[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 89 (Thursday, June 24, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1225]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            TROPICAL FOREST CONSERVATION ACT REAUTHORIZATION

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. ROB PORTMAN

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, June 23, 2004

  Mr. PORTMAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to announce that I am joined 
by Tom Lantos and 28 of our colleagues in introducing a bill to 
reauthorize the Tropical Forest Conservation Act (TFCA) through FY 
2007. This bipartisan conservation incentive program helps to protect 
the world's most valuable tropical forests through ``debt-for-nature'' 
mechanisms.
  This bipartisan reauthorization we are introducing today was 
developed with the Bush Administration, the Nature Conservancy, the 
World Wildlife Fund, Conservation International, and the Wildlife 
Conservation Society. The Administration and these highly respected 
environmental organizations are to be commended for all of their 
excellent work on the TFCA and this bill.
  In the 105th Congress I, along with our former colleagues Lee 
Hamilton and John Kasich, introduced the legislation that established 
the TFCA. It was overwhelmingly approved and enacted in 1998. The TFCA 
was reauthorized in 2001 through the end of this year.
  The TFCA is based on the previous Bush Administration's Enterprise 
for the Americas Initiative (EAI) that allows the President to 
restructure debt in exchange for conservation efforts in Latin America. 
The TFCA expands on the EAI and allows protection of threatened 
tropical forests worldwide. A conservative estimate of 39.5 million 
acres of tropical forests will be protected by TFCA agreements since 
its enactment in 1998.
  The United States has a significant national interest in protecting 
tropical forests in developing countries. Tropical forests provide a 
wide range of benefits. They harbor 50-90 percent of the earth's 
terrestrial biodiversity. They act as ``carbon sinks,'' absorbing 
massive quantities of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, thereby 
reducing greenhouse gases. They regulate rainfall on which agriculture 
and coastal resources depend, and they are of great importance to 
regional and global climate. Furthermore, tropical forests are breeding 
grounds for new medicines. Twenty-five percent of prescription drugs 
come from tropical forests. The United States National Cancer Institute 
has identified over 3000 plants that are active against cancer. Seventy 
percent of them can be found in rainforests.
  Regrettably, tropical forests are rapidly disappearing. It is 
estimated that 30 million acres (an area larger than the State of 
Pennsylvania) are lost each year. The heavy debt burden of many 
countries is a contributing factor because they must resort to 
exploitation of their natural resources (particularly the extraction of 
timber, oil, and precious metals) to generate revenue to service their 
external debt. At the same time, poor governments tend to have few 
resources available to set aside and protect tropical forests. The TFCA 
addresses these economic pressures by authorizing the President to 
allow eligible countries to engage in debt swaps, buybacks or 
reduction/restructuring in exchange for protecting threatened tropical 
forests on a sustained basis.
  The debt for nature mechanisms in the TFCA have proven to be an 
effective, market-oriented means to leverage scarce funds available for 
international conservation. The host country places an amount in its 
tropical forest fund that typically exceeds the cost to the U.S. 
government of the debt reduction agreement. Furthermore, because these 
tropical forest funds have integrity and are broadly supported within 
the host country, conservation organizations are interested in placing 
their own money in these tropical forest funds producing additional 
leverage of Federal conservation dollars.
  Seven TFCA agreements have been concluded to date: Bangladesh, El 
Salvador, Belize, Peru, the Philippines, Panama and Colombia. These 
agreements have generated more than $70 million in long-term income 
commitments for tropical forest conservation. Private donors have 
contributed more than $5 million to TFCA swaps, leveraging the U.S. 
government funds. Active deals are currently being negotiated with 
Jamaica and Sri Lanka. Several other countries have expressed interest 
in the program including Guatemala, Ecuador, Paraguay, St. Vincent, 
Botswana, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, India, Indonesia, Brazil, 
and Kenya.
  This bill will improve the TFCA and reauthorize it at $20 million in 
FY 2005, which is included in the President's budget request; $25 
million in FY 2006; and $30 million in FY 2007.
  The Tropical Forest Conservation Act is an excellent program that is 
working well and worthy of reauthorization. I urge all members to 
support this important, market-oriented approach to conserving the 
world's most threatened tropical forests.

                          ____________________