The President: Thank you very much, everybody, for
being here today.
It is with great pride, very great pride, that I say
these words to you right now:
Attorney General Jeff Sessions.
(applause)
Welcome to the White House.
(applause)
I want to congratulate you, Jeff, your wife Mary, and
your entire family.
Jeff Sessions has been a federal prosecutor at the
highest level and at the most respected level, a
state attorney general, and then a
U.S. senator for two decades.
He has devoted his life to the cause of justice and
believes deeply that all people are equals in the
eyes of the law -- and very importantly for Jeff and for
so many of us, also in the eyes of God.
He's a man of integrity, a man of principle, and a man
of total, utter resolve.
You just got a little witnessing of that.
That resolve is what we need right now.
America faces many challenges.
We face the menace of rising crime and the threat of
deadly terror.
And it's not getting better, but it will get better
very soon.
It's going to get a lot better.
These dangerous times require a determined
attorney general, which is what Jeff is.
Jeff understands that the job of attorney general is
to serve and protect the people of the United States,
and that is exactly what he will do, and do better than
anybody else can.
He's trained better for it than anybody else.
The level of respect that he has throughout this country
as a former prosecutor, not even to mention being a
long-time U.S. senator, is absolutely incredible.
He will be a great protector of the people.
I'm signing three executive actions today designed to
restore safety in America.
These executive actions continue to deliver on my
campaign promises.
First, I'm directing Department of Justice and
Homeland Security to undertake all necessary and
lawful action to break the back of the criminal cartels
that have spread across our nation and are destroying
the blood of our youth and other people, many
other people.
Secondly, I'm directing Department of Justice to
form a task force on reducing violent crime
in America.
And thirdly, I'm directing the Department of Justice to
implement a plan to stop crime and crimes of violence
against law enforcement officers.
It's a shame what's been happening to our great,
truly great law enforcement officers.
That's going to stop as of today.
Today's ceremony should be seen as a clear message to
the gang members and drug dealers terrorizing
innocent people.
Your day is over.
A new era of justice begins, and it begins right now.
I want to again thank and congratulate Mary and our
new Attorney General, Jeff Sessions.
I wish you God's wisdom and blessings in your journey.
Mr. Vice President, would you please conduct
the swearing-in.
Thank you.
Thank you very much for being here, everyone.
(applause)
Attorney General Sessions: Mr. President, thank you for
this great honor.
It's something I never expected would happen in my
life, but I do love the Department of Justice.
I care about its traditions and its heritage.
I had 15 years in that great department, and the honor to
lead it now is something that I do not have words to
express effectively.
There are a lot of things we need to do.
First, we need to value and support and encourage the
fabulous people who work there.
I've worked with them over the years.
I know how good they are, and their talents need to be
directed at this nation's benefit in a lot of
different ways.
We have a crime problem.
I wish the blip -- I wish the rise that we are seeing
in crime in America today were some sort of aberration
or a blip.
My best judgement, having been involved in criminal
law enforcement for many years is that this is a
dangerous, permanent trend that places the health and
safety of the American people at risk.
We will deploy the talents and abilities of the
Department of Justice in the most effective way possible
to confront this rise in crime and to protect the
people of our country.
We have an increased threat, since I was a United States
attorney, from terrorism.
Mr. President, you've spoken firmly on that.
You've led this nation to say we're going to respond
effectively to the threat of terrorism, and you can count
on your Department of Justice to do so in an
effective way.
And you've said something that I believe and I think
the American people believe -- that we need a lawful
system of immigration; one that serves the interests of
the people of the United States.
That's not wrong, that's not immoral, that's
not indecent.
We admit a million people a year plus, lawfully, and we
need to end this lawlessness that threatens the public
safety, pulls down wages of working Americans.
It is an honor beyond words to serve under you and
your leadership.
You're putting together a great Cabinet, which is just
a thrill for me to have the opportunity to join.
And I look forward to making sure that every ounce of
strength I have and that the people of the Department of
Justice have is going to be focused on preserving and
protecting the Constitution and the safety of
this country.
We will defend the laws of this country as passed
by Congress.
We will defend the lawful orders of the President of
the United States with vigor and determination.
Thank you all for being here, I see a lot of good
friends, and may God bless all our efforts.
Thank you.
(applause)
The President: Thank you very much.
(inaudible dialogue)
Male Speaker: (inaudible) executive order, received by
the Department of Justice.
The President: Enforcing federal law with respect to
the transnational criminal organization (inaudible).
Thank you.
Female Speaker: Thank you.
The President: Okay.
Task force led crime reduction and public safety.
(inaudible dialogue)
Preventing violence against federal, state, tribal, and
local law enforcement.
Thank you all very much.
Jeff, I know you are going to do a fantastic job.
Good luck.
(applause)