Celebrating National Hispanic Heritage Month at DOJ

We gather here at a moment of great promise for our nation. Two weeks ago, Justice Sonia Sotomayor became the first Latina to take the bench as an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court. Her appointment serves as an important milestone on the remarkable path of progress our country has made since President Lyndon Johnson signed a proclamation creating Nation Hispanic Heritage Week forty-one years ago. It reminds us that what matters is not your family's name, but whether you are willing to work hard to make a name for yourself. And it reminds us that what matters is not where you come from, but where you are determined to go.