P000625
Kenneth L. Zwick, Director
Office Management Programs
U.S. Department of Justice
Main Building Room 3140
950 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20530
On September 11, 2001 our government failed to protect the safety of American citizens and
subsequently attempted to somewhat compensate terror victims and their families by establishing the
Victim's Compensation Fund. The following comments Reflect our dissatisfaction with the Fund as it
stands in January, 2002 and the hope that our thoughts would be incorporated into the final proposal.
a. Including pensions of the deceased victims as "collateral sources" against settlement offered would
leave most civil servants' families with little or no wrongful death compensation. Civil servants are
typically on lower wage scales than those in private industry, but take pride in fulfilling vital services to
their communities. As part of their overall compensation packages, they work for their pensions during
their active duty so that they can rest assured they and/or their families will be adequately provided for
when their active duty ends. As families/friends of civil servants we view the inclusion of pension
benefits as collateral sources as clear discrimination against blue-collar workers.
b. Including life insurance policies as "collateral sources" discriminates against those who thoughtfully
and responsively provided for their families.
c. Valuing the lives of our loved ones on a demographic chart is an insult to the dead. All human lives
are precious and none are worth more than others, no matter how long the deceased lived or what
his/her arbitrary determined "earnings potential" was.
d. Capping emotional pain and suffering at $250,000 is ridiculously low articularly in comparison to
court-determined awards in similar cases.
We are not seeking funds to replace the lives of our loved ones. We instead wish the federal
government and the airlines to admit their careless roles in the wrongful death of Americans. We note
that our U.S. constitution has been violated in numerous ways, most importantly by the fact that our
Congress passed a law reducing the airlines' liabilities after (ex post facto) the events of September 11,
2001, thus limiting our potential to gain suitable settlements in traditional court proceedings. Further, we
are discouraged to know that an unelected and unaccountable official will determine our compensation.
We note that Mr. Feinberg has unsuitable historical record in similar proceedings such as the "Agent
Orange" cases in which he neglected to fairly compensate Vietnam War Veterans.
In this horrible time of grief and despair, our government has further victimized our families by infringing
upon our civil rights. The government and media point to charity to compensate our families, yet fail to
realize that such "awards" are often unequitable, poorly administered, and were not intended to take the
place of negligent punitive damages. We understand the long, uphill battle involved in changing a law
and do not shy away from it. However, such proceedings would cause additional and prolonged pain
to our traumatized families. At this time, we simply request that the Special Master take into account
our above comments a-d
Sincerely,
Family/Friend of 9/11 Victim
CC: Attorney General John Ashcroft
U.S. Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, DC 20530-0001
re: Victims Compensation Fund
President George W. Bush
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500
re: Victims Compensation Fund
Committee on Judiciary
2138 Rayburn HOB
Washington, DC 20515
re: Victims Compensation Fund