N001617
Tuesday, January 15, 2002 10:04 AM
Victims Compensation Fund
January , 2002
Mr. Kenneth L. Zwick, Director
Office of Management Programs
Civil Division
U.S. Department of Justice
Main Building, Room 3140
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20530
Dear Mr. Zwick,
Re: "September 11th Victims Compensation Fund of 2001" P.L. 107-42
In the immediate aftermath of the tragic attack of September 11th upon our
nation, Congress enacted the above referenced legislation to compensate the
relatives of the victims of that brutal attack. As elected representatives
of many of those relatives, it is our firm belief that the interim rules
issued by the Special Master on December 20th fail to satisfy the letter or
the spirit of the legislation which we enacted.
The legislation authorized payment for economic and non-economic loss.
Economic loss was defined as "any pecuniary loss? including the loss of
earnings? to the extent recovery for such loss is allowed under applicable
State law." (Sec. 401(5)). Non-economic loss was defined to include among
other things "physical and emotional pain, suffering ? mental anguish ? and
loss of consortium." (Sec. 402(5)).
The sole offsets to the payment for economic and non-economic loss were the
"collateral sources" specified in Sec 402(4). These included "life
insurance, pension funds ? and payments by Federal State or local
governments related to the attacks of September 11th." These were clearly
intended to be the only offsets.
In his proposed rules, however, the Special Master has imposed offsets which
are in no way authorized by the statute. Specifically, he imposes arbitrary
income limits and restricts pain and suffering awards to $250,000 - no
matter what the extent of the pain and suffering may have been.
The practical effect of these caps is to drastically reduce the award from
what the statute intended. Relatives of the victims who were in the
financial services sector or in the public service sector - such as police
officers and firefighters - will suffer a particularly adverse effect. This
is not only contrary to the legislation but also entirely unfair.
The financial services victims were killed precisely because of the jobs
they held. They personified American business and commerce. That is why they
worked in the World Trade Center and that is why our enemies targeted them.
The police and firefighters were killed carrying out the most successful
rescue operation in the history of the United States. It is bad enough that
these good people were victimized by bin Laden. We cannot allow their
relatives to be victimized again. As Mayor Giuliani stated in his farewell
address: "we have an obligation to the people who did die? Their families
need to be protected just as if they had been alive, financially and in
every other way that we can help and assist their families? There should be
no compromise about that ever ?"
The Victims Compensation Fund was created as a part of a comprehensive
legislative package which bailed out the airline industry and imposed
restrictions on the right of the victims' relatives to recover from the
airlines in court. The Fund was established to protect the rights of the
victims' relatives. The Special Master cannot take it on himself to restrict
those rights.
Additionally, at the time the legislation was enacted, the amount of
fatalities was expected to be between 6,000 and 10, 000. The final number
will be less than 3,500. This will result in a significant reduction in the
expected expenditures and makes the Special Master's false economies even
less defensible.
We request therefore that the interim rules be amended and redefined to the
extent that income caps be removed when computing economic loss and that
each victim's case be addressed separately when computing the non-economic
loss attributable to pain and suffering. Mr. Feinberg has arbitrarily
restricted the non-economic awards for pain and suffering, no matter what
the extent of the pain and suffering. This is unacceptable. In the words of
Congressman Peter King, "every death is tragic. A murder is particularly
tragic. But to have your love one murdered in a burning building in full
view of the world - in a scene which will be repeated in the media for
decades to come - is a horror these families will never escape from. The
Special Master cannot take it upon himself to restrict the rights of the
families." Therefore, we request that the interim rules be amended to more
appropriately compensate the victims' families' for the immeasurable pain
and suffering endured by our loved ones. As Mayor Giuliani stated in his
farewell address: "we have an obligation to the people who did died?Their
families need to be protected just as if they had been alive, financially
and every other way that we can help and assist their familiesS?There should
be no compromise about that ever" We request that the interim rules be
amended and that compensation for pain and suffering more accurately reflect
that horror which was suffered. Justice demands no less.
Sincerely,
Individual Comment