle of equality, by including among relatives eligible for compensation those who lost their life partners, as well as de facto parents or children, without regard to sexual orientation or marital status. The State of New York has already adopted such a policy, granting compensation benefits "on a showing of mutual interdependence with the victim, in recognition that anyone who shared with the victim living expenses, day to day activities and the emotional bonds of family deserves help in this time of need." Many lesbian and gay people were killed in the September 11th attacks. Since then, lesbian and gay surviving partners of those killed have had mixed results in obtaining equal treatment at the local level in the distribution of relief funds by private and state agencies. An inclusive policy on the part of the federal government would help establish an important principle for other such funds. In compensating victims, real justice will be served only when all families - and all types of families - impacted by the human rights tragedy of September 11 are treated with dignity and equality. Thank you for considering my concerns. I look forward to hearing from you about your efforts to ensure that all surviving victims of the September 11 attacks have equal access to the relief fund. Sincerely, Individual Comment Pennsauken, NJ September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2001-12-20 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 dojA004252.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. 2001-12-20 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. Wednesday, March 20, 2002 8:49 PM Compensate gay victims and families My husband and I are outraged that same sex families will be denied compensation in the 9/11 disaster. We have two sons one is gay. Our gay son is denied safe employment in 39 states. If he were in New York and killed his partner would be denied compensation. This is not fair. Until our son told us that he was gay we assumed that here in America both our sons had equal rights. We hate that our tax dollars are used to discriminate or support legislation that denies our gay son rights. We support civil unions equal to marriage or marriage so that these kinds of discriminations will cease. Sincerely, Individual Comment September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2002-03-20 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 dojR002434.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. 2002-03-20 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. Wednesday, December 19, 2001 1:00 PM Gays and Lesbians of Sept. 11th December 19, 2001 Dear Mr. Kenneth Zwick, I write as a member of Amnesty International, a worldwide human rights movement committed to ensuring respect for the basic human rights of people without discrimination, in support of equal access to benefits under the September 11 Victims Relief Fund for all victims, regardless of sexual orientation or marital status. As you know, the United States has committed to uphold international human rights standards, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which prohibit arbitrary discrimination. As you consider rules for administering the relief fund, I ask that you apply basic international human rights standards, and the general principle of equality, by including among relatives eligible for compensation those who lost their life partners, as well as de facto parents or children, without regard to sexual orientation or marital status. The State of New York has already adopted such a policy, granting compensation benefits "on a showing of mutual interdependence with the victim, in recognition that anyone who shared with the victim living expenses, day to day activities and the emotional bonds of family deserves help in this time of need." Many lesbian and gay people were killed in the September 11th attacks. Since then, lesbian and gay surviving partners of those killed have had mixed results in obtaining equal treatment at the local level in the distribution of relief funds by private and state agencies. An inclusive policy on the part of the federal government would help establish an important principle for other such funds. In compensating victims, real justice will be served only when all families - and all types of families - impacted by the human rights tragedy of September 11 are treated with dignity and equality. Thank you for considering my concerns. I look forward to hearing from you about your efforts to ensure that all surviving victims of the September 11 attacks have equal access to the relief fund. Sincerely, Individual Comment Syracuse, NY September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2001-12-19 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 dojA002140.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. 2001-12-19 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. Wednesday, December 19, 2001 10:16 AM Attention December 19, 2001 Dear Mr. Kenneth Zwick, I write as a member of Amnesty International, a worldwide human rights movement committed to ensuring respect for the basic human rights of people without discrimination, in support of equal access to benefits under the September 11 Victims Relief Fund for all victims, regardless of sexual orientation or marital status. As you know, the United States has committed to uphold international human rights standards, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which prohibit arbitrary discrimination. As you consider rules for administering the relief fund, I ask that you apply basic international human rights standards, and the general principle of equality, by including among relatives eligible for compensation those who lost their life partners, as well as de facto parents or children, without regard to sexual orientation or marital status. The State of New York has already adopted such a policy, granting compensation benefits "on a showing of mutual interdependence with the victim, in recognition that anyone who shared with the victim living expenses, day to day activities and the