Remarks as Prepared for Delivery by Attorney General Eric Holder at the Hispanic...

Remarks as Prepared for Delivery by Attorney General Eric Holder at the
Hispanic National Bar Association Annual Conference

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M., Sept. 3 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The following are
remarks as prepared for delivery by Attorney General Eric Holder at the
Hispanic National Bar Association Annual Conference:

Thank you, Ramona Romero, for your kind introduction. And congratulations to
the very deserving recipients of this year's awards: Christina
Hernandez-Malaby, Mari Carmen Aponte, and, of course, Justice Sotomayor.

I would like to thank Congressman Martin Heinrich and New Mexico Attorney
General Gary King for their hospitality and for joining us today.

It is my great privilege to join you for the 34th annual conference of the
Hispanic National Bar Association, particularly on the occasion of your first
judicial conference.

We gather at an hour of great promise for our nation. We have a new President
-- we have a renewed commitment to the cause of equal justice -- and we have a
newly-sworn Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court.

But despite the promise of this moment, our nation faces great challenges, as
well.

We have endured a lengthy recession that has left millions of Americans
struggling to make one paycheck last until the next one comes. Hundreds of
thousands of Americans have lost their jobs and their homes.

The effects of this recession have been felt broadly - in all regions and in
virtually every neighborhood. And although there are new signs that the
economy is turning around, many of our most vulnerable communities -
particularly communities of color - have shouldered a disproportionate share
of the economic burden during the past two years.

As members of the legal profession, it is our responsibility to help ease that
burden when possible - so that all Americans have the chance to prosper. The
men and women who created the HNBA several decades ago understood this special
responsibility to fight for justice.

When Latino children were denied entry into schools and Mexican-Americans
faced unlawful discrimination in the West, the founders of the HNBA used the
law to change lives for the better. For in the final analysis, the law serves
as the great equalizer of our society - and it is still our job to make it so.

As we gather for your 34th annual conference, your membership rolls are larger
- and your influence is greater - than ever before.

As a result of your efforts, our nation's law firms, courtrooms, and
legislative bodies are more diverse than at any time in our nation's history.

The Obama Administration and this Justice Department share your commitment to
increasing the diversity of our profession -- on the Bench and in all aspects
of the federal government. As the nation's law firm, the Justice Department
can and should reflect the diversity of the communities that we are sworn to
protect and that we so proudly serve. A diverse Department of Justice is a
strong Department of Justice.

I would like to highlight two nominees for senior positions within the
Department who reflect this commitment. When the President nominated Tom Perez
to serve as Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division, he chose
an eminently qualified candidate for this critically important job.

Tom was an effective advocate for the rights of all Americans during his prior
service in the Department's Civil Rights Division, before becoming Director of
the Office for Civil Rights at the Department of Health and Human Services.
And he has served the state of Maryland well since Governor O'Malley appointed
Tom Secretary of Labor almost three years ago.

Tom also served as special counsel for Senator Edward Kennedy. It is a fitting
tribute to Senator Kennedy and his passion for justice and commitment to the
cause of civil rights that Tom is poised to lead the Civil Rights Division. I
look forward to welcoming Tom back to the Justice Department. The Division,
and the nation, will benefit from his leadership, his legal expertise, and his
tenacity in the enforcement of our civil rights laws.

We are also excited by the President's nomination of Ignacia Moreno, someone
you know well, to serve as Assistant Attorney General for the Environment and
Natural Resources Division. Ignacia is an environmental law expert, with
nearly two decades experience in both the public and private sectors.

Like Tom, Ignacia's return to the Department of Justice will be a homecoming.
She was appointed by President Clinton to serve as a Special Assistant at the
Justice Department in 1994 -- then as the Principal Counsel in the Environment
and Natural Resources Division. And, as you well know, she serves as pro bono
General Counsel to the HNBA. It would be disingenuous if I told you that I was
sorry to take Ignacia from you. Your loss is our gain, and all of us at the
Department of Justice are excited to have her.

Both of these extraordinary individuals - Tom Perez and Ignacia Moreno - were
endorsed by the HNBA. They both possess the experience, wisdom and
professionalism to be outstanding representatives of this Justice Department.
They will serve all Americans with great skill.

But their vital work cannot begin until the United States Senate confirms
their nominations. I call on the Senate to promptly do so. The Justice
Department and the nation will benefit from Tom's and Ignacia's leadership.
The resolution of many of the problems our country faces will be hastened by
their entry on duty at Justice.

Tom and Ignacia will be two of our most high-profile Justice Department
officials -- but our commitment to excellence and diversity extends well
beyond the Administration's senior posts. We are actively seeking young,
talented attorneys in the early stages of their careers to join the Department
of Justice. One of them, Raul Torrez, has joined me here today. Raul is a
native of Albuquerque, a member of the HNBA, and the Department of Justice
White House Fellow.

We in the Obama Administration want the next generation of leaders - people
like Raul and Christina Hernandez-Malaby, and many others here today - working
for the American people. I know that this is a priority for Ramona Romero and
the HNBA, and I couldn't agree more. The Obama Administration and the Justice
Department are committed to a government that is broadly reflective of our
nation. This commitment extends to our federal judiciary as well.

One of the HNBA's earliest major efforts - back in 1971 - was to lobby the
White House to appoint a Latino Justice to the United States Supreme Court. It
took much longer than many of us had hoped, but this year, that call was
finally answered.

