N002630
January 11, 2002
To: Mr. Kenneth Feinberg, Special Master of the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of
2001
In Care Of Mr. Kenneth L. Zwick, Director
Office of Management of Programs
Civil Division
U.S. Department of Justice
Main Building, Room 3140
950 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, DC 20530
Re: Comments on the Interim Rule of the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001
Dear Mr. Kenneth Feinberg
I am writing to ask for your help to correct the inequities contained in the Department of
Justice's interim final rule for the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001. The pain
my family has experienced in this tragedy is difficult to communicate. The loss of my father and
stepmother are devastating. I would exchange all compensation to bring back. The interim final rule increases the already intense pain to an even higher level.
I ask you to help bring some fairness and balance to our lives. Please give me a reason to participate in
the fund. Please adjust the interim final rule
to provide economic and non-economic amounts at fair, balanced and acceptable levels. Please
establish a fair appeal process. Please preserve worker's compensation payments for surviving
victims. Finally, please include the specific calculation formulas, statistics and assumptions
within the rule or the explanatory materials.
The Interim Final Rule provides little incentive to participate in the Fund because it
seriously understates our losses and undervalues the compensation for those losses.
Consequently, the Interim Final Rule will defeat the intent of Public Law 107-42.
When Congress passed the Air Transportation Safety and System Stabilization Act on
September 22, 2001, it severely restricted our right to sue the airlines, which bear responsibility
for our loved one's deaths because of lax security procedures. In exchange for denying Family
Members this right, they provided the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001. The
Fund is supposed to compensate the victims' families for the types of losses that would have been
recoverable in a lawsuit. This includes economic losses, such as lost income, and non-economic
losses.
Non-economic losses described in the law are very broad and inclusive. They are
described as losses for: physical and emotional pain, suffering, inconvenience, physical
impairment, mental anguish, disfigurement, loss of enjoyment of life, loss of society and
companionship, loss of consortium, hedonic damages, injury to reputation, and all other no
pecuniary losses of any kind or nature. The Interim Rule/Regulation also describes the intention
of the law:
"The Fund is designed to provide a no-fault alternative to tort litigation for individuals who
were physically injured or killed as a result of the aircraft hijackings and crashes on
September 11, 2001" {Interim Rule/Regulation, Summary Paragraph A.1.}.
"The attached regulations have two objectives: (1) To provide fair, predictable and
consistent compensation to the victims of September 11 and their families throughout the
life of the program; and (2) to do so in an expedited, efficient manner without
unnecessary bureaucracy and needless demands on the victims." {Interim
Rule/Regulation, Supplementary Information.}.
The Interim Final Rule issued by the Department of Justice (DOJ) falls far short of these
stated goals and does not comply with the statute passed by Congress.:
a) Under the Interim Final Rule, my family would receive only one-tenth the amount
of non-economic losses recovered in other air crash and terrorism cases, which
commonly result in awards of between $2 million and $5 million.
b) b) The Interim Final Rule understates economic losses in two ways: It caps the
salaries of high-income victims and underestimates the lifetime earning potential
of victims at all income levels. Noted economists at the National Association of
Forensic Economists showed that the interim final rule uses outdated statistics and
inappropriate methods to arrive at low estimates of our loved one's future
earnings. An analysis done by one of these economists showed that the actual
earnings growth for firefighters is 27% higher than the DOJ estimate, the actual
earnings growth of all college educated workers is 30% higher than DOJ
indicates, and actual earnings growth for financial professionals is more than 100%
higher than the DOJ estimate.
Because the initial award amounts are so low, many families will receive little
compensation from the Fund after the collateral payment deductions have been subtracted. There
will be little reason to participate.
To compound the unfairness, my family would have little real opportunity to appeal the
determination of the Fund Master. A family's award may be increased above the "presumptive"
award only by showing "extraordinary circumstances" beyond those suffered by other victims or
victims' families. This makes the hearing or appeal to the Special Master extremely arbitrary,
unclear and unfair.
In addition the proposed compensation to the spouses, children and other innocent
victims of the attacks is out of balance when compared to the generous compensation to the
airlines. Not only did the law cap the airlines' liability at the limits of their insurance (which
saves the airlines billions of dollars), but it also provides for direct cash payments and loan
guarantees to the airlines totaling $15 billion. The underpayments to the spouses, children and
other loved ones suffering from this attack will shift the cost of these airline subsides and liability
limits to the innocent victims of the attacks.
Please correct the inequity. Please give me a reason to participate in the Fund. Please
adjust the interim final rule to provide economic and non-economic amounts at fair, balanced and
acceptable levels. Please establish a fair appeal process. Please preserve worker's compensation
payments for surviving victims. Finally, please include the specific calculation formulas,
statistics and assumptions within the rule or the explanatory materials.
Sincerely,
I lost my father and my step-mother on September11,
2001.
Individual Comment
Coconut Creek, FL