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White House Hails 9/11 Victims
Fund
Posted
on Tue, Jun. 15, 2004
Associated Press
WASHINGTON
- The White House on Tuesday praised the work of
a government fund that is awarding billions of dollars
in compensation to victims and their families in
the Sept. 11 attacks.
The
White House announced that the fund, on the final
day of its work, is paying $250,000 to $7.1 million
to each of the families of those killed in the attacks
and $500 to several million dollars to each of those
injured. The average death payment is just above
$2 million. There were 2,964 claims for those killed
in the attacks and 4,429 claims for those who suffered
injuries.
"We
are pleased by the fund's successful efforts to
compensate victims and their families," said
White House spokesman Scott McClellan.
Congress
imposed a deadline of midnight Tuesday to make final
determinations on compensation. Kenneth Feinberg,
the special master overseeing the fund, was to brief
Bush on the details.
Once
the deadline passes, officials expect it will take
about eight to 10 weeks to get all of the checks
mailed out.
About
98 percent of the families of those killed signed
on with the fund, foregoing the chance to sue airlines
and security companies for alleged negligence.
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