As a father of three children, two of them girls, it gives me enormous pride
to see this milestone reached. Today in America, children can look to Justice
Sotomayor as proof-positive that what matters in this country is not your
family's name -- but whether you are willing to work hard to make a name for
yourself.

Children born today and in the future will no longer find it remarkable that a
President of the United States looks like Barack Obama or that a Justice of
the Supreme Court looks like Sonia Sotomayor. That should give us tremendous
hope for our country's future.

But as you well know, the appointment of one Latina to the Supreme Court does
not represent the endpoint of our efforts to build a more equal nation.
Indeed, although it is an historic addition to the Supreme Court -- it also
means that there will be one fewer Latina on our nation's Circuit Courts.

This is a happy trade, to be sure -- but we will continue to seek outstanding
candidates of all backgrounds for all levels of the federal bench -- and as
always, we appreciate the valuable input we receive from the HNBA.

We seek diversity not just for its own sake, but because our nation is
stronger when people from all backgrounds participate in the administration of
justice.

When I was confirmed as Attorney General, I made it clear that during my
tenure, we would restore luster to the Justice Department's "crown jewel" --
our Civil Rights Division. I promised that the Civil Rights Division would
fight discrimination as fiercely as the Criminal Division fights crime -- and
that we would once again honor the spirit of the movement that inspired its
creation.

Seven months later, I can say with confidence that although much work lies
ahead, we are well on our way. Let me say this very clearly: The Civil Rights
Division is once again open for business.

One example of our renewed focus comes in a case with which many of you are
familiar. In July of last year, a group of teenagers in Shenandoah,
Pennsylvania, attacked a man named Luis Ramirez in a city park while yelling
racial slurs.

Ramirez died two days later from injuries he sustained in the beating. In May
of this year, following a week-long trial, a state jury acquitted two of the
defendants of all charges of violence except for simple assault, which is a
second degree misdemeanor.

The Department of Justice has launched an independent review of the facts and
circumstances surrounding the incident.

We are also intensely focused on our responsibility to ensure that the voting
rights of all Americans are upheld. In April, we announced a settlement with
Fort Bend County, Texas, following allegations that the county failed to
provide an effective bilingual education program for Spanish-speaking voters
-- as required by the Voting Rights Act.

As a result of this settlement, bilingual election officials will be trained
and available to assist Spanish-speaking voters at polling places -- so that
the language a citizen speaks is no barrier to his or her
constitutionally-guaranteed right to vote.

Another example is our effort to combat housing discrimination - an
underreported threat that continues to plague many communities of color. We
recently settled a lawsuit against Cottage Manor Apartments in Lakewood, New
Jersey -- which alleged that the owners and managers of the apartment complex
violated the Fair Housing Act by discriminating against Latino and
African-American tenants. We alleged that they did so by assigning or
transferring people of color to less-desirable units and charging them higher
rents than other tenants for comparable units.

Within the Department, we have also launched an internal working group to
address the complex yet critical issue of immigration reform. President Obama
has made it clear that comprehensive reform will be a major priority for his
Administration.

We will support the President's efforts to set a new national policy that
secures our borders and enforces our laws, and that at the same time reaffirms
our heritage as a nation of immigrants who are entitled to be treated with
dignity and respect. Our working group will also look for ways to enhance
coordination with the Department of Homeland Security and to improve our own
internal procedures so that we enforce our immigration laws fairly and justly
and humanely.

In these first seven months of my tenure at the Justice Department, we have
begun to turn the page and write a new chapter that renews our historic
mission to be the people's law firm.

We are aggressively investigating allegations of discrimination, fraud and
abuse, and prosecuting when the evidence warrants it. Internally, we are
bringing talented new blood into our ranks and giving them the tools to do
their jobs effectively.

But there is one critical tool that continues to elude us, and in closing, I
ask for your continued help on this important issue. Earlier this summer, I
testified before Congress in support of the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes
Prevention Act of 2009.

This was not my first effort to promote hate crimes legislation. In fact, I
first urged Congress to pass hate crimes legislation nearly twelve years ago,
when I was Deputy Attorney General in the Clinton Administration.

Twelve years is far too long to wait for the tools we need to protect all
Americans from the most heinous forms of bias-motivated violence - just the
kind of bigotry that the HNBA was created to fight. Every day that goes by
without this legislation, our pursuit of justice is hindered. I need your
continued help and support to pass this important legislation.

I know that in this and other battles still to come, we at the Department of
Justice can count on you. After all, the HNBA was founded to fight the very
kinds of injustice that we are still seeking to eradicate.

At this -- your 34th annual conference -- your influence in American law
spreads more broadly than it ever has before. You must use that influence to
make an America that lives up to the language in our founding documents and
create a country that truly values each of its inhabitants. We are closer to
these ideals than we ever have been before. But it will only be through
continued vigilance and determined work that we will reach the more perfect
union the founders of this great organization envisioned. If we work together,
if we remain united, if we support each other, there is no reason why we
cannot achieve great things in the coming years. I pledge to lead a Department
of Justice of which you can be proud: A Department of Justice that never
forgets its vital responsibility to insure opportunity and equality for all in
our nation. I look forward to working with you all in this great endeavor.

Thank you.

SOURCE U.S. Department of Justice

U.S. Department of Justice Office of Public Affairs, +1-202-514-2007,
+1-202-514-1888 (TDD)