N002524
Congress of the United States
House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515-1313
January 18, 2002
Mr. Kenneth R. Feinberg
Special Master
September 11th Victim's Compensation Fund
U.S. Department of Justice
Tenth Street and Constitution Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C. 20530
Dear Mr. Feinberg:
This week I received correspondence from of Hinsdale, Illinois. Her
husband, , was on American Airlines Flight 11, which was hijacked and struck the
World Trade Center on September 11th, 2001.
In this correspondence, expresses concern with the Interim Final Rule
governing distribution of the September 11th Victim's Compensation Fund. I have
attached a copy for your review, and ask that you include her correspondence in the
record of public comments. I believe that makes several points that
should be carefully considered in order to fulfill the intent of the fund to provide fair,
predictable, and consistent compensation to victims and their families.
Thank you for giving her comments and concerns your full consideration as you finalize
the Interim Final Rule. I would appreciate receiving a response from you addressing her
concerns.
Sincerely,
Judy Biggert
Judy Biggert
Member of Congress
Enclosure
cc: Mr. Kenneth L. Zwick, Director, Office of Management Programs, Civil Division,
Department of Justice
JB:o
Dear Representative Biggert,
As you are aware, my husband was a passenger on American
Airlines Flight 11 when it slammed into the World Trade Center on Sept 11. I am
now a widow with 4 children all living at home. and I were in the process of
a second adoption from China when was so horrifically taken from our family,
and I were married for over 22 years, more than half of our lives. I have
been a stay at home mom to our children for most of our married life. I am
writing to express my serious concerns and objection to the Department of
Justice's (DOJ) " Interim Final Regulations Governing Payments Under the
September 11th Victim Compensation Fund,"
The airline bailout act gave the airlines $15 billion in cash and loan guarantees
and then capped the airlines' liability for the September 11 crashes at the limits of
their insurance coverage. Because of this cap, the damage caused by the
crashes greatly exceeds the private fund available to compensate victims and
their families. Thus for the vast majority of victims and families, the cap has the
effect of eliminating the right that they would otherwise have to sue the airlines.
Congress set up the fund to ensure that the airline bailout would not come at the
expenses of the victim' families. The act mandates full and fail compensation to
victims and their families for their actual economic and non-economic damages.
DOJ has ignored this mandate and instead has written arbitrary regulations
that will result in compensation levels far below the losses actual suffered by the
victims and their families. In fact, many families' total compensation from the fund
and all collateral sources combined will not even fully replace lost income. In
effect, these families will not receive any of the non-economic compensation
required by the statute. After collateral sources are deducted, as required by the
statute, some families such as mine, would receive absolutely nothing from the
fund under the interim final regulations.
DOJ's formula allows for non-economic awards at only one-tenth the level
paid in comparable cases, even though Congress explicitly enumerated a
broader range of non-economic damages then could be recovered in any single
jurisdiction. DOJ's formula for non-economic damages is $250,000 for the
persons killed and $50,000 for the spouse and each dependent. In a wide variety
of air crash and terrorism cases, however, judges, juries, and mediators
commonly have provided non-economic damage awards well into the seven-
figure range.
Independent economists have found serious flaws in DOJ's method of
calculating economic damages, including use of outdated and inapplicable
work life and life-cycle earnings data. DOJ greatly underestimates promotions
and other increases in earnings victims. It relies on civil service and
military retirement system actuarial data that track federal worker incomes
and pension requirements, not the higher-paying private sector career paths
followed by the vast majority of the victims.
The interim final regulations also arbitrarily cap a victim's income at
$231,000 a year. Combined with the faulty methodology described above, the
income cap would result in some families receiving compensation for less than
25% of their actual economic losses.
Under DOJ's rules, a family's awards may be increased above the
"presumptive" award only by a showing of "extraordinary circumstances" -
beyond those suffered by other victims or victims' families. This high burden
of proof makes a charade of the right to a hearing provided by the statute.
DOJ should fulfill the acts's intent by revising the rules to compensate
victims and their families for the types of damages specified by Congress, at
levels comparable to those provided in the tort system the fund was designed
to replace. While DOJ has shown flexibility on some aspects of the rules, it
is resisting the victims' and families' requests for significant changes. If
the proposed regulations are not changed significantly, victims' windows will
have to sell their homes, deplete their children's college funds, and give up
their plans of being full-time parents while their children are young. Many
families, anticipating little relief from the fund, will decide to sue the
airlines and others, despite the handicap of the liability limits. We do not
believe these are the outcomes Congress intended.
Please contact Attorney General John D. Ashcroft and Special Master
Kenneth R. Feinberg and tell them of your concern that the interim final
regulations fail to conform to the language and intent of the act. With the
regulations soon to become final, I believe that only the swift and strong
support of Congress can avert unnecessary financial and emotional damage.
The fund will not help the families, nor will it encourage change, rather, it is
making the families, those who have suffered the most, pay for the $16 billion
airline bailout. And the Fund will stand as precedent when future disasters and
acts of terrorism occur.
Thank you for giving this matter your immediate attention.
Individual Comment
Hinsdale, Il