W000781
HUMAN
RIGHTS
CAMPAIGN
November 13, 2001
The Honorable John Ashcroft
Attorney General
Department of Justice
Tenth Street and Constitution Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20530
Dear Attorney General Ashcroft:
We write to express our support for your department's early efforts to solicit public comments as
you
begin the process of promulgating regulations to implement the September 11th Victim's
Compensation Fund. We acknowledge the difficulties you are facing in your efforts to move
quickly
and comprehensively to ensure that the victims of this tragedy receive much-needed assistance as
soon as possible.
We will be submitting formal comments in due course, but write today to express our hope that
these regulations--when drafted--ensure that the September 11th Victim's Compensation Fund
will
provide equitable compensation to all victims of this tragedy without regard to their sexual
orientation.
As we mourn every life lost in the tragic events of September 11th, we note we have lost
members of
our own community as well. A number of gay people, including members of the Human Rights
Campagin, perished in these terrible tragedies. They include an on the
flight that crashed into the Pentagon, who left behind his life partner of 14 years; a nurse from
New
Hampshire on her way to a west coast business meeting who left behind her logtime partner; and
a
civilian Department of Defense employee stationed at the Pentagon who is survived by her life
partner of 18 years.
As you know, for an individual who was killed in the September 11th attacks, the statute, PL
107-42,
provides for compensation claims to be made by "the personal respresentative" of the decedent.
We
write to share two broad-based concerns that we have with the statute as drafted. First, the statute
does not make clear that domestic partners in same-sex relationships or non-biological children
are
eligible to receive compensation from the Fund. We strongly support the inclusion of language in
the regulations that would allow a personal representative to seek compensation for any relative
who
relied on the decedent for support. And second, we are concerned that the statute does not clearly
state that it is the duty of the personal representative to distribute the compensation awarded to
family members and relatives in proportion to their losses.
To achieve the state purpose of this Fund - "to provide compensation to any individual (or
relatives of a deceased individual)" - it is critical that these regulations reflect the reality of
relationships and families in today's society. We know that you share our concerns and look
forward
to working together in an effort to achieve this goal. Doing so would complement what other
signitifant private relief efforts, including the American Red Cross and the Sallie Mae 911
Education
Fund, have already done by recognizing domestic partners of victims when disbursing survivor
benefits.
We want to thank you again for seeking public comment and input at this early stage of the
regulation-writing process. We look forward to submitting formal comments by late November
and
to working with you to ensure that the Victim's Compensation Fund provides equitable
compensation to all victims of this tragedy without regard to their sexual orientation.
Sincerely,
Individual Comment