W000415
Monday, November 19, 2001 9:24 PM
September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001
Darien, CT
17 November 2001
Mr. Kenneth L. Zwick, Director
Office of Management Programs
Civil Division
U.S. Department of Justice
Main Building, Room 3140
950 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, DC 20530
Dear Mr. Zwick:
It is Saturday night. This is the tenth Saturday night I have spent alone as a newly widowed 38-year-old since the 11th of September. My beautiful three-year-old daughter sleeps, unaware of the tears I shed, the arrows that pierce my heart and the constant knot that rips at my guts.
While my daughter is comfortable that her Daddy is in heaven and sleeps with the angels, she is blissfully ignorant of the permanence of our situation. Death is quite a new concept for her. She has begun asking whether we will all die-even her-and wants to know when. How does one explain to a three-year-old that, yes, we will all die-even her-but that it won't be for many, many years? How do you explain to a child of this age that it won't be for years to come when she has no concept of five minutes, one week, a month or a year? What is the appropriate reaction when your child lies very still on the floor, closes her eyes and says, "Let's pretend to be dead"?
This is what my life has become since Tuesday, September 11th.
I have celebrated my child's first week of preschool, my 12-year wedding anniversary and my husband's 37th birthday alone. The makeshift urn containing debris from Ground Zero and the furled American flag, tokens from the city of New York and United States of America, grace my mantelpiece. These items provide a bazaar sort of emotional comfort in lieu of having human remains to bury or my husband's wedding band or wrist watch-the only two items he wore with any regularity-to connect with and caress.
Thanksgiving, my husband's favorite food holiday (it took me ten years to finally perfect the art of gravy making), will pass with an empty chair and place setting. Christmas beckons with not a modicum of joy in my heart. The responsibility of providing happy holiday memories for my daughter is a daunting prospect at best.
I think constantly about my wonderful, super-intelligent, fiercely ambitious, 36-year-old husband of 12 years. A man of lofty ideals and great pride, it would have troubled him greatly to have died a victim. For me and the rest of my husband's family, this is possibly the most distasteful and disconcerting aspect of this entire tragedy. I can only equate my husband's not wanting to die a victim with Osama Bin Laden's wish to die in Afghanistan and not be arrested and brought to justice in the land of the infidels.
My husband certainly would not have wanted to leave his family in our current financial state. We both worked and saved for years-putting off having a child until our economic house was in order. We had recently embarked upon many projects based on our fiscal responsibility, never anticipating that the life of a sole, 36-year-old breadwinner's life could be snuffed out in the matter of one hour at the hands of Islamic terrorists.
My beloved husband and I worked diligently. For many years we paid what we considered to be an inordinate amount of taxes. It was our understanding that our tax dollars would guarantee our family's safety at a minimum. Can the U.S. government honestly say that my tax dollars were at work to combat threats to the national security?
Where were the CIA and FBI on September 11th? I'll tell you where there were. Judging from the vast amount of media coverage, they were looking for . Did any of our hard-earned tax dollars ever reach the INS? If they did, how could the INS allow the entry of questionable aliens such as Muhammad Atta and his accomplices into the U.S., particularly in light of previous terrorist incidents such as the bombing on the WTC in 1993 (which I might add, WE SURVIVED).
I hold U.S. government and its various agencies responsible for my and my daughter's loss.
Having read the posts on your web site, it would appear that many Americans are of the assumption that we, survivors of the victims, are all getting rich as a result of the generosity of the amazing American public who so selflessly donated to the many charities affiliated with the tragedy of September 11th. This is simply not the case. While it may be true that many of the WTC victims enjoy lifestyles that are perceived to be extravagant by mainstream America's standards, it is precisely this perception that led the terrorists to target these particular two buildings, rather than a shopping mall or office building in Lincoln, Nebraska or Pensacola, Florida.
Pinpointing, applying for and actually obtaining funds from the charitable organizations is time consuming and, I dare say, humiliating for many of us who never dreamed, in our wildest imaginations, that we would be in this position. Furthermore, I'd like to report firsthand that none of is getting rich through the funding provided by these various institutions. I suspect there is but a small faction that has been made whole on a weekly basis. For most, I imagine, the charitable contributions just scratch the surface of enormous weekly or monthly expenses. I am sure that my husband would be aghast that I have had to travel into New York City with copies of my rent, electric and phone bills to obtain sustenance from the kind-hearted souls of this country.
