N002034
Friday, January 18, 2002 4:11 PM
See Attached Comments
Attachment 1:
January 18, 2001
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
Re: Comments to the Interim Final Rule
Dear Mr. Zwick
I am writing to respond to the numerous comments that you have received to date asking why taxpayer money should be used to compensate the victim's of the September 11 terrorist attacks when it isn't used to provide compensation to other Americans who die tragically. When reading the news and some of the comments here I am disheartened to see how many people do not understand the underling reason for this legislation: to protect the airlines, port authorities, city and state governments and the WTC Building Management from actually being held liable for their own actions. There is a lot of misinformation in the public realm and the Department of Justice should step to the plate and clarify things. It should be made clear to the public that the amount of net compensation to be received by the victim's families is much less than the gross amounts that the DOJ has used ($1.6 million per victim). It also must be made clear what the victims were forced to give up in return for this fund.
There are a lot of comments that pointed out that people die tragically in America every day. The families of these decedents are not awarded any money from the US government (other than social security). Many posters are particularly upset that the members of the United States military who are killed in action do not receive this kind of financial payment from the government. Let me address these concerns.
1. The federal government is not giving the September 11 victims a "handout" or a "free lunch". Before implementing the Victims Compensation Fund legislation, Congress first decided to pay $15 billion dollars to the airline industry and to limit the amount of their potential liability to the amount of insurance they carried. There are approximately 3,000 victims who perished in the attacks and many times that number of people who sustained serious physical and psychological injuries and well as economic damages, all caused by the negligence of the airlines, the security firms and the government's gross negligence. The amount of insurance carried by the airlines would be a pittance when divided by this many plaintiffs. Congress, at the behest of an airline lobbying effort that began on September 12, decided that the airlines were "too big to fail" and so placed severe liability limits on any potential lawsuit. Because of this, the corporations who were negligent will not pay penny one out of their own pockets.
In addition, participants in the fund are required to give up all rights to sue anyone over their actions or inactions that led up to the September 11 attacks. Congresss apparently viewed these lawsuits as a threat to the aviation industry and moreover a threat to the US economy and to future tax revenues. Giving up these rights is a large concession and anyone doing so should be adequately compensated.
In other situations where Americans have died tragically the surviving family members have had the recourse available to sue for damages. For instance the families of the victims who suffered tragic deaths recently in Queens when the jet destined for the Dominican Republic crashed, have the ability to sue the airlines for negligence and will likely be awarded adequate damages through the lawsuit or through a settlement. They will not be required to deduct life insurance, pension or any other benefits from those awards. The victims of September 11 had this option taken away from them in all material respects by the Airline Bailout statute. They did not ask to have this law passed, the airlines did.
2. In the case of members of the US military being killed in action, that too undoubtedly is a tragic event. The difference is that the members of the US military volunteered to do what they are doing. They dies as armed combatants fully aware that they are the targets of their enemies. The people who lost their lives on September 11 for the most part were civilians who merely went to work as if it was an average day. They were killed because they embodied American success. It was a strike against all of America that resulted in their death. They were innocent of anything other than being Americans.
That said, I would be the first one to support a law that awarded the families of military that were killed in the line of duty a higher amount than the $250,000 life insurance policy that they have. I would, however, not wish upon them the convoluted rules for deducting life insurance, pension payments, workers compensation and other payments.
Thank you for your consideration.
Individual Comment
Concord, MA