N002320
Tuesday, January 22, 2002 5:53 PM
Victim Compensation
The Victim Compensation Program is a B ? A ? D, bad idea! I have no doubt
that the government has good intentions and is motivated for all the right
reasons, but this program is not the answer. It is not right. It has no
precedent. And it is unfair to all the victims and all the families of
victims before the attacks of September 11, 2001.
Believe me when I say I grieve deeply for all the families of the victims of
the terrorist attacks, which resulted in the deaths of thousands of innocent
civilians. I served 21 years in the U.S. military and I know the sorrow and
pain these families must be feeling, but consider these points before the
government (albeit with good intentions) sets out to make perhaps thousands
of next of kin/families millionaires courtesy of the U.S. taxpayers.
1. How much monetary compensation should the government provide to families
who may also receive life insurance benefits?
2. How much monetary compensation should the government provide to families
who may also have investments and savings at their disposal?
3. How much monetary compensation should the government provide to families
who may also receive monetary awards from any of the various non-profit,
charitable, philanthropic, or assistance organizations that have raised
large sums of money and are distributing it to the victims? families?
4. Is it really the governments responsibility (and is it the fair/right
thing to do) to make all these families (potential) millionaires?
5. How much compensation is too much?
6. When has this been done in the past?
7. What is the precedent are we setting?
8. This type of compensation has never been awarded to the families of
military personnel who died in the line of duty. Admittedly, military
personnel know the risk when they put on the uniform. Innocent civilians
died on September 11, 2001. But are the families of military personnel any
less worthy? U.S. military personnel are dying right now in the war on
terrorism. Their families will get SGLI. Their families won?t be made
millionaires.
9. Shouldn?t the American people take care of these families (voluntarily
and to the degree they are comfortable with) through their donations to the
various philanthropic organizations or through direct assistance to these
families? This shouldn?t involve the government. Let the people handle it.
If the government wants to help, then do whatever is necessary to ensure
this kind of attack never happens again.
10. These families deserve our help, our care, and our assistance. Not a
free ride for life (courtesy of the U.S. taxpayers). This program is a slap
in the face to all the victims? families before September 11, 2001. It also
serves to trivialize the lives of the victims of the terrorist attacks by
attempting to assign a monetary value to their lives through the use of a
mathematical equation (or worse yet by assigning it an arbitrary monetary
value).
Don?t let your sympathy and zeal to help the families of the terrorist
attacks misguide you into doing something inappropriate. This program is
wrong!
Individual Comment
Bowdoinham, ME