[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 114 (Wednesday, September 2, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Pages S9890-S9891]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     SUPPORT OF U.S. RATIFICATION OF THE U.N. CONVENTION TO COMBAT 
                            DESERTIFICATION

  Mr. JEFFORDS. Mr. President, I would like to direct my colleagues' 
attention to report language accompanying this legislation supporting 
U.S. ratification of an important treaty--the U.N. Convention to Combat 
Desertification, also known as the ``Drylands'' Convention.
  The term desertification is often mis-associated with the expansion 
of deserts. Rather, it is the loss of soil fertility in dryland 
agricultural areas. Most of the world's basic food crops are grown in 
dryland areas. Poverty, population pressure and unwise government 
policies often drive farmers to use unsustainable farming practices on 
marginal lands just to survive. Over time, desertification deepens 
poverty. It undercuts economic growth and triggers social instability 
in poor countries lacking resources to combat it.
  The American Dust Bowl of the 1930's is a prime example of 
desertification. The hunger, poverty and migration spawned by the Dust 
Bowl left an indelible mark on our national psyche. In 1939, John 
Steinbeck depicted the tragedy so well in his great American novel, The 
Grapes of Wrath:

       And then the dispossessed were drawn west--from Kansas, 
     Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico; from Nevada and Arkansas, 
     families, tribes, dusted out, tractored out. Car-loads, 
     caravans, homeless and hungry; twenty thousand and fifty 
     thousand and a hundred thousand and two hundred thousand. 
     They streamed over the mountains, hungry and restless--
     restless as ants, scurrying to find work to do--to lift to 
     push, to pull, to pick, to cut--anything, any burden to bear, 
     for food. The kids are hungry. We got no place to live. Like 
     ants scurrying for work, for food, and most of all for land.

  Every student of U.S. history studies the economic and social impact 
of the Dust Bowl. U.S. history textbooks feature photos similar to 
these behind me.
  Our national response to this disaster was a successful community-
based soil and water conservation effort that is still fighting the 
threat of desertification in areas of the American West today. While we 
have grappled with this problem and won, the rest of the world is not 
so fortunate. Imagine our own Dust Bowl if we did not have the 
technological know-how or the economic resources to deal with it?
  The risk of new dust bowls is increasing at an accelerating rate in 
over ninety developing countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. 
Billions of tons of topsoil are washed or blown away every year.
  The U.S. is feeling the fallout from desertification abroad. 
Thousands migrate over our borders from land-degraded countries such as 
Mexico. We spend millions on humanitarian aid for drought-affected 
countries in Africa. Desertification leads to even more costly and 
frequent food aid programs. Dwindling land and water resources 
frequently ignite regional conflict. Desertification abroad will also 
continue to pose risks to our environmental health and contribute to 
the loss of plant and animal species which may hold the keys to future 
sources of food and medicine.
  To address the problem, in 1994, the United States participated in 
negotiating the Drylands Convention. By the time negotiations began, 
developed nations were weary of carrying huge loads in support of 
environmental treaties. U.S. negotiators insisted that no new 
responsibilities be placed on our government. The result is that this 
treaty is the first of its kind.
  It does not establish a big, new U.N. program. No army of U.N. 
employees will be deployed to fight desertification. The treaty uses a 
bottom-up approach where the solutions are devised and then carried out 
by people at the local community level. National action plans required 
of all donee states by the treaty will add greater cohesion and 
coordination to existing efforts.
  The treaty's financial mechanism is unique as well. No new U.S. 
foreign aid funding is required under the Convention. The U.S. 
currently contributes roughly $30 million per year to fight 
desertification. So why do we need the treaty? Because it gives U.S. 
foreign aid dollars ``more bang for the buck.'' Existing U.S. foreign 
aid resources would be used more efficiently by better matching of 
donors with areas of need through the establishment of a Global 
Mechanism. It does NOT impose any international mandates on U.S. 
funding.

[[Page S9891]]

  But more importantly, the Convention would be good for U.S. business. 
It would increase opportunities for American agribusiness to export 
technology and expertise to developing countries affected by 
desertification through networks established by the treaty. Clearly, 
there is no bar to marketing these outside the framework of the 
Convention. But working within the Convention offers distinct 
advantages. It establishes networks like the Science and Technology 
Committee, the Roster of Independent Experts, donor coordination groups 
and partnerships with local community organizations. If the U.S. is not 
a party to the Convention, U.S. businesses and consultants will be 
barred from these lists.
  Helping to fight desertification and poverty abroad is good for U.S. 
exports and the U.S. trade balance. Rising incomes in the agricultural 
sector of developing countries generate a higher demand for U.S. 
exports of seeds, fertilizer, agro-chemicals, farm and irrigation 
equipment as well as other U.S.-produced goods and services.
  The United States signed the Drylands Convention in 1994. It has been 
approved by all the Organization of Economic Cooperation and 
Development (OECD) members except the U.S. and Japan. And Japan is 
expected to ratify it soon. If the U.S. does not ratify by November 
1998, we will not have a voice in establishing the detailed mechanism 
that is at the heart of the Convention. If we want this treaty to work 
for us, then we must have a seat at the table in two months.
  Ratification of the U.N. Convention to Combat Desertification is a 
win-win for the United States. We must not let this opportunity slip 
away from us.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Pennsylvania.

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