P000229
Monday, January 28, 2002 11:29 AM
Comments regarding Victim Compensation Fund
To whom it may concern:
I am an American who did not lose any loved ones from the September 11
tragedies. I am also a taxpayer. After having read several dozen of the
comments regarding the compensation fund, I clearly feel a strong sense of
sorrow and pity for the families who did lose someone they loved. However,
I feel the clamoring of these families for more money from the government is
misguided and the argument regarding compensation should not be shrouded in
a rhetoric of patriotism and duty. We need to return to reality.
We should recognize that tragedy is part of life. By December 11th, 3
months after the tragedy, more people had died on America's roads than died
in the terrorist attacks. These deaths were almost entirely accidental, and
they were no less tragic than those lost on September 11th. Granted, the
deaths of these many thousands of people in their cars were not the result
of an attack on our country, but these people are no less dead, and they
will be no less missed than those we lost on the 11th. These people were,
like many of those who died on the 11th, on the job or on their way to work.
These victims loved their country no less than those who died on the 11th;
they are different only with regard to the size of the tragedy that claimed
their lives.
Countless other Americans have died from other causes since September 11th
as well... many of these people taken during the prime of their lives, with
families to support and and with children and parents who loved them. But
my tax dollars are not going directly to support the thousands who have died
in accidents since the 11th, and I don't think they should. This
juxtaposition leads me to my point: as members of an advanced society, as
parents of children and spouses of husbands and wives, every person who has
someone dependant on them has a responsibility to have life insurance.
People have a duty to prepare for tragedy, and it should not be the
governments burden to bear the responsibility of people who have neglected
to prepare for something as commonplace as death.
There are no excuses for not having life insurance when you have a family to
support. Term life insurance is not expensive for most people, averaging
just a few dollars a month for sizable coverage. Before people buy cable
television, or splurge on a cup of Starbucks everyday, they should purchase
life insurance for their families, or if possible, whole life insurance.
People should prepare for tragedy by having insurance for the unlikely, but
very possible, chance that they will die from an accident. This
responsibility is no less applicable to those who died in the September 11th
attacks than to those who died in accidents since that day.
I know someone who lost a loved one might read this comment and think me
insensitive and cruel, but I simply ask them to look to all those other
Americans who have died from other causes and realize that in those cases,
the government is not stepping in with a $1.6 million tax-free payment paid
for with the generosity of the taxpayers. I know that many recipients will
have their benefits decreased by insurance payments, but this should not be
seen as unfair, but rather as the decedent's fulfillment of his or her
responsibility to his or her dependents. To those who respond that fund
recipients must waive their right to sue, whereas those who lose their loved
ones in more common accidents do not, please realize that the average
wrongful-death suit in this country is less that $1.6 million. Your
benefits under this compensation fund are probably more than you would
receive if your loved one died in a car accident, even if the other driver
was a terrorist.
I personally have donated a sizable portion of my income to September 11th
charities because I felt the pain of those who died, so please do not
confuse my comments with disdain. I only ask that you do not belittle the
generosity of the American taxpayer by clamoring that $1.6 million is
insufficient compensation considering everyone's responsibility to prepare
for accidental death and the reality that most wrongful-death victims
receive far less than what the taxpayers are giving you now.
Individual Comment
Washington, D.C.