[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 18]
[House]
[Pages 24244-24247]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




               CONGO BASIN FOREST PARTNERSHIP ACT OF 2003

  Mr. ROYCE. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 2264) to authorize appropriations for fiscal years 2004 and 
2005 to carry out the Congo Basin Forest Partnership (CBFP) program, 
and for other purposes.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                               H.R. 2264

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Congo Basin Forest 
     Partnership Act of 2003''.

     SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

       Congress finds the following:

[[Page 24245]]

       (1) The tropical forests of the Congo Basin, located in the 
     Central African countries of Cameroon, the Central African 
     Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial 
     Guinea, Gabon, the Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Burundi, and 
     Sao Tome/Principe, are second in size only to the tropical 
     forests of the Amazon Basin.
       (2) These forests are a crucial economic resource for the 
     people of the Central African region.
       (3) Congo Basin forests play a critical role in sustaining 
     the environment--absorbing carbon dioxide, cleansing water, 
     and retaining soil.
       (4) Congo Basin forests contain the most diverse grouping 
     of plants and animals in Africa, including rare and 
     endangered species, such as the lowland gorilla, mountain 
     gorilla, chimpanzee, and okapi. These plants and animals are 
     invaluable for many reasons, including their genetic and 
     biochemical information, which could spark advances in 
     medical, agricultural, and industrial technology.
       (5) Logging operations, driven by a growing global demand 
     for tropical hardwoods, are shrinking these forests. One 
     estimate has logging taking out Congo Basin forest area at a 
     rate of twice the size of the State of Rhode Island every 
     year.
       (6) The construction of logging roads and other 
     developments are putting intense hunting pressure on 
     wildlife. At current hunting levels, most species of apes and 
     other primates, large antelope, and elephants will disappear 
     from the Congo Basin, with some becoming extinct.
       (7) If current deforestation and wildlife depletion rates 
     are not reversed, the six countries of the Congo Basin most 
     immediately, but also the world, will pay an immense 
     economic, environmental, and cultural price.
       (8) The United States has an interest in seeing political 
     stability and economic development advance in the Congo Basin 
     countries. This interest will be adversely impacted if 
     current deforestation and wildlife depletion rates are not 
     reversed.
       (9) Poorly managed and nonmanaged logging and hunting 
     threatens to do to the Congo Basin what it did to West 
     Africa, which lost much of its forest and wildlife through 
     over-exploitation.
       (10) Purged of wildlife, some Congo Basin forests already 
     are ``empty forests''.
       (11) In an attempt to conserve the forests of the Congo 
     Basin, the region's governments convened the Yaounde 
     (Cameroon) Forest Summit in March 1999.
       (12) In September 2002, Secretary of State Colin Powell 
     launched the Congo Basin Forest Partnership (CBFP) in 
     Johannesburg, South Africa. The CBFP promotes the 
     conservation and sustainable use of the region's forests, for 
     example, by working to combat poaching, illegal logging, and 
     other unsustainable practices, and giving local populations 
     an economic stake in the preservation of the forests, 
     including through the development of ecotourism.
       (13)(A) The United States contribution to the CBFP will 
     focus on conserving 11 key landscapes in 6 countries--
     Cameroon, the Central African Republic, the Democratic 
     Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the 
     Republic of Congo--identified at the Yaounde Forest Summit as 
     being of the greatest biological importance to the region.
       (B) The United States will fund field-based activities 
     within these 25,000,000 acres that aim to support a network 
     of 27 national parks and protected areas and well-managed 
     forestry concessions.
       (C) In this way, the work will build on existing United 
     States efforts, including those of the Central African 
     Regional Program for the Environment (CARPE) of the United 
     States Agency for International Development, which will 
     implement the CBFP.
       (14) The CBFP has broad international financial support, 
     including from non-African governments, the European 
     Commission, the International Bank for Reconstruction and 
     Development, and numerous nongovernment organizations.
       (15) A dramatic step toward conserving Congo Basin forests 
     has recently been taken by Gabon. In September 2002, 
     President Omar Bongo announced the creation of 13 national 
     parks, representing over 10 percent of Gabon's surface area. 
     Previously, Gabon had no national park system.
       (16) With the CBFP and other initiatives, there exists 
     unprecedented momentum for the conservation of Congo Basin 
     forests.

     SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

       (a) In General.--There are authorized to be appropriated to 
     the President to carry out the Congo Basin Forest Partnership 
     (CBFP) program $18,600,000 for each of the fiscal years 2004 
     and 2005. Of the amounts appropriated pursuant to the 
     authorization of appropriations under the preceding sentence 
     for a fiscal year, $16,000,000 is authorized to be made 
     available to the Central Africa Regional Program for the 
     Environment (CARPE) of the United States Agency for 
     International Development.
       (b) Availability.--Amounts appropriated pursuant to the 
     authorization of appropriations under subsection (a) are 
     authorized to remain available until expended.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Royce) and the gentleman from California (Mr. Lantos) 
each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from California (Mr. Royce).


                             General Leave

  Mr. ROYCE. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their 
remarks on H.R. 2264.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from California?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. ROYCE. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  This bill, H.R. 2264, authorizes the administration's Congo Basin 
Forest Partnership. It is authored by the gentleman from Florida (Mr. 
Shaw), who is an international conservation leader. I am a cosponsor of 
this measure, and I think the importance of it is that the tropical 
forests of central Africa's Congo Basin are a key economic resource for 
an estimated 20 million people, and these forests play a very critical 
role in sustaining the environment.
  The Congo Basin contains the most diverse grouping of plants and 
animals in all of Africa, including many rare and endangered species. 
These plants and animals are invaluable for so many reasons, including 
their genetic and biological information which could spark technical 
advances in medicine and agriculture.
  This is all threatened, though, as Congo Basin forests are coming 
under growing pressure. Ten years ago, these forests were virtually 
untouched. Today, logging operations are shrinking these forests. As a 
matter of fact, logging operations are taking out the Congo Basin 
forest at the rate of twice the size of Rhode Island every year. 
Meanwhile, the construction of logging roads is putting intense hunting 
pressure on wildlife. At current levels, because of poaching, most 
species of apes, large antelope, and elephants will disappear from the 
Congo Basin, as well as the white rhino, and some will become extinct.
  Last September, Secretary of State Powell launched the Congo Basin 
Forest Partnership in Johannesburg. This partnership is focused on 11 
key landscapes in 6 different countries. It aims to support a network 
of national parks and protected areas and well-managed forestry 
concessions. The partnership is working to combat illegal logging and 
illegal poaching and other unsustainable practices and to give local 
populations an economic stake in the preservation of the forests, 
including through the development of ecotourism. This is a true 
partnership, with European and other countries making financial 
contributions to it.
  I should note that the most dramatic move toward conserving Congo 
Basin forests has been taken by Gabon. Last year, President Omar Bongo 
announced the creation of 13 separate national parks in his country. 
Previously, Gabon had no national parks system. With this partnership, 
there is a real African buy-in.
  The Subcommittee on Africa that I chair held a hearing on this 
initiative in March. Testifying before us was world-renowned ecologist 
Michael Fay. Michael has traveled many of Africa's forests, especially 
in the Congo Basin, and has had several of his treks covered by 
National Geographic. I am pleased that the House is acting today to 
pass this bill. It supports conservation efforts by him and others 
which have come, in Michael's case, at great personal sacrifice.
  Conservation is not easy. What Americans take for granted, Yosemite, 
Yellowstone and our magnificent national park system, took great 
foresight. It took a great political commitment to make that a reality. 
We led the world in the United States. It will be a major challenge to 
establish and maintain effective regimes to control logging and to 
control hunting in the Congo Basin; but with the partnership, the U.S. 
is bringing its unique experience and talents to these efforts.
  Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. LANTOS. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  I strongly support H.R. 2264 and urge all of my colleagues to vote 
for it.

