R000358
Tuesday, March 12, 2002 4:15 AM
9/11 Funds for All
I have heard that families and partners of gay Americans who were victims
of the 9/11 event, may fail to receive funds, which were given for the
families of all those lost in this event. If you have the audacity to do
such a thing, then I truly hope you are a strong group of people, because I
will pray endlessly that your conscious never ceases to rest for that kind
of injustice.
"In an appearance on the Sunday, March 10 broadcast of NBC's "Meet the
Press," Kenneth Feinberg, the head of the September 11th Victim
Compensation Fund (a fund created by Congress and run by the Department of
Justice), said that gay partners of the heroes of September 11th will not
necessarily be eligible for the same compensation as heterosexual family
members who lost their loved ones.
According to Feinberg, lots and lots of people will receive compensation
under the plan, including children, babies, and even fetuses. And as an
indication of how generous the fund will be, even illegal aliens, who
aren't American citizens
and who are in the US in violation of federal law, will receive benefits.
Feinberg even says that the Attorney General has promised that if
undocumented aliens come
forward, they won't be kicked out of the country, and their employers won't
be penalized. "The attorney general, in consultation with Immigration,
etc., undocumented aliens who come forward, the families will not suffer
any consequences.
They are covered by this program. They will get a check. The employer,
where we need the economic information about the undocumented alien, will
not be penalized," Feinberg told "Meet the Press.
[Gays and lesbians are] left out of my program to the extent that their own
state doesn't include them. I cannot get into a position in this program,
which has a one-and-a-half or two-year life start second-guessing what the
state of New York or the Commonwealth of Massachusetts or the state of
Virginia or New Jersey, how they treat same-sex partners, domestic
live-ins, etc. I simply say this: What does your
state law say about who is eligible? If your state law makes you eligible,
I will honor state law. If it doesn't, I go with the state. Otherwise, Tim,
I would find myself getting sued in every state by people claiming that I'm
not following how the state distributes money. I can't get into that local
battle. I've got to rely on state law." - Kenneth Feinberg on NBC's "Meet
the Press," March 10, 2002."
All I can say, is God be merciful to you because I doubt anyone else will!
Sincerely,
Individual Comment
A proud, out, and angry gay American!