AG LYNCH MAKES REMARKS AT SOCIETY SHELTER SAFE HOUSE FOR HUMAN TRAFFICKING VICTIMS

FROM:  U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT
Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch Delivers Remarks at The Society Shelter Safe House for Human Trafficking Victims
RīgaLatvia ~ Tuesday, June 2, 2015
Remarks as prepared for delivery

Good morning and thank you for an especially warm welcome.  It is a pleasure to be in Latvia and a special privilege to join you today in the beautiful city of Riga.  I’d like to thank the Latvian government for their hospitality – and particularly Minister of Justice [Dzintars] Rasnačs for accompanying us on our visit this afternoon.  I’d also like to thank all of the impressive staff here at Safe House and recognize their outstanding commitment to public service.  It is an honor to see this remarkable facility, to witness the all-too-necessary work being done here and to take inspiration from the hardworking men and women who are committed, each and every day, to improving the lives of some of the most vulnerable people in the world.  The individuals here are standing up for those who cannot stand up for themselves; helping to reduce the toll that human trafficking inflicts on citizens both in Latvia and abroad; and restoring the promise of a bright future that everyone deserves.

The governments of both the United States and Latvia share a deep commitment to this work.  Promoting international anti-trafficking efforts is one of my top priorities as Attorney General and the United States Department of Justice is pursuing a comprehensive approach to the issue.  We are collaborating with the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Labor to create anti-trafficking coordination teams, which have significantly increased the number and quality of human trafficking investigations and prosecutions in the cities where we’ve deployed them.  The FBI also oversees dozens of federal, state and local task forces and working groups that have led to hundreds of arrests and thousands of rescued trafficking survivors.  And alongside aggressive criminal enforcement, we recognize that we must foster an environment in which victims are willing to speak without fear of reprisal, stigma, or punishment.

We do that in part by educating the community about the problem and by supporting the organizations and people trying to make a difference.  I have personally seen how government and civil relief organizations can work together to stem the scourge of human trafficking.  The Safe House where we gather today and Latvia’s interagency anti-trafficking working group are some of the shining examples of that approach.  It is heartening to see the significant assistance that Latvia provides to trafficking victims through state-funded rehabilitation programs and I am especially pleased that the Latvian government has nearly doubled the funding for such programs in just the last two years.  Dedicated efforts by the government and civil society organizations are helping victims, both male and female, to recover and break free from the trauma of sexual abuse, labor exploitation, coerced marriages and emotional and physical violence that could have permanently diverted their paths in life.  Through innovative programs like the Safe House, victims are reclaiming their futures and forging promising paths forward.

Latvia’s efforts to support trafficking victims are vitally important and they are significantly strengthened as a result of the tireless work of someone I would like to personally recognize – and to thank – today.  As many of you know, Gita Miruskina is a lawyer here at the Safe House with a record that speaks volumes about her unwavering dedication, her uncommon depths of compassion and sympathy and her well-known talents for constructively assisting those who need her help the most.  Over the past six years, Gita has helped more than 150 trafficking victims and represented them in nearly 30 cases.  She has worked persistently to hone and expand her victim-centered approach, to lobby for heightened protection for trafficking victims and stronger penalties for traffickers and to raise awareness among government officials and the public about emerging trafficking threats in Latvia and around the world.

That’s why the United States Department of State has chosen Gita to be formally named as one of its anti-trafficking heroes – an extraordinary and well-deserved honor that Secretary of State [John] Kerry will personally bestow in Washington, DC, later this summer.  Gita is the first Latvian to be named an anti-trafficking hero and I know I speak for President Obama and our entire administration when I tell you how proud we are of you and how inspired we are by all that you have accomplished.

The United States is proud not only to recognize Gita’s achievements, but also to support the broader Latvian efforts to combat human trafficking that she exemplifies.  We extend that support in a variety of ways, including trainings for law enforcement officials investigating trafficking and grants for public-awareness campaigns – like the educational trailer you see here in the courtyard.  And we are ready and willing to do more.  Prevention and rehabilitation efforts are essential, but exercising the rule of law through prosecutions and convictions is a necessary complement.  Achieving the full measure of justice for trafficking victims means rigorously investigating and diligently prosecuting those who have inflicted their trauma.  The United States is prepared to assist any country, including Latvia, in reviewing its legal procedures for trafficking cases, in expediting prosecutions and in securing convictions fairly, properly and efficiently.