emotional bonds of family deserves help in this time of need." Many lesbian and gay people were killed in the September 11th attacks. Since then, lesbian and gay surviving partners of those killed have had mixed results in obtaining equal treatment at the local level in the distribution of relief funds by private and state agencies. An inclusive policy on the part of the federal government would help establish an important principle for other such funds. In compensating victims, real justice will be served only when all families - and all types of families - impacted by the human rights tragedy of September 11 are treated with dignity and equality. This issue is of particular importance, since America now seems to be putting itself in the position to police all other nations of the world. With our pathetic track record in our own country in terms of just and equal rights for people of different ethnic groups, economic classes, and most relevantly, for people who live outside of "traditonal family values", it is most important to me that we prove ourselves to be just in this case. Please allow the families of all those killed in the September 11 tragedy to receive equal benefits under the law. Thank you for considering my concerns. I look forward to hearing from you about your efforts to ensure that all surviving victims of the September 11 attacks have equal access to the relief fund. Sincerely, Individual Comment Newburyport, MA September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2001-12-19 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 dojA002955.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. 2001-12-19 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. Monday, January 21, 2002 7:45 PM Comments on documented Interim Rules To: Kenneth Feinberg Deborah E. Greenspan Office of the Special Master Re: Comments on the Interim Rules of the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund From: We have received from your office the additional information on the presumed economic loss calculations for the September 11 Victim Compensation Fund, and we have comments on the Interim Rules for calculating damages. First, we want to thank you for making this information available. We agree with &nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp comments to us that much confusion has occurred over the past month concerning the interpretation of the Interim Rules, and that a number of families of victims have, rightly or wrongly, been disturbed by the presumed economic loss calculations for the VCF. We would point out that this confusion partially results from the lack of detail and explanation contained in the original release of the rules on December 20. It was impossible to replicate or adjust the calculations given the level of information provided. The first explanatory release contained no specific information or documentation on effective tax rates, self-consumption rates, work-life expectancy, fringe benefit rates, or decipherable application of age-earnings growth rates. Whether the last formulas were part of the original calculation, or were added in response to criticism, is really irrelevant. We are grateful that that information has now been released and we have an additional set of observations concerning the accuracy and fairness of the calculations. You have not provided information related to documented sources that you relied upon, or will be relying on, to determine "effective tax rates" or the sources of the life-cycle earning adjustments (you simple state two actuarial boards). You have provided no detail regarding how the discount rate was determined and then adjusted for taxes, and the information regarding the self-consumption rates appears to be deficient. We hope that you will release this information as a part of the final rules. You are correct that no one model will be viewed as fair or appropriate to all groups, or that one set of compensation tables will be relevant to a specific individual. You have stated that individual factors will be considered in each case of compensation, and that individuals may appeal your findings through the submission of an alternative set of compensation assumptions. No one can predict the outcome of such appeals in advance, but we are sure that you will strive to give a fair hearing to all claimants. Obviously, families will be reluctant to sign-up as claimants for the VCF without knowing the outcome of the final compensation in advance, but the same would be true in a litigation arena. We appreciate the opportunity to provide you with recommendations for enhancing the procedures for compensating the September 11 victims and their families. We know this is a difficult and unenviable task for you as Special Master. We have talked to a number of families of victims, as you have, and we can understand their anxieties about the compensation process. Our comments are directed at assuring the families that the process will be fair and accurate. Specific changes to the methods of compensating economic damages can still be made that will address some of the concerns of economists and the victims' families. Below we offer some comments that fit broadly as a part of the plan. There are many specific issues that we do not address. We continue to offer a group meeting with you and your experts along with leading authorities in the academic study of forensic economics to go over the many necessary adjustments to your basic structure that will force a response on a case-by-case basis. The most obvious deficiency in the plan is the omission of lost services as an economic loss suffered by families of victims who were working on September 11. The plan calls for the calculation of the value of such lost services for non-working or part-time working victims, but provides no direct compensation to families of working victims as clearly referenced in the "Act." Lost household services are almost universally recognized as an element of economic loss in personal injury/death litigation. There are a number of statistical sources and procedures