[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 22]
[House]
[Page 30591]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         ENDING ILLEGAL LOGGING

  (Mr. BLUMENAUER asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. BLUMENAUER. Madam Speaker, illegal logging is a scourge of poor 
countries and rich countries alike. It damages the environment, often 
very fragile ecosystems, it disrupts the lives of poor, indigenous 
people. It corrodes their governments through bribery and often 
violence. Illegal logging also hurts rich countries as our timber and 
lumber manufacturing industries lose to those who cheat and bribe, over 
a billion dollars a year in lost sales in the United States.
  We can do something about it. Yesterday, the Natural Resources 
Committee passed out my illegal logging bill to give the tools for the 
first time, to our government, to do something about it. Later this 
morning, we can pass the Peru Free Trade Agreement, with not just the 
strongest environmental protections ever in a trade agreement, but with 
specific provisions to halt the illegal mahogany harvest in Peru's 
forests. This can be the most significant Congress ever in the global 
fight to end illegal logging by passing these bipartisan measures.

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