Loretta Lynch was sworn in Monday as the 83rd U.S. attorney general, becoming the first African-American woman to serve as the nation's top law enforcement official. She said her confirmation as attorney general showed that 'we can do anything' and pledged to deal with cyberattacks and other threats facing the country. 'We can restore trust and faith both in our laws and those who enforce them,' Lynch said, an apparent reference to ongoing efforts to repair relations between police departments and minority communities. Scroll down for video . Vice President Joe Biden, accompanied by Loretta Lynch's father Lorenzo Lynch, second from left, and her husband Stephen Hargrove, second from right, administered the oath of office on Monday . 'We can restore trust and faith both in our laws and those who enforce them,' Lynch said, apparently referring to race-riot clashes between protesters and police . 'It seems like such an understatement to say my heart is full, but it is,' Lynch said. 'I have to thank the president for his faith in me and asking me to lead the department that I love to even greater heights.' Vice President Joe Biden administered the oath of office to Lynch at a Justice Department ceremony. Lynch replaces Eric Holder, who left the job Friday after six years as attorney general. The 55-year-old Lynch was confirmed by the Senate on Thursday following a months-long delay in which her nomination became caught up in a dispute over human trafficking legislation. 'Ladies and gentlemen, it's about time,' Biden said to applause. 'It's about time this woman is being sworn in,' he declared. 'We got tired of this wait.' 'But you showed such grace and such humility during this whole process,' he added, turning to America's newly minted top cop. Lynch paid an emotional tribute to her family during a brief speech after she took her oath. 'If a little girl from North Carolina who used to tell her grandfather in the fields to lift her up on the back of his mule so she could "see way up high, Granddaddy" can grow up to become the chief law enforcement officer of the United States of America, we can do anything.' She also outlined her hopes for the twilight months of the Obama presidency, saying she was driven by 'the desire to leave this world a better place for us having been a part of it.' 'The challenge in that – for you, for me, for all us that love this department and love the law – is to use the law to that end. To not just represent the law and to enforce the law, but to use it to make real the promise of America, the promise of fairness, the promise of equality, of liberty and justice for all.' Democrat Senator Chuck Schumer, the senior senator from Lynch's home state of New York, gushed about her personal story on Monday. 'She is the ultimate professional: thoughtful, hardworking, keeps her nose to the grindstone, and is able to bring both sides together,' he said. 'On very difficult cases where police and community leaders were at loggerheads, she was able to bring both sides together and earn the trust and praise of both.' Biden slapped his former US Senate colleagues, saying it was 'about time' they confirmed Lynch . Eric Holder, who left his attorney general post on Friday, served in the job for more than six years . Schumer called her 'the American dream come true' and recalled that her mother picked cotton, 'so my daughter wouldn't have to.' Lynch, a former classmate of the future Michelle Obama, was previously the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York, which encompasses much of New York City. She is expected to serve as the top federal law enforcement official for the remainder of the Obama administration. The outgonig attorney general, Eric Holder, said Friday during an emotional farewell at the Justice Department that his time in office would be seen as a 'golden age' in the department's history. Holder addressed hundreds of lawyers and staff members, saying, 'I am proud of you. I'm going to miss you. I am going to miss this building. I am going to miss this institution.' 'More than anything, I am going to miss you all,' Holder told the standing-room-only crowd, many of whom embraced him after he concluded his speech. Lynch was born in Greensboro, North Carolina and grew up near Durham, the home of Duke University. Her brother Leonzo Lynch is the senior pastor at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Charlotte.
Vice President Joe Biden swore in Lynch on Monday.
She was a New York City federal prosecutor with a reputation for being hard-nosed and tough.
She said her Senate confirmation showed that 'we can do anything'
Pledged to deal with cyberattacks and other threats facing the US.