b'Conversations with LeadersLeading the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund: A Conversation with Rupa Bhattacharyya, Special Master, Victim Compensation Fund, U.S. Department of Justice By Michael J. KeeganIn the aftermath of the September 11th terrorist attacks on the United States, Congress created the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund (VCF), which provided compensation for economic and noneconomic loss to individuals, or the personal representative of individuals, who were killed or physically injured in the attacks. In 2011, as it became clear that exposure to the toxins generated in the aftermath of the attacks was having lingering health effects, Congress passed and the President signed a new law, which reactivated the VCF to accept claims for a specific timeframe and expanded its pool of eligible claimants. President Trump recently signed into law H.R. 1327, the VCF Permanent Authorization Act. The Act extends the VCFs claim filing deadline until 2090 and appropriates such funds as may be necessary to pay all eligible claims. Rupa Bhattacharyya, special master of the VCF, joined me on The Business of Government Hour to discuss her priorities, how the program works, efforts to expand outreach to the 9/11 community, and what the future holds for the VCF. The following is an edited excerpt of our discussion,signed the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation complemented with updated and additional research. Act of 2010, which reactivated the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund (now known as VCF II), expanded its On the History and Mission of the VCF pool of eligible claimants, and appropriated $2.775 billion The VCF was originally created in 2001, immediatelyto pay claims. VCF II opened in October 2011 and was following the attacks, as an alternative to tort litigation, andoriginally authorized to accept claims until October 2016. was designed to provide compensation for any individualIn December 2015, Congress reauthorized the VCF for five (or a personal representative of a deceased individual) whomore years, allowing individuals to submit claims until suffered physical harm or was killed as a result of the terroristDecember 18, 2020, and appropriated an additional $4.6 attacks. The original VCF (known as VCF I) operated frombillion to pay claims, bringing the total appropriated amount 2001-2004 under the direction of special master Kennethfor VCF II to $7.375 billion.Feinberg, distributed over $7 billion, and concluded operations in June 2004 after compensating more than By February 2019, however, it became clear that that funding 5,500 claimants.was insufficient to compensate the number of claims pending and expected, and in fact, the VCF made the decision to In 2011, as it became clear that exposure to the toxinsslash awards by up to 70 percent in order to preserve the generated in the aftermath of the attacks was havingavailable funding, as it was required to do under the law. lingering health effects, Congress passed and the presidentAs a result, just recently, on July 29, 2019, the president 8 www.businessofgovernment.org The Business of Government'