Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 112 Part 1.djvu/911

 PUBLIC LAW 105-214-^ULY 29, 1998 112 STAT. 885 Public Law 105-214 105th Congress An Act To amend the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to facilitate protection of tropical July 29, 1998 forests through debt reduction with developing countries with tropical forests. [H.R. 2870] Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. DEBT REDUCTION FOR DEVELOPING COUNTRIES WITH TROPICAL FORESTS. The Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following: " P AR T V—DEBT REDUCTION FOR DEVELOPING Tropical Forest Conservation Act of 1998. COUNTRIES WITH TROPICAL FORESTS ««EC. 801. SHORT TITLE. 22 USC 2151 'This peirt may be cited as the 'Tropical Forest Conservation Act of 1998'. <*SEC. 802. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES. 22 USC 2431. "(a) FINDINGS. — The Congress finds the following: "(1) It is the established policy of the United States to support and seek protection of tropical forests around the world. "(2) Tropical forests provide a wide range of benefits to himiankind by— .,« "(A) harboring a major share of the Earth's biological and terrestrial resources, which are the basis for developing pharmaceutical products and revitedizing agricultural crops; "(B) playing a critical role as carbon sinks in reducing greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, thus moderating potential global climate change; and "(C) regulating hydrological cycles on which far-flung agricultural and coastal resources depend. "(3) International negotiations and assistance programs to conserve forest resources have proliferated over the past decade, but the rapid rate of tropical deforestation continues unabated. "(4) Developing countries with urgent needs for investment and capital for development have allocated a significant amount of their forests to logging concessions. "(5) Poverty and economic pressures on the populations of developing countries have, over time, resulted in clearing of vast areas of forest for conversion to agriculture, which is often iinsustainable in the poor soils underl3niig tropical forests.

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