If the September 11th Victims Compensation Fund is to succeed-that is, to avoid extraordinary lawsuits against the airlines and salvage the U.S. air transportation system-we, the surviving family members of the victims, request the following parameters be instituted in consideration of our extraordinary loss:
- Provide the formula by which awards will be made prior to demanding an acceptance of the terms. Also firmly establish which defendants this settlement will cover-will it simply cover liability of the airline industry and it's security subcontractors, or will the City of New York and its Port Authority be named as additional defendants?
- As you are seeking to provide a viable alternative to litigation, the formula should resemble that which would normally take place in a suit of this nature and should reflect the individual nature of each claimant, to wit: taking an average of the victim's past 3-5 years earnings as indicated in past tax return filings, multiplied by actuarial tables of life expectancy, reduced by present value of money. In addition, consideration must also be given to the victim's future earning potential, as well as to benefits lost, including health insurance.
- Establish a standard to determine pain and suffering, which will be the same for each claimant. Each victim was loved equally by all of their family, whether married with children or single. To say that any of us has suffered more or less anguish over this event than others is simply unjust. I am also of the mind that the pain and suffering of each individual victim who perished in the WTC needs to be taken into consideration. Because most of us do not know how much time each of our loved ones had to actually contemplate their fate, this will not be an easy task. Again, I would suggest this determination be made on an equal basis. When determining the pain and suffering award, careful consideration must be given to the amount of punitive damages each claimant would receive if litigation were to occur through normal channels.
- Do not reduce the amount of any award by charitable contributions received. Charity is charity. The monies received thus far by most of the surviving families are intended to provide a short-term solution to immediate financial difficulties. For many of us, these charitable contributions have enabled us to barely hold the line on our monthly expenses and have provided a necessary stopgap for the maintenance of our lives. The DOJ has been given a mandate of 120 days to implement the plan for the September 11th Victims Compensation Fund. It has been difficult enough to disseminate and collect the charitable contributions that exist. Do the DOJ and the American public think we all have the financial resources necessary to cover 120 days of expenses? Does the average American have the resources to cover 120 days of expenses with no income? I think not.
- Given the fact that economic resources for many of the surviving families are dwindling or non-existent, it is of the utmost importance that a settlement payout date be established and adhered to.
- Do not reduce the amount of any award by insurance monies received. My husband and I paid for outside life insurance with AFTER TAX DOLLARS. To reduce any award by the amount received through private insurance amounts to nothing more than PUNISHMENT for financial planning, and, in effect, DOUBLE TAXATION. I strongly suspect that victims of run-of-the-mill violent crime are not subject to insurance deductions from the awards made to them by various states' Victim's Crime Boards.
- Please do not limit a survivor's right to appeal through use of an approved or designated mediator. Each claimant should retain the right to abandon process up until the time that a settlement is made and accepted. This right would, of course, be granted to us through normal litigation.
- Please do not tax us outright on any award obtained through this fund. In most cases, proceeds received from this fund will be reinvested in our economy for the long-term maintenance of our families and children. The U.S. government will receive its share on a yearly basis, for sure. Similarly, claimants need to be informed as to how any potential award settlement will affect other government-sponsored benefits such as Social Security and Workman's Compensation.
- I, and all other surviving members of the victims of September 11th, beseech the DOJ to keep the application and documentation process for this fund SIMPLE and forthright. Many of us are at the end of our ropes. To ask us to jump through hoops of fire is insulting and demoralizing in light of our strife.
In closing, I would like to echo the sentiments of the many widows, widowers and family members that have commented before me: I would give everything I own and prefer to be penniless in order for my life to be as it was on September 10, 2001. No amount of money will ever restore the laughter, joy, intimacy and love that I shared with my soul mate of 15 years. This failing of the U.S. government, the U.S. airline industry and its security subcontractors, and the Port Authority of New York City has deprived me of the opportunity to prosper and grow old with the man I loved, and has robbed my child of the right to grow and thrive under the watchful eye of a loving and doting father. I keep hoping our family will wake up from this horrific nightmare with our life restored. The days wear on and I know we will not.
Respectfully yours,
Individual Comment
Darien, Connecticut