9/11 Fund Must Stand Alone to Mark Tragedy

The fund set up to aid the injured and bereaved of 9/11 should not be a model for compensating those affected by disasters like Hurricane Katrina or even other terror attacks, Kenneth Feinberg writes in the Washington Post. The $7 billion September 11th Victim Compensation Fund was a unique "demonstration of American resolve in the wake of tragedy," he argues.

"Bad things happen to good people every day," adds Feinberg, the administrator of the 9/11 fund. He notes that families of firefighters, police, and soldiers do not receive the $2 million death payments like those given to the families of 9/11 victims. "Congress does not come to their financial rescue with generous, tax-free checks," he writes. The fund, Feinberg concludes, should stand alone as a response to one of the very darkest days in the nation's history.
(More September 11 stories.)