Statement of Senator Patrick
Leahy
The “September 11th Victim Compensation Fund Extension
Act”
September 9, 2003
I am pleased to introduce the
“September 11th Victim Compensation Fund Extension Act
of 2003” to extend the pending deadline of the September 11 Victim
Compensation Fund to December 31, 2004. I thank
Senators Durbin, Schumer, Dodd, Lieberman, Clinton, Corzine, and
Lautenberg for joining me as original cosponsors of this
legislation.
Along with Senator Daschle,
Representative Gephardt and others, I worked hard to create the
Victims Fund over the objections of some in the Administration and
Congress. We insisted that it be included in the legislation to
bail out the airlines passed in the wake of the most devastating
terrorist attacks on American soil. The current deadline for
applying for compensation from the Victims Fund is rapidly
approaching, but it has become apparent that many families need
more time. Thus far, just under a third of eligible families have
applied to the Fund for compensation – only about 1,282 death
claims and 1,050 injury claims have been filed so far by victim
families, according to the Department of Justice.
Ken Feinberg, the Special Master for
the Fund, is doing his best to get victims families to understand
their rights. Recently, he has even taken out extensive
advertisements in a number of newspapers and created a series of
informational meetings and claim assistance sites to assist
victims’ families to file for compensation with the Victims Fund
instead of filing a lawsuit against the airlines industry. I
commend him for his efforts.
It appears that only a few relatives
of victims of September 11 are opting out of eligibility for the
fund by filing a lawsuit against the airlines industry. While some
families are likely weighing that decision, the number of
disqualifying lawsuits is low – 69 as of last month – and only
three of those were in the last three months, according to The New
York Times.
Instead, victims support groups have
told me that they receive calls daily from individuals who
understand that the deadline is approaching but cannot face the
emotional pain of preparing a claim. Mr. Feinberg has also
commented that many victims are still too paralyzed by their grief
to confront the logistical burden and emotional pain of filing a
death claim.
In light of this painful reality, I
believe it is appropriate to extend the deadline for filing
applications to the Victims Fund to December 31,
2004 – an extension of just over a year. This extension would
give grieving families additional time to mourn those who were
lost and to overcome the emotional challenges of filing paperwork
with the Victims Fund. In recent days, I have been in contact
with several September 11 victims support groups, all of which
agreed that such an extension would provide some relief during
these dark days for victims’ families as they endure the grieving
process.
As the anniversary of the tragedy of
September 11 approaches, victims’ families have many burdens.
They do not need this arbitrary deadline confronting them between
September 11 and the year-end holidays. This is something we can
do now for victims of September 11. I urge my colleagues to
support the “September 11th Victim Compensation Fund
Extension Act of 2003.”
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