Deadline Passes for Sept. 11 Victims Compensation Fund Input
By Michelle Logsdon - January 22, 2002The U.S. Department of Justice has received hundreds of comments about the Sept. 11 Victims Compensation Fund during its input gathering session that ended Jan. 22.
The Department and the Fund’s special master, Georgetown Law Professor Kenneth Feinberg, will consider all of the suggestions before finalizing the guidelines for the plan in February.
Many families of the victims have spoken out about the proposed formula Feinberg will employ to distribute the money. Most object to the subtraction of pension and life insurance from the amount awarded.
Hundreds of people gathered for a rally on Manhattan’s East Side Jan. 17 where they denounced the proposed plan. Gov. George Pataki told the crowd, “These regulations do not do justice. They are not appropriate.”
The preliminary plan also requires family members who accept federal compensation to waive their right to sue the airlines or other entities that may be liable in the Sept. 11 attacks. Some politicians have said the families would do better financially if they sued but the law Congress passed shortly after the attacks limits the airlines’ liability to $1.5 billion per plane.
“A lot of widows are facing a catch-22 as they try to decide what to do,” John Lynch, spokesman for the 9/11 Widows and Victims’ Assn. told the Los Angeles Times. “Their husbands’ pensions are good enough so they get nothing from the fund. [And] there’s no point in filing a lawsuit because Congress protected the airlines.”
Feinberg has said he will consider the past three years of a victim’s salary when determining award amounts. The formula will figure in a 6.6 percent annual pay increase for a victim over 30-years-old for the remainder of his or her life. A 5.1 percent annual increase will be added for victims over 40.
The battle over “just compensation” has many Americans up in arms. National papers are filled with letters to the editor lambasting the relatives for being greedy. One resident of San Luis Obispo wrote, “The debate over compensation for victims’ families is starting to sound like an argument over a lottery ticket.”
Anyone dissatisfied with the award has the right to a hearing. The Justice Department has opened seven offices on the East Coast in preparation for the expected onslaught of filings. | 
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