[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 35 (Wednesday, March 25, 1998)]
[House]
[Pages H1513-H1514]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   IN RECOGNITION OF DR. PAUL COX AND PROTECTION OF TROPICAL FORESTS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from American Samoa (Mr. Faleomavaega) is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Mr. Speaker, I am proud to be a cosponsor of H.R. 
2870, the Tropical Forest Protection Act, a bill recently passed by the 
House of Representatives and which is now before the Senate for 
consideration.
  I regret not being on the floor of the House when this bill was under 
consideration, due to a conflict of my schedule, but it is for this 
reason that I take this opportunity to share my views with my 
colleagues on this matter.
  I do commend the authors of this legislation, the gentleman from Ohio 
(Mr. Portman), the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Kasich), and the gentleman 
from Indiana (Mr. Lee Hamilton), for their vision and leadership in 
crafting this measure, which facilitates debt reduction in Third World 
countries to support efforts for conservation of the fragile tropical 
forests.
  I also commend the chairman of the Committee on International 
Relations, the gentleman from New York (Mr. Ben Gilman) and the 
gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Bruce Vento) for their important 
contributions that have made improvements in this bill.
  Mr. Speaker, the provisions of H.R. 2870 basically allow less 
developed nations that owe loans to the United States to restructure 
their debt repayments, funneling savings into a tropical rain forest 
protection fund which will provide for the conservation and maintenance 
of native forest resources in each participating country.
  To qualify, countries with substantial tropical forests must 
demonstrate that they support human rights and democratic forms of 
government, and that they are opposed to narcotics trafficking and 
international terrorism.
  Mr. Speaker, according to the World Wildlife Fund, up to 42 million 
acres of tropical forests are being devastated each year throughout the 
world. Indeed, approximately one-half of the world's tropical forests 
no longer exist. In the Asia-Pacific region alone, it is estimated that 
88 percent of original forest lands have been destroyed.
  Mr. Speaker, I would especially commend the gentleman from Minnesota 
(Mr. Bruce Vento) for his amendments to the bill, which recognize the 
importance of tropical forest plants for medical treatment of human 
illnesses, and that native peoples who live in or near rain forests 
should be consulted, given their tremendous knowledge of plants that 
have medicinal value.
  Mr. Speaker, it is my understanding that during the House floor 
deliberations the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Vento) also cited the 
outstanding work of Dr. Paul Alan Cox, one of the finest ethnobotanists 
in the world today, and who is especially noted for his studies and 
research work in the South Pacific.
  I have known Dr. Cox for several years from his work in the Samoan 
Islands and throughout Polynesia. I am extremely gratified that Dr. Cox 
was honored by Time Magazine as one of the world's top medical 
scientists in 1997.
  Dr. Cox first came to Samoa in the early 1970s as a young Mormon 
missionary. He became enchanted with Samoa and immersed himself in the 
Samoan culture, learning to read and write fluently in the Samoan 
language.
  After his departure from the islands to obtain his doctorate degree 
from Harvard University, he later joined the faculty at Brigham Young 
University in Provo, Utah. He is also the newly appointed director of 
the National Tropical Forestry Botanical Garden located on the island 
of Kauai, in the State of Hawaii.
  Over the years, traveling back and forth between Samoa and the United 
States to conduct research, Dr. Cox has discovered 74 medicinal plants 
with the assistance of native Samoan healers. Extracts from the leaves, 
bark, and roots of the rain forest plants have proven effective in 
treating illnesses from high fever to appendicitis to asthma. In 
particular, one new plant-derived drug isolated by Dr. Cox, Prostratin, 
holds the promise of a cure for AIDS.
  Mr. Speaker, most of the Earth's 265,000 flowering plants are located 
in tropical regions, and less than 1 percent of these plants have been 
tested for effectiveness against disease.
  Continuing his work with native healers, Dr. Cox hopes to find the 
answer to cancer, Alzheimer's disease, and other incurable diseases in 
the rain forests of Samoa and the world. However, the decimation of 
tropical forests literally threatens to prevent the discovery of 
hundreds of new medical drugs.
  Mr. Speaker, again, I want to commend Dr. Cox for his life's work 
devoted to research and protection of the tropical rain forests of 
Samoa and other regions of the world. By following the footsteps of 
native healers, Dr. Cox best exemplifies the need for our so-called 
modern technological world not to disregard the tremendous amount of 
knowledge that can be obtained from indigenous peoples and their 
understanding of certain plants that have medicinal and healing value. 
What Dr. Cox is saying to us is that there is much that our modern 
world can learn from native cultures.
  Mr. Speaker, again, I support the provisions of H.R. 2870, and I 
commend my colleagues for their endorsement and passage of this 
legislation.
  Also, I would note that Dr. Cox is greatly appreciated and respected 
by the Samoan people. He has even been bestowed with the Samoan title 
of Nafanua by the elders of the village of Falealupo because of his 
contributions, including the establishment of a 30,000-acre rain forest 
preserve, and a construction of a primary school for the village 
children.
  Mr. Speaker, again, I urge my colleagues to support this legislation 
when it comes back from the Senate.
  Mr. Speaker, I am proud to be a co-sponsor of H.R. 2870, the Tropical 
Forest Protection Act, a bill recently passed by the House of 
Representatives and which is now before the Senate for consideration. I 
regret not being on the House floor when this bill was under 
consideration, due to a conflict with my schedule, but it is for this 
reason that I take this opportunity to share my views with my 
colleagues on this matter.
  I commend the authors of this legislation--the gentleman from Ohio, 
Mr. Rob Portman, the gentleman from Ohio, Mr. John Kasich, and the 
gentleman from Indiana, Mr. Lee Hamilton--for their vision and 
leadership in crafting this measure which facilitates debt reduction in 
third world countries to support efforts for conservation of their 
fragile tropical forests. I also commend the House International 
Relations Committee Chairman Ben Gilman and the gentleman from 
Minnesota, Mr. Bruce Vento, for their important contributions that have 
improved the bill.
  Mr. Speaker, the provisions of H.R. 2870 basically allow less-
developed nations that owe loans to the United States to restructure 
their debt repayment, funneling savings into a tropical rain forest 
protection fund, which will provide for the conservation and 
maintenance of native forest resources in each participating country. 
To qualify, countries with substantial tropical rain forests must 
demonstrate that they support human rights and democratic government, 
and that they are opposed to narcotics trafficking and international 
terrorism.
  Mr. Speaker, according to the world wildlife fund, up to 42 million 
acres of tropical forests are being devastated each year throughout the 
world. Indeed, approximately one-half of the world's tropical forests 
no longer exist; and in the Asia-Pacific region alone it is estimated 
that 88% of original forest lands have been destroyed.
  Mr. Speaker, these careless activities have a dramatic negative 
impact on the environment that is global in nature. The destruction of 
tropical forest lands on this scale destroys the Earth's ability to 
recycle carbon dioxide, significantly contributing to greenhouse gases 
and climate warming. Perhaps more importantly, we sacrifice and lose 
the rich and unique biodiversity of these tropical forest ecosystems, 
which, incidentally, contain over half of the world's plant and animal 
species;
  Mr. Speaker, I would especially commend the gentleman from Minnesota, 
Congressman

