Join Us in our Fight

We are an organization that has fought for the rights of 9/11 widows and children for nearly 23 years. We’ve worked on everything from the creation of the 9/11 Commission in 2002, to the release of the 28 pages and JASTA in 2016, the USVSSTF-Clarification Act in 2019, Sudan Claims in 2020, and the USVSSTF 9/11 LSCUP in 2022.

We believe that all United States victims of State-Sponsored Terrorism(SST) must be treated equitably and fairly under the law. As the words over the entrance to the U.S. Supreme Court say: EQUAL JUSTICE UNDER LAW.

We also believe that when it comes to compensation for the tragic loss of human life during a State-Sponsored terrorist attack, all U.S. victims must be compensated equitably and fairly in the United States Victims of State Sponsored Terrorism Fund (USVSSTF), which is a U.S. government compensation fund that’s run by the U.S. Department of Justice and managed by a Special Master. 

BACKGROUND

Unfortunately, we’ve come to learn that the Special Master of the USVSSTF is not following the Fund’s statute (as it is plainly and clearly written) that requires the use of a single pro rata calculation methodology for all Additional Payments to all eligible claimants through 2039. 

In fact, the Special Master is erroneously applying a bifurcated calculation methodology (called the “50-50 split”) that is not based in the statutory text.

Furthermore, the Special Master’s baseless use of the “50-50 split” calculation methodology results in an “absurd” disposition (Lamie v U.S. Tr. 540 U.S. 526, 534 (2004) When a statute’s language is plain, the Court’s sole function is to enforce it according to its terms, unless the disposition required by the text is “absurd.”)

According to Fund data, as a direct result of the “50-50 split” all non-9/11 victims of SST are compensated at a rate of compensation per judgment value that is 7X higher than similarly-situated and equally, if not more, entitled 9/11 victims. 

Please recognize that the vast majority of 9/11 claimants in the Fund are being compensated at a rate per judgment value 7X less after suffering the loss of human life, whereas the majority of non-9/11 claimants are being compensated at a rate 7X higher than 9/11 victims for lesser physical injuries and their “emotional” or solatium damages. 

This is precisely the kind of “absurd” disposition that Lamie wards against—it makes no sense for those who suffered the loss of 3,000 human lives to be compensated at a rate per judgment value 7X less than those who suffered lesser physical injuries and/or emotional harm during (or related to) an overseas terrorist attack.

As a direct result of the Special Master’s erroneous use of the “50-50 split” calculation methodology, every 9/11 victims’ family members’ rights are trampled thus leaving more than 12,500 deserving 9/11 spouses, children, parents, and siblings financially harmed and robbed of the small modicum of justice we are entitled to receive through Section 404(d)(4)(A) "Additional Payments" that are required to be distributed to all eligible claimants on a single calculation pro rata basis in the USVSSTF.

COMMITMENT OF SUPPORT

After speaking with congressional offices who universally agree that all U.S. victims of State-Sponsored Terrorism must be treated equitably and fairly under the law and with regard to compensation in the USVSSTF, we’ve decided to request a commitment of support from each individual office.

Thus, given the impending 23rd anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, and the Fund’s 5th Round Payment that is a Section 404(d)(4)(A) "Additional Payment” that’s required to be paid using the single pro rata calculation methodology (and worth $1billion), we are requesting a commitment of support from all Senators and Congressman that: 

1. All U.S. victims of SST must be treated equitably and fairly under the law, and;
2. All U.S. victims of SST who are eligible claimants in the USVSSTF must be treated equitably and fairly with regard to their compensation in the USVSSTF, and; 
3. Section 404(d)(4)(A) plainly and clearly requires the Special Master to use a single pro rata calculation methodology with regard to all Additional Payments to all eligible claimants through 2039 so that all U.S. victims of SST are compensated AT THE SAME RATE PER JUDGMENT VALUE in the USVSSTF, and, are, therefore, all treated equitably and fairly with regard to compensation in the USVSSTF.

EQUAL JUSTICE UNDER THE LAW FOR ALL IN THE USVSSTF.

SEND THIS EMAIL:

Dear Senator/Congressman, 

I am a 9/11 claimant in the USVSSTF. As a 9/11 victim’s immediate family member who must rely on the USVSSTF as my sole source of accountability and justice for the cold-blooded murder of my loved one and 3,000 others, I am entitled to be paid equitably and fairly in the USVSSTF because all Americans are entitled to be treated equitably and fairly under the laws of the United States.

Moreover, I believe that the Fund’s statutory section 404(d)(4)(A) requires that the Special Master use a single pro rata calculation methodology that ensures that all USVSSTF claimants receive THE SAME RATE PER JUDGMENT VALUE as compensation in the USVSSTF. 

When all claimants receive THE SAME RATE PER JUDGMENT VALUE as compensation in the USVSSTF, then all U.S. victims of State Sponsored Terrorism are treated equitably and fairly in the USVSSTF—"all boats must rise with the tide."

Please reach out to Special Master Mary Patrice Brown and tell her to follow Section 404(d)(4)(A) “Additional Payments” that requires the Special Master to use the single pro rata calculation methodology for all future Fund payment distributions until 2039. 

Using Section 404(d)(4)(A)’s single pro rata calculation methodology for all Additional Payments is the only way to ensure that all U.S. victims of State-Sponsored Terrorism receive THE SAME RATE PER JUDGMENT VALUE as compensation in the USVSSTF, and that all U.S. victims of State Sponsored Terrorism are treated equitably and fairly with regard to compensation in the USVSSTF. EQUAL UNDER THE LAW FOR ALL IN THE USVSSTF.

Sincerely,

[Your name, relationship to 9/11 decedent]

TO THE FOLLOWING EMAIL ADDRESSES:

Sen. Chuck Schumer:

mike_lynch@schumer.senate.gov

Meghan_Taira@schumer.senate.gov

Justine_Revelle@schumer.senate.gov

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand:

Jess_Fassler@gillibrand.senate.gov

Gilbert_Ruiz@gillibrand.senate.gov

ben_lebowitz@gillibrand.senate.gov

Sen. Richard Blumenthal:

Joel_Kelsey@blumenthal.senate.gov

Brian_Steele@blumenthal.senate.gov

david_stoopler@judiciary-dem.senate.gov 

Rep. Jerry Nadler:

david.greengrass@mail.house.gov

aaron.hiller@mail.house.gov 

JuanCarlos.Mora@mail.house.gov

Rep.Mike Lawler:

andrea.grace@mail.house.gov 

james.mcnamee@mail.house.gov