for making such calculations, and their absence in the plan to all victim families is inappropriate. The following are comments in the order matching your "Explanation of Process for Computing Presumed Economic Loss" that you released Friday, January 18, 2002 as follows: 1. Establish the victim's age and compensable income. You should adjust the three years of earnings information to a 2001 constant dollar base. For example, in 1998 the Consumer Price Index for All Items (CUUR0000SA0) was 163.0, in 1999 it was 166.6, in 2000 it was 172.2, and in 2001 it was 177.1. Under this one approach, you would multiply 1998 total earnings by 177.1/163.0, 1999 total earnings by 177.1/166.6, and 2000 total earnings by 177.1/172.2. The average earnings will now be in base 2001 dollars for projection into the future. As an example of the appropriateness of this calculation, it is easy to see that you would never average nominal earnings in 1990 (say $12.00 per hour) with nominal earnings in 2000 (say $20.00 per hour), for an expected earnings level of $16.00 per hour in 2001. The same logic applies when averaging 1998-2000 earnings for a 2001 earnings base. 2. Determine after-tax compensable income The tax rate data for this adjustment has yet to be published by your office so comment is difficult. An average effective tax rate across various household types can be deceiving. You note that you will consider the victim's tax returns, please do so. Also keep in mind the differences in tax rates possible based upon position in life with circumstances such as home mortgage deductions, number of dependents, tax deferred income, etc. For example, even though a person might earn $100,000 at their job, through 401(k) plans they might be able to defer up to $15,000 of that income. So, current income taxes would be computed on $85,000 of W-2 taxable earnings instead of $100,000. Simply applying some average statistics will not satisfy the requirement for this adjustment. Perhaps a more appropriate methodology would be to use the Consumer Expenditure Survey data, which actually includes tax payments by level of household income. We find it inconsistent that you are going to use national data for some major economic adjustments, but for a subtraction from loss you are planning to use local income tax rates, which are in many cases higher than national averages due to domicile. 3. Add pension and other benefits. You state, absent supplied information, that you will substitute $2,400 per year in current dollars for loss of health insurance. To be made whole, loss must be based upon the cost to secure replacement insurance in the market by age and number of dependents. The $2,400 figure might be insufficient in many cases to replace this loss. We urge you to probe each claimant for the correct figures in each case. Pension and other benefits can be very complicated. Many financial workers will be accumulating stock options, profit sharing, ownership positions, etc., which will require very detailed analysis. We urge you to consult known experts when making these computations. Whatever collateral source benefit you deduct, you will need to consider adding the benefit back for an offset due to loss of benefit accumulation. For example, you state that you are deducting current pension income as a collateral source, so you rightly add it back in as a benefit. However, if you deduct current Social Security collateral income, you may also need to also add that benefit back in. For example, a survivor's Social Security is based upon the decedents earned Social Security credit to the time of death. A future Social Security benefit would be based upon additional Social Security credits at a higher earning level. By receiving Social Security now, lost Social Security may exist in the future. There is a literature in the forensic economic field regarding these calculations. 4. Worklife expectancy The use of the Ciecka Work-Life Expectancies is an improvement over the previously unavoidable presumed use of Bulletin 2254 Work-Life Tables. Officials at the Department of Labor had told us that your analysts requested the Bulletin 2254 tables, and no mention of the Ciecka tables was contained in the Interim Rules. These tables, however, still must be used with caution. The tables represent average labor force participation and death rates for males and females, by age, which may have limited applicability to a specific individual. A working single mother will likely have a longer worklife than a married wife/mother who has elected to stay at home because of financial security. Nevertheless, both are contained in the same average length of expected labor force participation. Many forensic economists generally use the "Male" category for career working females. We urge that education also be considered when using the tables. An inconsistency in your application of worklife and lost services reveals itself in the case of women. Women often exit the labor force to provide services for their family members. The difference in worklife for younger women is 4 to 5 years shorter than younger men in the Ciecka table. You would compute replacement services loss damages for families of part-time or not in labor force (NILF) women and ignore their potential re-entry into the labor market. However, by using the shortened worklife of women, you implicitly consider the exit from the labor force of women in order to provide services that you compensate those that are NILF on September 11. You should recognize the 4-5 years of projected NILF status of women and at least give them the same damages for these years that you give those that were NILF on September 11. You should also give women who were NILF on September 11, the expected value of their future earnings upon probable future re-entry into the labor force. The problems you face using gender specific worklife tables can be mostly avoided using other gender-indifferent methods of determining worklife. We would be happy to discuss those alternatives with you and your experts. Finally, Professor Ciecka, through his own