[[Page 24246]]

  Madam Speaker, first, I want to thank my friend, Secretary of State 
Colin Powell, and the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Shaw) and the 
gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Payne) for making the preservation of 
the Congo River Basin a priority. The Congo River and its tributaries 
make up the most extensive network of navigable waterways in Africa and 
carry a volume of water second only to the Amazon River.
  Some of us think first of the Congo River Basin as one of the largest 
and most important ecological regions of the world, which it is; but 
what is even more important, it is the home to some of the world's 
poorest people who have suffered some of Africa's bloodiest conflicts.
  Madam Speaker, more than 2\1/2\ million people have perished in 
eastern Congo as a result of the most recent Congo civil war, with 
millions left displaced and in unimaginable destitution. Throughout the 
central African region, poverty rates are among the worst on this 
globe. Life expectancy ranges from 42 years in the Central African 
Republic to 52 years in the Congo Republic.
  The overall forest area of the Congo River Basin is declining rapidly 
as a result of unchecked growth of timber exports, destructive 
agricultural expansion, and fueled with demand for a growing 
population. Madam Speaker, these practices are unsustainable if the 
assets of the Congo River Basin are to be used to improve and sustain 
the lives of the people who live there.
  Our legislation represents a unique opportunity to help the people of 
central Africa turn their biggest asset, the natural resources of the 
Congo River Basin, into a viable economic base. The Congo Basin 
partnership is an economic development and conservation program for the 
six countries of central Africa. This partnership will combine the 
preservation of some of the world's richest and most pristine 
ecosystems with economic development in order to alleviate the 
desperate poverty that permeates the region.
  Conservation programs will help develop a network of national parks 
and protected areas and help local communities manage the forests and 
wildlife more rationally. The people of central Africa, some of whom 
live on less than 25 cents per day, 25 cents per day, will be able to 
develop sustainable means of livelihood through conservation 
agriculture and integrated ecotourism programs.
  Madam Speaker, the stewardship of the Congo River Basin is the joint 
responsibility of central African countries and the international 
community. Together, we must end the deforestation and wildlife 
depletion and support the appropriate use of forest resources.
  I enthusiastically support this bill and urge all of my colleagues to 
vote in favor of its passage.
  Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. ROYCE. Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Doolittle), who has traveled to sub-Saharan Africa to 
see how Africans can better protect their endangered species.
  Mr. DOOLITTLE. Madam Speaker, I join with my colleagues and commend 
the gentleman from California (Mr. Royce), the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Lantos), and the authors of the bill, the gentleman 
from Florida (Mr. Shaw) and the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Payne), 
for this legislation.
  Africa has obviously some tremendous natural resources. They have 
enormous problems. They have a lack of freedom in that continent and 
throughout most of the countries indeed of the continent, and this 
legislation will help those people help themselves by conserving their 
forests.
  Let me say, I am a strong logging advocate, but logging has to be 
done right; and this legislation will help set that up so that we will 
have logging and replanting, so that we will have sustainable forest 
practices so that this natural resource is available for the present 
generation and for generations to come. This is a goal that we seek to 
have here, and we do have it here in the United States; and we would 
like to help the people in the Congo River Basin to enjoy this as well.
  I am sad to tell my colleagues that when we do not have good 
practices, devastating results can occur. We see that, for example, in 
the country of Zimbabwe, which was once my pleasure to visit, presently 
we have a brutal dictator, anarchy reigns, and a ruling elite has taken 
over safari parks for their own personal hunting grounds. We have 
settlers invading privately owned game preserves and decimating the 
remaining stock of protected animals such as the black rhinoceros. We 
have poachers setting on fire places like the Matobo Hills in the south 
of the country. Indeed, this year that area was designated a World 
Heritage Site by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and 
Cultural Organization; and yet these illegal poachers are destroying 
not only thousands of acres of national park there but killing vast 
stocks of wildlife, many of which are endangered species.
  Madam Speaker, this area of the Congo is different than Zimbabwe, but 
the principles are the same. We seek to apply good principles to help 
the people lift themselves and to grow and to develop and to achieve 
better health and longer life spans, and it will help them do it using 
their natural resources. In like fashion, we hope that other 
enlightened policies around the continent can be applied so that people 
will be able to enjoy in a better fashion the rights that God has given 
them.
  I am delighted to join with my colleagues in supporting this 
legislation.
  Mr. LANTOS. Madam Speaker, we have no additional requests for time, 
and I yield back the balance of our time.
  Mr. ROYCE. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  In closing, unfortunately, Africa is not the only continent under 
attack.