[[Page H1514]]

Bruce Vento, for his amendments to the bill which recognizes the 
importance of tropical forest plants for medical treatment of human 
illnesses, and that native peoples who live in or near rain forests 
should be consulted, given their tremendous knowledge of plants that 
have medicinal value.
  Mr. Speaker, it is my understanding that during House floor 
deliberations, Congressman Vento cited the outstanding work of Dr. Paul 
Alan Cox, one of the finest Ethnobotanists in the world today, and who 
is especially noted for his studies and research work in the South 
Pacific.
  I have known Dr. Cox for several years from his work in the Samoan 
Islands and throughout Polynesia, and I am extremely gratified that Dr. 
Cox was honored by Time magazine as one of the world's top 10 medical 
scientists in 1997.
  Dr. Cox first came to Samoa in the early 1970s as a young Mormon 
missionary. He became enchanted with Samoa and immersed himself in the 
Samoan culture, learning to read and write fluently in the Samoan 
language. After his departure from the islands to obtain his doctorate 
degree from Harvard University, Dr. Cox later joined the faculty at 
Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. Dr. Cox is also the newly-
appointed director of the National Tropical Forestry Botanical Garden, 
which is located on the island of Kauai, in the State of Hawaii.
  In 1984, Dr. Cox, with his family, returned to Samoa to pursue his 
post-graduate studies of plants found in rain forests. The death of his 
mother from cancer motivated Dr. Cox to search for new avenues outside 
of traditional medicine for treating incurable diseases. Residing in 
the isolated village of Falealupo on the island of Savai'i, Dr. Cox 
initiated research on how native Samoan healers utilized certain plants 
from the rain forest for medicinal purposes.
  Over the years, traveling back and forth between Samoa and the U.S. 
to conduct research, Dr. Cox has discovered 74 medicinal plants with 
the assistance of native Samoan healers. Extracts from the leaves, bark 
and roots of the rain forest plants have proven effective in treating 
illnesses from high fever to appendicitis to asthma. In particular, one 
new plant--derived drug isolated by Dr. Cox, Prostratin, holds the 
promise of a cure for AIDS.
  Mr. Speaker, most of the Earth's 265,000 flowering plants are located 
in tropical regions, and less than one percent of these plants have 
been tested for effectiveness against disease. In continuing his work 
with native healers, Dr. Cox hopes to find the answer to cancer, 
alzheimer's and other incurable diseases in the rain forests of Samoa 
and the world. However, the decimation of tropical forests literally 
threatens to prevent the discovery of hundreds of new medical drugs.
  For his efforts to stop the destructive logging of the rain forests 
of the island of Savai'i, Dr. Paul Cox is greatly respected by the 
Samoan people. He has even been bestowed the Samoan Matai title of 
``Nafanua'' by the village elders of Falealupo on the island of 
Savai'i, as a token of appreciation for all that he has done for the 
villagers, including the establishment of a 30,000 acre rain forest 
preserve and construction of a primary school for the village children.
  Mr. Speaker, again I want to commend Dr. Paul Cox for his life's work 
devoted to research and protection of the tropical rain forests of 
Samoa and other regions of the world. By following the footsteps of 
native healers, Dr. Cox perhaps best exemplifies the need for our so-
called modern technological world not to disregard the tremendous 
amount of knowledge that can be obtained from indigenous peoples and 
their understanding of certain plants that have medicinal and healing 
value; What Dr. Cox is saying to us is that there is much that our 
modern world can learn from native cultures.
  Mr. Speaker, again I support the provisions of H.R. 2870, and I 
commend my colleagues for their endorsement and passage of this 
legislation.

                          ____________________