Excerpts from the Attorney General's Prepared Remarks at the Conference of the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, St. Louis, Missouri

(Note: The Attorney General Often Deviates from Prepared Remarks)

In the first month of his presidency President Bush asked the Department of Justice to undertake a comprehensive review of the nature and extent of racial profiling practices in federal law enforcement. That review is well underway and we anticipate to release a report on its findings early this fall.

To ensure the most complete picture of law enforcement practices possible, in March of this year I wrote to the House and Senate Judiciary committees to encourage Congress to get involved. I asked them to work with me in the ensuing six months to pass legislation for a comprehensive study of racial profiling - including the nature and extent of bias-based profiling in state and local law enforcement. I made it clear that if Congress failed to act within six months I would simply launch a study myself.

As time passes, I remain hopeful that Congress will move forward in a bipartisan approach to help law enforcement understand where racial profiling occurs and to eliminate it where it does occur. I continue to believe that the best way to preserve the people's trust in law enforcement is to work with the people's representatives in Congress. But my determination - and that of the president's - to ensure the just and equal administration of the nation's laws is paramount. There is no place in American law enforcement for judging the guilt or innocense of citizens by the color of their skin.