                              {time}  1645

  Increasingly, we are seeing the link between resource exploitation 
and human rights abuses and conflict and corruption. This past weekend, 
the Financial Times previewed a new report to be released next week by 
Global Witness. The report details how the ruling military junta in 
Burma is using logging concessions to help maintain its grip on power. 
In Burma's environmentally-damaging resource diplomacy, Chinese logging 
companies are granted concessions to large sections of Burmese virgin 
forest in exchange for political loyalty and in exchange for material 
support.
  In light of this sort of activity, the Congo Basin Forest Partnership 
and similar initiatives are all that much more important, and I want to 
thank Members in this body for what they are attempting to do in 
passing this legislation and urge the support of every Member.
  Mr. SHAW. Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 2264, the 
Congo Basin Forest Partnership Act of 2003, which I introduced to 
authorize funding for the Congo Basin Forest Partnership Fund (CBFP) 
for fiscal years 2004 and 2005.
  The CBFP strives to preserve and protect millions of acres of lands 
in Africa by establishing a network of national parks. The CBFP is 
focused on eleven key landscapes in Cameroon, Central African Republic, 
Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the 
Republic of Congo.
  Madam Speaker, I have traveled to Africa numerous times and have 
experienced the immense beauty and wonder that the continent holds. I 
have also witnessed how poaching and cross-cutting of forests 
devastates the natural wildlife, the land and the people of Africa. One 
of America's greatest assets is our national parks and conservation 
system. I can think of no better way to help Africa, and the African 
people, than to provide them with the tools to conserve their great 
continent, just as we do in our National Park Service.
  Conservation efforts through the CBFP not only provide protections 
for lands and wildlife but also provide critical means for human 
development, political stability and economic growth in Africa--areas 
that remain tremendously important to the success of Africa.
  This initiative has received widespread support from Republicans, 
Democrats, and leading organizations including Conservation 
International, the World Conservation Society, and the World Wildlife 
Fund. I urge my colleagues to support the Congo Basin Forest 
Partnership Act of 2003 and the betterment of the African people.

[[Page 24247]]


  Mr. TANNER. Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 2264, the 
Congo Basin Forest Partnership Act of 2003. Having personally visited 
some of the areas that this bill will help to protect, I highly 
recommend it to the House, and hope that others will join in support of 
this effort.
  Secretary of State Colin Powell launched the Congo Basin Forest 
Partnership initiative that has swiftly grown into a bipartisan 
multinational effort to support national parks and well-managed 
forestry practices in the forests of the Congo Basin in Central Africa. 
The International Conservation Caucus, of which I am a founding member 
and co-chair, was formed in order to build support for the Congo Basin 
Forest Partnership initiative, and to help with other international 
conservation efforts in some of the most environmentally sensitive 
areas around the world. In the mission statement of the International 
Conservation Caucus, it is written that as members we share a 
conviction that the United States has the opportunity and the 
obligation to advance the protection of the worldwide environment for 
current and future generations. The mission of the Caucus is to act on 
this conviction by providing the strong U.S. leadership necessary to 
conserve the world's most biologically rich and diverse places. The 
Congo Basin Forest Partnership Act is one of the first steps in 
achieving our mission of international conservation, and I wish to 
thank my friend Clay Shaw for recognizing this need and for introducing 
this important bipartisan bill.
  The United States' contribution to the CBFP will focus on providing 
field-based conservation activities within 25,000,000 acres in 
Cameroon, The Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the 
Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the Republic of the Congo. Forests 
in these six countries are being depleted at alarming rates. It is 
estimated that forest areas in the Congo Basin are being depleted at a 
rate twice the size of Rhode Island every year. The author of H.R. 2264 
says it best in section 7 of the findings of the bill. It states, ``If 
current deforestation and wildlife depletion rates are not reversed, 
the six countries of the Congo Basin most immediately, but also the 
world, will pay an immense economic, environmental, and cultural price.
  Madam Speaker, I ask my colleagues to vote in favor of H.R. 2264, the 
Congo Basin Forest Partnership Act.
  Mr. ROYCE. Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mrs. Capito). The question is on the motion 
offered by the gentleman from California (Mr. Royce) that the House 
suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 2264.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor 
thereof) the rules were suspended and the bill was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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