Prepared Remarks of Attorney General

Alberto R. Gonzales
at the Press Conference on Civil Rights
Cold Cases
Washington, D.C.
February 27, 2007
Good morning. I am joined today by FBI Director Bob Mueller, John Jackson of the
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Richard Cohen of the
Southern Poverty Law Center, Stephanie Jones of the National Urban League, and
Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Wan Kim.

One month ago I stood before you and announced an indictment in the abduction
and murders of two African-American men in 1964. That indictment came as part
of the Department of Justice’s efforts to focus on cold cases from the civil rights
era.

In 2006, the FBI began its Cold Case Initiative to identify and investigate murders
committed during our Nation's Civil Rights era. It is noteworthy as Black History
Month concludes that we announce the next phase of this initiative: a more formal
partnership with these groups to identify possible additional cases for investigation
and to solicit their help. They have already provided us with valuable information
from their files and we are committed to following, and will follow, those and
future leads wherever they take us. We know that not every case will be resolved. In
some cases the perpetrators may already be dead. In some cases we may find no
federal jurisdiction. But these unsolved crimes remain on our radar, and through
these expanded lines of communication we hope we can bring closure to some of
these cases.

If we are to succeed we must work as a team, and the help of our partners will be
crucial as we continue to search for the evidence to help us close these cases. Their
dedication to this cause has been tireless, and we are proud to work with them on
this. As we saw in the case last month, new information – sometimes an innocuous
small bit of information -- can be crucial to breaking these decades-old cases. A
secret harbored for many years can be the piece of evidence we need to make our
case.
I would like to thank Director Mueller for the leadership role played by the FBI, and
Assistant Attorney General Kim for the persistence and dedication of his staff in the
Civil Rights Division. This effort is a testament to the best traditions of public
service and a sign of just how seriously the Department of Justice takes the
enforcement of our civil rights laws.

Much time has passed on these crimes; the wounds they left are deep, and many of
them still have not healed. But we are committed to re-examining these cases and
doing all we can to bring justice to the criminals who may have avoided punishment
for so long.

To those individuals who committed these crimes, and who have lived with their
guilty consciences for these many years, our message should be clear: You have not
gotten away with anything. We are still on your trail.

Now we will hear from Director Mueller.

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