I know that the work ahead will not be easy.  But when we stand together, work together and strive together – as people of principle, as leaders of conviction and as nations of high ideals – no challenge or setback can deter our efforts in service of this worthy cause.  I thank you all, once again, for your leadership, your collaboration and your friendship.  And I look forward to all that the United States and the Republic of Latvia will continue to achieve together in the months and years to come.

AG LYNCH MAKES REMARKS AT SWEARING-IN CEREMONY

FROM:  U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT
Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch Delivers Remarks at Swearing-In by Vice President Joe Biden
Washington, DCUnited States ~ Monday, April 27, 2015

As I look out over all of you gathered here today, my overwhelming reaction is one of profound gratitude.  I must, of course, thank the President for his faith in me in asking me to lead the department that I love to even greater heights.

Thank you, Mr. Vice President, for your presence and your comments here today, and for your steadfast support and wise counsel throughout the process.  I also must thank Senators Schumer and Leahy for their support, over the years and now, and for making the floor of the U.S. Senate a welcoming place for me and my family.  And of course, my wonderful family.  As you can see, we’re quite a force multiplier!

Many of you have come to know my father through this process.  He has been at every hearing and every vote.  But he didn’t just start now.  I remember looking up as a young Assistant U.S. Attorney starting my first trial and seeing him there – and he came to every one thereafter.  He has encouraged me in all things, even when my choices were not the ones he would have made for me.  In that, he has been the best of fathers.  Without him, I would not be here today, being sworn in as the 83rd Attorney General of the United States, just one week after his 83rd birthday.

And my mother, who could not be here today but is never far from my thoughts or my heart.  She grew up in a world where she was always told what she could not do or could not be, but always knew in her heart that she could soar.  She did what would have seemed impossible in the small North Carolina town of her youth.  She raised a daughter whom she always told, whatever the dream, whether lawyer, prosecutor or even Attorney General, “of course you can.”

I must also thank my wonderful husband, who has supported all of my choices and my dreams.  I would not trade his love and support for all the riches in the world – because to me, they are all the riches in the world.

Thanks also go to my colleagues and friends here in the department, in the Eastern District of New York, and beyond.  But even more than that, tremendous thanks go to the literally thousands of people, many of whom I have never met, who have expressed their support throughout the process.  From the sisterhood of my sorority and all the Greeks who came together, to churches and schools and people on the street who have stopped me and said just a word or two – please know that those few words sometimes made all the difference in the world to me as I traveled this road.

I thank you all, as I prepare to join once again with the outstanding people of the Department of Justice.  I have been privileged to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with you twice before from the Eastern District of New York.  You are the ones who make real the promise of justice and redress for all Americans.  I am honored beyond words to step into the larger role today as your Attorney General, as we continue the core work of our mission – the protection of the American people.

All of the people here at the department are here because at some point in our lives, we all said, “I want to be a lawyer.”  “I want to be a law enforcement officer.”  “I want to be a federal agent.”  “I want to be someone’s hero.”

At the heart of that – for me and for all of us – whether attorney or agent, staff or principal – is the desire to leave this world a better place for us having been a part of it.

The challenge in that – for you, for me, for all of us that love this department and love the law – is to use the law to that end.  To not just represent the law and enforce it, but use it to make real the promise of America, the promise of fairness and equality, “of liberty and justice for all.”  We are all just here for a time – whether in this building or even on this earth.  But the values we hold dear will live on long after we have left this stage.  Our responsibility, while we are here, is to breathe life into them; to imbue them with the strength of our convictions and the weight of our efforts.

I know this can be done.

Because I am here to tell you, if a little girl from North Carolina who used to tell her grandfather in the fields to lift her up on the back of his mule, so she could see “way up high, Granddaddy,” can become the chief law enforcement officer of the United States of America, then we can do anything.

We can imbue our criminal justice system with both strength and fairness, for the protection of both the needs of victims and the rights of all.  We can restore trust and faith both in our laws and in those of us who enforce them.  We can protect the most vulnerable among us from the scourge of modern-day slavery – so antithetical to the values forged in blood in this country.  We can protect the growing cyber world.  We can give those in our care both protection from terrorism and the security of their civil liberties.  We will do this as we have accomplished all things both great and small – working together, moving forward, and using justice as our compass.

I cannot wait to begin that journey.

Thank you all for being here, both today and in my life.

Thank you.