P000303
Green Brook, NJ
1/28/02
President George W. Bush
White House
Washington, DC
Dear President Bush,
Recently I sent you an emailed message which went unanswered, so I thought to
fax this letter. In the September 11 attack on the WTC my fiancee, ,
perished on the floor of tower 1, where she worked as a registered nurse for
. We had a long loving relationship of 11 years and we had
planned to be married very shortly after the incident. There are many domestic
partners and/or fiancees who suffered the loss of their loved ones in this attack.
Our suffering is as great as that of a spouse and our suffering is compounded for
lack of official recognition.
The Victims Compensation Fund was legislated by Congress with Federal funding
to compensate those who lost their loved ones in the attacks on the Pentagon and
the World Trade Center. Mr ken Feinberg, the Special Master, was sympathetic,
but indicated that he will not recognize domestic partners or fiancees when
distributing the funds. He said in our recent meeting in New Jersey that he was
going to follow the laws of the domicile when it comes to who will get compensated.
Mr. Feinberg bases some decisions on the law of the state (domicile) and federal
guidelines for other decisions. We feel that he should recognize domestic partners
since they make up a family unit. We understand that he can use his discretion for
this decision and include us in the compensation. Most public officials are in
agreement on this point. We urge you to support us in giving the fiancees,
domestic partners and/or same sex partners the same right to collect from the
Victims Compensation Fund as the spouses.
Thank you in advance for giving this letter your highest consideration. I look
forward to hearing from you very soon.
Respectively yours,
Individual Comment
Green Brook, NJ