N002489
January 17, 2001
Dear Mr. Feinberg,
My Husband, was murdered along with his
co-workers on
the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center.
The interim final regulations written by the Dept. of Justice have not followed the intent
of
the Congress when they passed and the President signed the "September 11 Victim
Compensation Fund of
2001" into law as Title IV of Public Law 107-42 ("Air Transportation Safety and System
Stabilization Act").
Congress set up the fund to ensure that the airline bailout would not come at the expense
of
the victims's families. The act mandates full and fair compensation to victims and their families
for their
actual economic and non-economic damages. DOJ has ignored this mandate and instead has
written
arbitrary regulations that will result in compensation levels far below the losses actually suffered
by the
victims and their families. In fact, many families' total compensation from the fund and all
collateral
sources combined will not even fully replace lost income. In effect, these families will not
receive
any
of the non-economic compensation required by the statute. After collateral
sources are deducted, as required by the regulation, some families would receive nothing from
the
fund
under the interim final regulations.
DOJ's formula allows for non-economic awards at only one-tenth the level paid in
comparable
cases, even though Congress explicitly enumerated a broader range on non-economic damages
than
could be recovered in any single jurisdiction.
DOJ's formula for non-economic damages is $250,000 for the person killed and $50,000
for
the spouse and each dependent, In a wide variety of air crash and terrorism cases, judges, juries
and
mediators commonly have provided non-economic damage awards well into the seven-figure
range.
My children have to go through the rest of their life without the man that was helping to shape
them
into productive, honest citizens of this country. He's no longer here to laugh and play with them,
swim
and vacation with them, be their soccer and softball coach. Is their pain only worth $50,000?
The method that DOJ used to calculate economic damages has serious flaws also. Using
outdated and inapplicable work life and life-cycle earnings data and data that tracks federal
worker
incomes and doesn't take into consideration the higher paying private sector career paths
followed by
the vast majority of the victims is just plain wrong. These employees were of above average
intelligence and productivity and the calculations should reflect this. These points have been
brought to
your attention on several occasions by economists, attorneys and .
These employees are part of the reason why America has enjoyed the Prosperity we do and these
calculations should reflect this.
I implore you to rewrite these regulations in accordance with the original intent of
Congress
and the President. Please don't victimize us again. My children and I have suffered so much more
than
you can ever imagine at the hands of terrorists and a government that didn't full require
preventative
safety and security measures of our airlines. Would your spouse and family be satisfied with
these
regulations should they have found themselves in our situation? Please don't think only of the
bottom
line-do what's right.
Sincerely,
Individual Comment
Livingston, NJ