[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 89 (Tuesday, June 5, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Page S7068]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   RECOGNIZING THE NATIONAL FEDERATION OF COFFEE GROWERS OF COLUMBIA

 Mr. LEAHY. I wish to speak briefly about the National 
Federation of Coffee Growers of Colombia.
  The federation is a nonprofit grassroots organization that organizes 
and monitors the extensive network of coffee growers throughout 
Colombia. Since 1927, it has worked to build an economically and 
environmentally sustainable coffee culture, strengthen community 
networks of coffee growers throughout the country, and promote exports 
of Colombian coffee worldwide. The federation will celebrate its 80th 
anniversary on June 27 and should be commended for its accomplishments.
  Coffee is grown today in more than half of Colombia's 1,098 
municipalities, employing some 2 million people comprising 566,000 
families. Many of these people live and work in small towns and rural 
areas, not unlike the farmers of my own State of Vermont. In fact, 
several Vermont companies, including Green Mountain Coffee and Coffee 
Enterprises, sell coffee produced by Colombian coffee growers who are 
supported by the federation.
  In a country where everyone has been affected by the armed conflict 
and the economic and social disruption it has caused, the Federation of 
Coffee Growers of Colombia has focused increasingly on supporting the 
social aspects of coffee growers' lives. The federation has worked to 
bring trained teachers, schools, health clinics, roads, 
electrification, and other infrastructure to coffee-growing 
communities. It has provided technical training and the benefits of 
federation-sponsored research and development to coffee growers to help 
them improve yields and quality and to market their product. The 
results speak for themselves. Today, Colombia is the world's second 
largest coffee exporter by value, totaling $1.677 billion of coffee 
exported in 2006.
  The Federation of Coffee Growers of Colombia should be recognized and 
commended for the 80 years that it has contributed in important ways to 
the well-being of the Colombian people.

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