W000146
Tuesday, November 06, 2001 7:32 PM
November 6, 2001
Kenneth L. Zwick, Director
Office of Management Programs
U.S. Department of Justice
Civil Division
Main Building, Room 3140
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20530
Dear Sir:
I would like to offer my comments regarding the issues surrounding the
September 11 Victim Compensation Program. There appears to be much
divisiveness over the matter of adjustments to any federal compensation.
The viewpoints seem to be rather polarized in that there should either be no
adjustments or adjustments for all compensation received outside of the
federal program. In my view, the answer lies somewhere in the middle.
There are many forms of financial aid victims might possibly receive, among
them insurance, pension, 401(k), charitable, ADD (accidental
death/dismemberment), etc. The largest concern seems to center around the
charitable aid. As a taxpayer, I do not have an issue with a victim
receiving both charitable aid and federal aid. I made donations to more
than one charity that assist the victims of this atrocity and had no concern
doing so even if federal benefit were to ensue. I do believe adjusts to
federal assistance should be made for non-charitable, non-federal financial
aid, such as pensions and insurance.
With regard to charitable aid, the bigger issue in my mind is to insure that
those most in need receive the most support. Given the lack of coordination
evident among the 160+ charities assisting victims (watch "The O'Reilly
Factor"), it would do my heart good if the Special Master of the federal
compensation program were to also oversee the charitable effort. This
approach could provide the crosschecking needed to preclude fraud and
mismanagement, while at the same time assuring well-targeted support to
those in need.
Since it would seem the federal program must establish a database of
eligible recipients anyhow, why not use that same database as the central
repository of information for all the support efforts (federal, state, city,
charitable, etc.) underway so that everyone involved can have access to
immediate information on what has been given to whom, when it was received,
from whom, etc. This would also allow the media, who are my oversight
surrogates, to confirm that the right things are being done and verify that
both my tax and charitable dollars are being wisely and properly spent.
Thanks for you consideration,
Individual Comment
Newton, MA