An act to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2004 to carry out the Congo Basin Forest Partnership program, and for other purposes.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Congo Basin Forest Partnership Act 
of 2004''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
        (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 fiscal year 2004.
    (b) CARPE.--Of the amounts appropriated pursuant to the 
authorization of appropriations in subsection (a), $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.
    (c) Availability.--Amounts appropriated pursuant to the 
authorization of appropriations under subsection (a) are authorized to 
remain available until expended.

                               Speaker of the House of Representatives.

                            Vice President of the United States and    
                                               President of the Senate.

Summary: Congo Basin Forest Partnership Act of 2004 - Authorizes appropriations to the President for FY 2004 to carry out the Congo Basin Forest Partnership (CBFP) program . Earmarks most of such funds for the Central Africa Regional Program for the Environment (CARPE) of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).