N002164
Monday, January 21, 2002 12:30 PM
Comments to victims compensation fund
Dear Mr. Zwick,
I am writing to express my disappointment with the rules outlined for the Federal Victims Compensation Fund. I was told that the purpose of this fund was to provide victims with an alternative to the long and costly litigation process. The rules as they currently stand fall far short of this goal.
My first concern relates to the arbitrary cap that is imposed on the salaries of victims when calculating their economic loss. The imposition of this cap is completely unfair to those victims who were earning above the maximum salary level. Please consider the impact of this cap on the families of the victims. Not only have they lost a loved one, but if you do not change your rules, they will also be deprived of the financial benefits their loved ones worked hard to attain. Many of the victims were the sole providers for young families. They had only recently begun to reap the benefits of their hard work and higher education, and one could expect that they would have had provided financial stability for their families for years to come. If they choose to take part in your plan, and accept your proposal, they will have to give up the quality of life their loved ones worked hard to attain.
In light of the current rules, I would counsel victims that to partake in the government plan would be to disgrace their lost loved ones, and that they should therefore pursue a legal remedy through the courts. Although a legal battle would be painful, and cost the U.S. taxpayers millions over time, I would rather have them endure a long and arduous court battle, and attain justice in the end, than be sold out under the current plan, which provides protection for the airlines at the expense of the victims.
I would also like to express my disappointment with the amount that is being awarded for pain and suffering. In light of the circumstances, I believe that your financial quantification of the victims, and their families’ suffering is unconscionable. Please consider the suffering that many of the victims who were at work on the top floors endured. These victims were alive for almost an hour, under unfathomable circumstances- with people suffocating from smoke around them, and their co-workers jumping out of windows to their death. Many were cognizant that they would never see their families and friends again. Now please consider the pain of the families of the victims, and recognize that they watched this horror unfold on television, and spent days suffering, not knowing if their loved ones were dead or alive. Then consider that they will spend the rest of their lives imagining the circumstances and suffering endured by the victims. Also consider the children that lost a parent and a provider. Recognize that these children will have constant reminders of their loss each day- through television, gossip, and history books. In light of these circumstances, the predetermined pain and suffering figures are a disgrace to the victims and to their families
Please do not continue to announce that this compensation fund is here to assist families of victims of the World Trade Center. It is an effort to bail out the airlines from litigation. It would be far more appropriate for an analysis to reveal to the public exactly how many families would receive nothing from this proposal. It is our firm belief that the interim rules issued by the Special Master on December 20th are contrary to the letter and the spirit of the legislation which was enacted, and that they must be reconsidered.
Disappointed citizen,
Individual Comment
New York, NY