publishing company, sells an expanded set of worklife tables based upon the exact methodology and data contained within his JLE article. We urge that you use the accurate, detailed tables that Professor Ciecka offers for sale instead of the abbreviated tables published in the JLE. 5. Project compensable income The assumed growth rates in future earnings will likely overcompensate the lower paid (low human capital) individuals under 30, while under compensating the highly educated and high earner individuals. The methodology you employ is not generally accepted in the abundant literature regarding life-cycle earnings. The use of established age-earnings cycle formula by level of human capital would be preferable to the methods you employed in the proposed loss tables. Age-earning cycles should be recomputed based upon human capital. You have also not provided citation to the life-cycle growth rates in your calculations. 6. Present value You continue to not document the source for the interest rate and the procedure you used to adjust the interest rate for income taxes. In footnote 5, your statement of the net discount rates is mathematically incorrect, using a simple subtraction of growth rates from the discount rate rather than a geometric subtraction. You will have to use a non-tax adjusted interest rate (i.e. pre-tax nominal interest rate) when figuring the present value of some collateral sources. For example, some collateral sources will generate taxable income (e.g. Social Security survivor benefits may be taxable given the level of future other income and most pension benefits would also be taxable) and using an after-tax interest rate to compute present value for the annuity collateral benefits will overstate their present value. Reducing loss for pension, thrift or profit sharing payments and life insurance creates a set of potential difficulties in calculating loss. For example, the future marriage of a surviving spouse could revoke payments in specific pension or survivors benefit payments that would occur in the future. Yet, the loss might already be reduced for such payments. The calculation of net losses and gains in Social Security and pension payments because of early death or disability is very complex. These collateral income reductions will be a continuing source of conflict between the VCF and the families of victims. 7. Self-consumption Self-consumption rates appear to be liberal in many cases. It is troubling, however, that you list Table 2 of the CES 1999 as the source for the computations. Table 2 simply presents consumption in households by total income level up to $69,999 and then $70,000 and over. Additional data would be required to make the calculations you show. For example, you compute rates for single households where no data for single households exist in Table 2. The understanding of the data is also limited by your comment about low-income households. Low-income households and low-earning households do not necessarily correspond. There is a portion of households in the low household total income range that are, in actuality, very wealthy households. For example, farmers owning 1000's of acres of land with millions of dollars of cash flow and expenditures could show $2,000 of total household income figuring huge farming losses. Such outlier households, in Table 2, are averaged with living poor with an actual $2,000 of total income and cash flow. The Consumer Expenditure Survey is a relatively small sample and just a few households can skew estimates. We urge caution when working with data at the low and high end of these income categories. 8. Computation methodology favors claimants Statements you make in this paragraph are non-economic. You believe that your methods favor the claimants, but fail to provide relevant comparators. For example, a projected worklife of 20 years would benefit a person dying of cancer on 9-11, but it could hardly be applicable in the case of many career-working females. Your last statement is without basis and can easily be turned around with relevant economic analysis. Your "wage growth" as stated in your documents is 1.03*1.005-1 = 3.52%. Your post-tax discount rate is 5.13%. The combination of these rates computes to a net post-tax discount rate of 1.56%. A post-tax net discount rate of 1.56% is not uncommon to see in wrongful death damages litigation. Unfortunately, you are confused in your secondary application of a series of life-cycle adjustments to account for growth due to individual productivity with the concept of the "net discount rate" that is used in the academic literature. In the academic literature, the net discount rate is the difference between the discount rate and the general rate of price or wage rate growth absent individual productivity. The application of life-cycle adjustments adds a concept outside the net discount rate term and your remark has no comparator in the literature. Every case generates a net discount rate that can be compared across cases, but it also generates a unique value of life-cycle adjustment. Your statement may provide confusion to academic work presented in courtrooms in the future that follow the generally accepted approach of comparing net discount rates. Although you do not provide documentation of your pre-tax interest rate, we can turn around your arguments in this section with a simple adjustment. Suppose that you made a 25% adjustment to the interest rate to account for taxes. Dividing 5.13% by 75% yields a pre-tax discount rate of 6.84%, a reasonable figure if you are taking a historical average. Now, the relevant net discount rate that you are using must be figure on 6.84% and 3.52% to be comparable to those net discount rates in the literature. Under the 25% assumed tax adjustment, the net wage rate discount rate would be 1.0684/1.0352-1 = 3.21%, which would fall at the higher end of observed pre-tax net discount rates, not the lower. Individual Comment September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2002-01-21 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 dojN002193.