N001461
Tuesday, January 08, 2002 9:59 PM
Comments to September 11th Victim's Compensation Fund
We feel it imperative to voice our opinion regarding the September 11th
Victim's Compensation Fund. As the criteria for the fund has been published,
it has shocked us that it resembles nothing as the impression given when the
Program was in its planning stage.
Our concerns are as follows:
1. The earnings are based on the years 2000, 1999 and 1998. In our
particular case, our brother/son had substantial earnings in the year 2001.
His income jumped from 50,000+/- in 2000 to over $275,000 as of September 11,
2001. 2001 was the year in which he began to achieve his success. Now, he
is being penalized for that.
2. A "cap" has been placed on the salaries of $250,000. How can you have a
cap of that value when you are dealing with individuals who worked in the
financial capital of the "world"? The elite of the elite in the financial
industry. Their earnings far surpass yearly incomes of $250,000. And how is
the earning potential factored into the equation?
3. The pain and suffering award of $250,000 is UNCONCIONABLE! In this
country, there are lawsuits that surpass that figure by the tens for slipping
on ice in a parking lot. According to reports, an average for pain and
suffering pay out for an airline lawsuit is approximately 2.5 million
dollars. Why are our loved ones being penalized so drastically for such a
horrific death in a terrorist attack? Nothing about that figure indicates a
fair settlement in any form. It is a disgrace to award such a dollar amount
for such a horrific terrorist attack on the most innocent working
individuals. I think it is safe to say that their civil rights have been
violated in the most brutal of forms. First, their right to live brutally
taken from them; and second, their right to be protected by their government,
which as we have seen over the past years has fallen grossly short. And now,
their pain and death is humiliated by such an award. There is no other word
to describe that award then "outrage".
We are once again made to suffer, by the hands of our own government now. It
further deepens the wounds in our hearts (that we fear will never heal)
created by the events of September 11th, that we live with every day since
then and will continue to for the rest of our lives, that our government
finds this award to be reasonable and just. Our loved ones were sacrificed
in the most brutal way, simply for being successful, working in the "symbol"
of American greatness and striving for all that America stands for. Their
sacrifice is so brutal that even our government, over the past years, pushed
aside all warnings thinking it could never happen;
However, we will remain hopeful that our government will see the
misappropriation of this fund and come to the proper aid of the victims'
families in a true effort to attempt to try and make whole what was so
horrifically taken from us and our Country.
Sincerely,
Individual Comment
Parsippany, NJ