We have benefited from the consideration of these difficult issues by the PCLOB and the PRG and it is a pleasure to appear with them today. In his speech on January 17th, the President laid out a series of measures to reform our surveillance activities that draw upon many of the core recommendations issued by the PCLOB and Presidential Review Group.

At the Department of Justice, we are devoting significant resources and energy to fighting computer hacking and other types of cybercrime. The recent revelations about the massive thefts of financial information from large retail stores have served as a stark reminder to all of us about how vulnerable we are to cyber criminals who are determined to steal our personal information. The Justice Department is more committed than ever to ensuring that the full range of government enforcement tools is brought to bear in the fight against cybercrime.

W.R. Grace & Co, based in Columbia, Md., paid over $63 million to the U.S. government under its bankruptcy plan of reorganization to resolve claims for environmental cleanups at approximately 39 sites in 21 states.

The Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division issued a statement after announcing the closing of its investigation into Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.’s use of its portfolio of standards-essential patents that it had committed to license to industry participants on fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory terms (SEPs) to exclude certain Apple, Inc. products from the U.S. market.

The Justice Department announced the filing of a lawsuit today against the State of Rhode Island and the Rhode Island Department of Corrections alleging that the defendants are engaged in a pattern or practice of employment discrimination against African-Americans and Hispanics in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Since the founding of the Human Rights Campaign more than three decades ago, this organization has brought people together to make a profound, positive difference in the lives of millions of Americans.

Today, the Justice Department announced the results of its ongoing efforts to combat fraudulent tax-return preparers and promoters of tax-fraud schemes.

Today, the White House released the National Strategy for Combatting Wildlife Trafficking. The Department of Justice, along with the Departments of State and the Interior, are co-chairs of the U.S. Task Force established by President Obama to lead the implementation of this strategy. On Thursday, Associate Attorney General Tony West will lead the U.S. Delegation’s participation at the London Conference on the Illegal Wildlife Trade.

Four current and former employees of International Adoption Guides Inc. (IAG), an adoption services provider, have been indicted by a grand jury in South Carolina for allegedly conspiring to defraud the United States in connection with IAG’s adoption services in Ethiopia.

Six decades ago, with the Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Brown v. Board of Education, our nation took a historic step toward ending the injustice of “separate but equal” – and building the momentum of a modern Civil Rights Movement.

Let us reaffirm our commitment to the safety and health of tribal communities. And let us rededicate ourselves to giving native children a future unclouded by violence and brightened by hope. This is the responsibility of every one of us.

Abdelhamid M. Horany, 58, of Denver, pleaded guilty today before U.S. District Judge R. Brooke Jackson in federal court in Denver to one count of tax evasion related to his 2007 individual income taxes, announced the Justice Department and the Internal Revenue Service.

Attorney General Eric Holder and Director of National Intelligence James Clapper released the following joint statement Wednesday.

A member of the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas gang (ABT) has pleaded guilty to racketeering charges related to his membership in the ABT’s criminal enterprise.

The Barrio Azteca Lieutenant who ordered the murders of a U.S. Consulate employee, her husband and the husband of another U.S. Consulate employee was found guilty by a jury on all counts charged.

Mary Young and her husband, Christian Young were sentenced today, and her son, Octavious Reeves, was sentenced late yesterday, for their involvement in a stolen identity refund fraud scheme.

Each and every day, the award recipients before me – and their colleagues throughout the Division – have helped to advance this Department’s efforts to ensure justice; to promote public safety; to empower victims; to strengthen international alliances; and to uphold the rule of law. You’ve worked closely with foreign allies, as well as state and local law enforcement partners, to identify and investigate emerging national security challenges that know no geographic boundaries – and implicate American interests within the United States and across the globe.

An alleged general of the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas gang (ABT) and a fellow gang member pleaded guilty today to racketeering charges related to their membership in the ABT’s criminal enterprise, announced Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson of the Southern District of Texas.

Through their hard work, each of our awardees has helped to leverage vital resources and improve the way we do business. You have shown the power of innovation, energy, and creativity by uniting a broad array of partners to streamline the Department’s operations and bolster information-sharing. Some of you have worked to identify and implement opportunities for savings through mail processing, facilities, and technology enhancements – as well as a wide range of consolidation projects.

Today Mexican authorities announced the capture of Joaquin "Chapo" Guzman Loera, the alleged leader of the Sinaloa Cartel. The Sinaloa Cartel is designated a Significant Foreign Narcotics Trafficker by the U.S. Government.

The government has asked a federal court in California to issue an injunction shutting down the importation and sales activities of four California companies and six individuals in connection with their imports of illegal children’s products containing, among other things, lead, phthalates and small parts inappropriate for children under age three.

There can be no doubt that we share a common goal to hold accountable those whose actions contributed to the last financial crisis, which was felt not just at the national or global level, but in the countless communities you represent, as well.

A Northern California real estate investor has agreed to plead guilty for his role in conspiracies to rig bids and commit mail fraud at public real estate foreclosure auctions in Northern California.

The Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Michigan and the FBI announced today that they will not be pursuing federal criminal civil rights charges against the Saginaw Police Department officers who shot and killed Milton Hall on July 1, 2012.

Since 2009, the Department has publicly charged 73 account holders and 35 professionals with violations arising from their offshore banking activities, and 72 individuals have pled guilty or were convicted at trial. Just as importantly our enforcement efforts have driven over 43,000 taxpayers with secret offshore accounts to identify themselves to the IRS, disclose their offshore accounts, and to pay a total of over $6 billion in back taxes, penalties and interest. And that number is growing.

