my name is margaret huang, i'm the executive director of the rights working group. we're a coalition of more than 300 organizations across the country, working to end human rights violations, civil liberties violations, for everyone in the united states, regardless of race, religion, national origin, ethnicity, immigration, or citizenship status. it is a pleasure to be here today and have joined all of you for this momentous hearing. we want to start by acknowledging senator cardin's leadership as the sponsor of the end racial profiling act. he's been a true champion. he has taken this bill and really moved it forward in the last year and we're grateful to him for his leadership. we also want to thank senator durbin for hosting today's hearing. as he noted a few times, the first in more than a decade to look at this important issue. and we appreciate his ongoing efforts to protect human rights and equal justice for everyone in the united states. today in 2012 racial profiling is flourishing. despite the fact that we have our first african-american president, our fir