Holder Promises CBC He Won't 'Let Up' During Remaining Time in Office

Attorney General Eric Holder told the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation this morning that he has “no intention of letting up” and “no intention of slowing down” in the time between his resignation announcement and when a successor is confirmed.

Holder lauded the administration’s “important reforms and evidenced-based strategies to make America’s criminal justice system both more fair and more effective.”

“With a national initiative for building community trust and justice which I announced earlier this month, we are striving to eliminate mistrust and to build strong relationships between law enforcement officers and the communities that they serve, so that we can diffuse tensions that simmer just under the surface in too many cities and towns across our great country and that too often give rise to tragic events like those that captured our national attention just last month in Ferguson, Missouri,” he said.

The administration’s new Smart on Juvenile Justice Initiative “will promote system-wide reform and bolster our efforts to end racial and ethnic disparities,” Holder added.

“My colleagues and I are acting aggressively to ensure that every American — that every American — can exercise his or her right to participate in the democratic process, unencumbered by unnecessary restrictions that discourage, that discriminate or that disenfranchise in the name of a problem that doesn’t exist.”

Holder listed several department actions related to voting, including Monday’s conclusion of arguments in the DOJ’s challenge to the Texas voter ID law, “which our experts found likely to disenfranchise hundreds of thousands of eligible voters who lack the requisite identification.”

“We will continue to look to groups like the CBC for leadership to advance the Voting Rights Act amendments and to continue your efforts until all Americans can make their voices heard in the halls of the federal government,” he said.

“…Our cause is just. Our mission is clear. Our history propels us. So let us act together to make our nation, to make our union more perfect.”