P000544
Date: Friday, Feb. 15th, 2002 Time: 4:45 p.m.
TO: Mr. Ken Feinberg, Special Master
Federal Compensation Program
MESSAGE:
Additional comments submitted following:
your departure on February 11th
Thank you.
Comments Forwarded by
State of California Victim Compensation and Goverment Claims Board
WRITTEN COMMENTS (copy of e-mail, additional notes) by (p. 1/2)
(E-MAIL SENT January 21st, 2002)
To whom it may concern:
My daughter, , died on Flight , a hero for her country. I went to the White House Reception for Family Members of Flight , and the Chief of Staff told us so behalf of the entire White House staff, who thanked us all individually as we left for the heroism of the passengers on that flight, which potentially saved their lives.
I am dismayed by the interim rule for three reasons:
(1) Obviously, I believe that the passengers on Flight were special. They took a vote to save the lives of their countrymen. They deserve some recognition of their heroism. To date, they and their families have received a quite nice reception at the White House, but little else.
(2) Beyond the special circumstances of Flight as opposed to the passengers of the other flights, ALL passengers on ALL the flights of September 11th entered into a situation in which the airlines AND the governments, by extension and agreements with the airlines vis-a-vis airport security, were responsible
specifically for their safety. The passengers on all of the flights should be
compensated at a higher rate than those who were on the ground because of the
inevitability of their fate once they were on the planes in comparison to the
chance presence of victims on the ground at the sites where the planes went down.
The airlines and the government (again by extension) were specifically responsible
for my daughter and the rest of the passengers of Flight and the other planes. (Theoretically, the government is also responsible for the presence (and by extension the safety) of the staff personnel who were victims at the Pentagon.)
(3) The interim rule proposes on the first page to avoid making calculations by
income levels, etc., yet apparently on the following pages it outlines plans to do
just exactly that. Such calculations do not address the loss to me and my
daughter's mother of the POTENTIAL FOR JOY IN LIFE, watching our daughter complete
her college course and enter into a productive life helping others as . My daughter's age and occupation as a student place her in a
category which is addressed by "individual circumstances", without explaining what
those individual circumstances are. I have described some of the individual
circumstances which I think affect the "calculation" of loss caused by the death
of my daughter as a passenger, as a hero, and as a potential source of joy in life
which has been taken form me as a result of the poor security systems in place at
Newark Airport.
I expect that the interim rule will have to be amended in order to more adequately
address the individual circumstances I have described. I am reluctant to accept
the current form of this document as a model for the final compensation system.
I understand the difficulty of developing this rule, and I hope to be able to see
an improved final version and to be able to accept it.
Sincerely,
Individual Comment
Stockton, CA
WRITTEN COMMENTS (copy of e-mail, additional notes) by (p2/2)
(REFLECTIONS AFTER evening of February 10th, 2002, Sacramento, CA)
To Special Master Kenneth Feinberg:
My daughter, , died on September 11th, along with thousands of other victims of the events of September 11th, 2001. In my previous e-mail of January 21st, I outlined three reasons why I disagree with the interim rules as it applies
to my daughter's case. The following comments are amplifications of those items
which I felt compelled to add after the meeting we had on February 10th.
First, as a member of Flight 's heroic struggle, may daughter is a member of a
class of people deserving recognition for having given their lives for their
country in a special circumstance, including the consideration that the government
was prepared, according to public statements, to sacrifice their lives by shooting
their plane down if it had reached Washington or any other significant target.
Second, my daughter and ALL passengers on ALL the planes involved were member of a
class of people who entered into a specific agreement, by purchasing a ticket, to
be given service and protection by the airlines. The airlines, through negligence
in maintaining adequate security, were responsible for the conditions which
allowed the terrorist to board the airplanes, attack the pilots, fly the planes,
and ultimately kill those on board. In terms of measures taken or not taken to
adequately provide security for the passengers on the plane, the U.S. government
has long been - and still is - in close collaboration with the airlines in
instituting or not instituting measures which are designed not so much to protect
the passengers being served by the airlines, but rather designed to protect the
airline form suits by parties related to the victims of September 11th is, in
this way, very similar to the role the government has played in the past in
reducing the requirement s for expenditures by the airline related to providing
security both on and of the airplanes they operate.
Third, the interim rule proposes to distinguish between rich people and poor
people, between people who are worth more financially and economically and people
who are financially and economically less able to provide for themselves and to
seek adequate legal counsel, should they decide to press for legal redress outside
of the compensation system proposed in the rule. Again, by rewarding more those
who are most likely to be able financially to press individual suits, the interim
rule has the effect, unintended or not, of "buying off" those who would most
likely be able and subsequently choose to reject it. The skewing of potential
awards by a ten-to-one ratio is insulting to any person who has lost a loved one,
but particularly to those who are least likely to afford or have the resources to
address that insult individually. The compensation should, at a minimum, endeavor
to address the family members of those who died on September 11th, as members of a
class who are EQUAL, rather than as members of different socio-economic classes.
(father of , passenger on United Airlines Flight )
Individual Comment
Stockton, CA
Mr. Feinberg
I heard that if they have a
scholarship for children, but
my son's sister is not available
for it!
Our priority and his priority
was helped my daughter.
If you can give me more information
I will be happy. Thank you!
Mother
Individual Comment