Tom Lantos: “I strongly support H.R. 2264 and urge all of my colleagues to vote for it. The Congo River and its tributaries make up…”

“I strongly support H.R. 2264 and urge all of my colleagues to vote for it. 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 22 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.”