N002375
Tuesday, January 22, 2002 11:21 PM
Comments to Sept 11 Victim Comp Fund
Dear Special Master Feinberg;
I am very much interested in the Sept 11 Victim Compensation Fund. My
husband was killed while at work on the floor of World Trade Center Building II on that dreadful day. I have reviewed the interim rules and procedures for claim submission to the above referenced fund and submit the
following comments.
I am pleased that our government has made an attempt to compensate victims
and families of deceased victims to the September 11th tragedies and to do
so as painlessly and expeditiously as possible. While I commend these
efforts I am dismayed at 1) the amount of the 'presumed noneconomic loss',
2) the offset of the award by collateral sources and 3) the requirement that
claim submission waives the right of the claimant to file a civil action for
damages sustained.
1) In light of this horrific tragedy - one most unimaginable - an award of
$250,000 for noneconomic losses seems paltry and an insult to the heroic and
patriotic efforts of the victims. Nothing less than 1 million dollars
should be considered.
2) Reducing the amount of the total award by collateral sources such as life
insurance policies and pension plans is unfair. These benefits were of
course provided in the event of death but should in no way be considered a
source of compensation in settling wrongful death suits or claims.
Individuals who had the forethought to provide for their families after
death should not be penalized for doing just that. Congress and the
President should amend the Act to do away with reducing the award by these
sources.
3) It was my understanding that this legislation was enacted to help bailout
the airline industry. Why on earth then would legislation prohibit civil
suit against other potentially negligible parties, such as the owner(s) of
the World Trade Center Buildings, the City and State of New York, the Port
Authority of New York and New Jersey and Omar Bin Laden? If in fact the
legislation was intended to bailout all of these entities, then the award
should be far greater than the estimated minimum of $500,000 to families of
deceased victims.
Finally, I'm sure it is the objective of the Fund to have a great number of
the victims and families of victims submit to the Fund. I think however
that the rules and procedures of this Act as they are currently written will
have the exact opposite affect.
Thank you for the opportunity to present my views to you.
Respectfully submitted in loving memory of ,
Individual Comment