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. 2002-01-21 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. Illegal Aliens are better than Gay US Citizens??? 3/17/02 12:22:41 PM Bangkok Standard Time "In Germany, the Nazis first came for the Communists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist. Then they came for the Catholics, but I didn't speak up because I was a Protestant. Then they came for me, and by that time there was no one left to speak up for me." -Martin Niemoeller, Berlin Lutheran pastor arrested by the Gustapo and sent to Dachau concentration camp in 1938; the Allied forces freed him 7 years later. I am really upset that the land of the free and the home of the brave can STILL discriminate against gay people because it seems to be popular. Gays are American Citizens and deserve every right afforded all citizens. If this is the land of the free lets see some action on that right now. If gay heroes are not as good as straight heroes, then we have some sick idea of what freedom is. Better we all move to Holland od Denmark where freedom really rings. Individual Comment September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2002-03-17 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 dojR002732.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. 2002-03-17 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. Wednesday, December 19, 2001 5:00 AM Equal Access to Crisis Relief Benefits for Surviving Gay and Lesbian Partners December 19, 2001 Dear Mr. Kenneth Zwick, I write as a member of Amnesty International, a worldwide human rights movement committed to ensuring respect for the basic human rights of people without discrimination, in support of equal access to benefits under the September 11 Victims Relief Fund for all victims, regardless of sexual orientation or marital status. As you know, the United States has committed to uphold international human rights standards, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which prohibit arbitrary discrimination. As you consider rules for administering the relief fund, I ask that you apply basic international human rights standards, and the general principle of equality, by including among relatives eligible for compensation those who lost their life partners, as well as de facto parents or children, without regard to sexual orientation or marital status. The State of New York has already adopted such a policy, granting compensation benefits "on a showing of mutual interdependence with the victim, in recognition that anyone who shared with the victim living expenses, day to day activities and the emotional bonds of family deserves help in this time of need." Many lesbian and gay people were killed in the September 11th attacks. Since then, lesbian and gay surviving partners of those killed have had mixed results in obtaining equal treatment at the local level in the distribution of relief funds by private and state agencies. An inclusive policy on the part of the federal government would help establish an important principle for other such funds. In compensating victims, real justice will be served only when all families - and all types of families - impacted by the human rights tragedy of September 11 are treated with dignity and equality. Thank you for considering my concerns. I look forward to hearing from you about your efforts to ensure that all surviving victims of the September 11 attacks have equal access to the relief fund. Sincerely, Individual Comment Los Angeles, CA September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2001-12-19 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 dojA002509.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. 2001-12-19 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. Wednesday, December 18, 2001 11:47 PM Sexual preference is a personal choice! December 18, 2001 Dear Mr. Kenneth Zwick, I write as a member of Amnesty International, a worldwide human rights movement committed to ensuring respect for the basic human rights of people without discrimination, in support of equal access to benefits under the September 11 Victims Relief Fund for all victims, regardless of sexual orientation or marital status. As you know, the United States has committed to uphold international human rights standards, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which prohibit arbitrary discrimination. As you consider rules for administering the relief fund, I ask that you apply basic international human rights standards, and the general principle of equality, by including among relatives eligible for compensation those who lost their life partners, as well as de facto parents or children, without regard to sexual orientation or marital status. The State of New York has already adopted such a policy, granting compensation benefits "on a showing of mutual interdependence with the victim, in recognition that anyone who shared with the victim living expenses, day to day activities and the emotional bonds of family deserves help in this time of need." Many lesbian and gay people were killed in the September 11th attacks. Since then, lesbian and gay surviving partners of those killed have had mixed results in obtaining equal treatment at the local level in the distribution of relief funds by private and state agencies. An inclusive policy on the part of the federal government would help establish an important principle for other such funds. In compensating victims, real justice will be served only when all families - and all types of families - impacted by the human rights tragedy of September 11 are treated with dignity and equality. Thank you for considering my concerns. I look forward to hearing from you about your efforts to ensure that all surviving victims of the September 11 attacks have equal access to the relief fund. Sincerely, Individual Comment Wellesley, MA September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2001-12-18 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 dojA002558.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. 2001-12-18