Three Philippine nationals were sentenced in the Central District of California for illegally importing machine guns, sniper rifles, grenade launchers, a mortar launcher and military-grade ballistic vests into the United States.

Two members of the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas gang (ABT) pleaded guilty today to racketeering charges related to their membership in the ABT’s criminal enterprise.

The owner of two Flint, Mich., adult day care centers was sentenced today for his leadership role in a $3.2 million Medicare fraud scheme.

Gordon D. McDonald, a former project manager for a prime contractor at two U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Superfund sites in New Jersey, was sentenced today to serve 14 years in prison for participating in multiple bid-rigging, fraud and kickback schemes.

"The unfinished struggle for equal opportunity and justice is one in which we all have a part. This year, as we mark the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Civil Rights Division remains committed to combating discrimination in all its forms."

Attorney General Eric Holder released the following statement on the Senate’s procedural vote on Debo Adegbile to serve as the Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division.

The Department of Justice has frozen more than $458 million in corruption proceeds hidden in bank accounts around the world by former Nigerian dictator Sani Abacha and conspirators.

The Department of Justice announced today that a federal criminal complaint has been filed in the Eastern District of Virginia charging defendants Abdelkader and Hnia Amal with immigration offenses in connection with allegations that they held a woman in their home as a domestic servant for three years.

The Department of Justice announced the filing of a lawsuit today against the School District of Philadelphia alleging that the district discriminated against Siddiq Abu-Bakr, as well as other similarly-situated individuals, on the basis of religion in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

It’s a special privilege to share the stage with Deputy Marshal [Kirk] Bowden, who, as we’ve just heard, stood on the literal front lines of this fight during a critical moment in the Civil Rights Movement – at a time when young students, law enforcement officials, National Guardsmen, and brave citizens risked their lives to integrate historic institutions across the Deep South.

Hector Orjuela Jr., 47, was sentenced today to serve 30 years in prison, followed by a lifetime of supervised release, for molesting children under the age of 12 and producing child pornography.

The leader of an identity theft ring that stole more than 600 identities from U.S. government employees and others was sentenced today to serve 12 years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release.

On Feb. 26, 2014, a federal grand jury sitting in the District of Columbia returned a 17 count indictment charging Sherri Davis for conspiring to defraud the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), aiding and assisting in the preparation of false individual income tax returns and filing false individual income tax returns, the Justice Department and IRS announced following the unsealing of Davis’ indictment today.

Frederic Cilins, 51, a French citizen, pleaded guilty today in the Southern District of New York to obstructing a federal criminal investigation into whether a mining company paid bribes to win lucrative mining rights in the Republic of Guinea.

Halifax Hospital Medical Center and Halifax Staffing Inc. (Halifax), a hospital system based in the Daytona Beach, Fla., area, have agreed to pay $85 million to resolve allegations that they violated the False Claims Act by submitting claims to the Medicare program that violated the Physician Self-Referral Law, commonly known as the Stark Law.

Two Northern California real estate investors pleaded guilty for their roles in conspiracies to rig bids and commit mail fraud at public real estate foreclosure auctions in Northern California.

"As you know, this Sunshine Week we will celebrate the fifth anniversary of the Attorney General’s FOIA Guidelines. Issued during Sunshine Week on March 19, 2009, those Guidelines address the presumption of openness that the President called for in his FOIA Memorandum, the necessity for agencies to create and maintain an effective system for responding to requests, and the need to improve timeliness and to work to reduce backlogs," said Pustay.

Andreas Bachmann, 56, of Switzerland, pleaded guilty today to conspiring to defraud the Internal Revenue Service in connection with his work as a banking and investment adviser for U.S. customers.

A U.S. Army soldier was sentenced to serve 12 months and one day in prison for his role in stealing fuel at Forward Operating Base (FOB) Fenty near Jalalabad, Afghanistan.

Every March, we pause to honor the extraordinary contributions and innumerable sacrifices that American women have made throughout our history – and that they continue to make today – in order to move our nation, and this Department, forward. Leaders like Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Ada Kepley – the first woman to graduate from law school in the United States – have left indelible marks on the fabric of our country.

Several patient recruiters, including a medical clinic owner, were sentenced today for their participation in a health care fraud scheme involving Flores Home Health Care Inc., a defunct home health care company.

It is a pleasure to be with you today. And it’s an honor to join so many distinguished jurists, dedicated public servants, devoted members of the private bar, hardworking students, and good friends in discussing the challenges we face – and the opportunities now before us – to expand access to justice; to strengthen the rule of law; and to improve America’s legal system across the board – so we can move our nation closer to its founding ideals of equality, opportunity, and justice for all.

The Justice Department announced today that it has reached an agreement in principle with the city of New York and intervening plaintiffs to settle an employment discrimination lawsuit involving the New York City Fire Department.

Tonawanda Coke Corporation was sentenced in federal court in Buffalo, N.Y., Wednesday to pay a $12.5 million penalty and $12.2 million in community service payments for criminal violations of the Clean Air Act (CAA) and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA).

Today’s announcement underscores the fact that the Departments of Justice and Transportation remain firmly committed to protecting consumers, ensuring the safety of the American people, and combating fraud in all its forms.