N002129
Sunday, January 20, 2002 2:45 PM
The Fund
Dear Mr. Feinberg,
On September 11th we were enveloped in a horrendous nightmare that we have been unable to awaken from. The unimaginable happened. Four of our own planes were used as guided missiles to topple landmark buildings and kill innocent civilians. How could this happen have happened? Four months later that question remains unanswered and haunting. Four months later we are still overwhelmed with disbelief. Many of the surviving loved ones have still not gotten out of bed. While we were struggling to deal with our own despair, unbeknownst to us there was another force at work.
On September 12th while we were calling hospitals, filling out missing persons reports, running in to the city looking for our loved ones in the hopes that they were among the lucky to have survived, one hundred lobbyists were hired by the airlines. The airlines felt that they needed protection from the families of the victims. Before we, the families, could stand up on our own two feet, the airlines and the government designed a plan, not to help the victims' families or change and improve aviation security for all of America, but to protect American Airlines and United Airlines from bankruptcy. The airlines were given a "get out of jail free" pass. The legal rights of the victims were severely curtailed. The airlines had to know that they were responsible or they would not have run to congress asking to be bailed out and stabilized. Thus the Victim's Compensation Fund was born.
The intent of Congress with this fund seemed to be that if they were protecting the airlines they should give some thought to the families of the people who were killed on September 11th. The thought was brief, mistakes were made. We are only now beginning to understand the ramifications of what we have been dealt. In the midst of our grief and suffering we have been forced into a political arena which we are struggling to understand. The government deadlines on many of these issues are causing further anxiety.
In short, the government has said the victims' families have to give up their rights to sue in order to settle for an undetermined and undisclosed amount. When in America would that ever be an acceptable option? While the appointed Special Master of the Fund has continually advertised his 1.6 million dollar award he does not stress that it is before the deductions of life insurance, death benefits and pensions. The truth is that after those deductions are applied most people will only be entitled to the minimum award. The truth is that prior to September 11th these deductions were never applied in a wrongful death case. The truth is that the victims families DID NOT ask the government for this Settlement Fund. It was forced upon them. In a "normal" wrongful death case one would sue to recover economic and non-economic losses as well as punitive damages to insure that the negligence that caused the wrongful death never happens again. Where along the way did we, the families, lose our constitutional rights?
Our lives that were once filled with normal daily routines (grocery shopping carpooling childcare etc.). are now filled with therapy, support groups, advocacy meetings, attorney and accountant meetings and media sessions. Our daily routines now include, fighting to get back remains of our loved ones in a timely and humane manner, spending the day calling our Congressmen and Senators to fight for our legal rights, spending the day doing those things necessary to fight for financial security for our families, and fighting to retain our sanity and the sanity of our children, advocating on behalf of our loved ones so that their lives would not have been lost in vain, and not giving into the sadness which is paralyzing but must be felt.
We have lost so much. We do not want to feel further victimized. We do not want our children to be further scarred. The families of the victims need to be able to pick up the pieces of our lives and move on from here without anger and with our faith restored in our country. We are pleading with the powers that be ,be our voice. let at least one part of the nightmare end.
Respectfully Yours ,
Individual Comment