[Laws in effect as of January 24, 2002]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
January 24, 2002 and December 19, 2002]
[CITE: 22USC2431]
TITLE 22--FOREIGN RELATIONS AND INTERCOURSE
CHAPTER 32--FOREIGN ASSISTANCE
SUBCHAPTER IV--DEBT REDUCTION FOR DEVELOPING COUNTRIES WITH TROPICAL
FORESTS
Sec. 2431. Findings and purposes
(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
humankind by--
(A) harboring a major share of the Earth's biological and
terrestrial resources, which are the basis for developing
pharmaceutical products and revitalizing 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
unsustainable in the poor soils underlying tropical forests.
(6) Debt reduction can reduce economic pressures on developing
countries and result in increased protection for tropical forests.
(7) Finding economic benefits to local communities from
sustainable uses of tropical forests is critical to the protection
of tropical forests.
(b) Purposes
The purposes of this subchapter are--
(1) to recognize the values received by United States citizens
from protection of tropical forests;
(2) to fa
