Dear Friend, 

Deforestation accounts for more than ten percent of the world’s annual greenhouse gas emissions. Put another way, deforestation would be the third largest country in terms of overall carbon emissions.

It is clear we will not meet our climate goals without addressing this harmful practice. That starts with escalating our fight against illegal logging, which accounts for nearly 40 percent of all tropical deforestation. These bandits are people engaged in bribery, theft, and crimes against Indigenous people whose rights are trampled on.

Luckily, there is a solution: deny people who grow crops on illegally forested land access to the American economy. There is precedent. In 2008, I enacted amendments to the Lacey Act to prevent the importation of illegally harvested timber into the United States. My legislation required companies to control their supply chain. It became a model framework for the European Union, Australia, and Japan. Now Congress must codify and expand this approach.

That’s why I introduced bipartisan legislation to ban commodities originating from illegally harvested timberland from accessing our market. My legislation would require companies to be responsible for their supply chain. That means companies need to provide proof that no commodity-driven deforestation occurred while producing their goods. As deforestation threatens our most vulnerable forests and wildlife, intensifies the climate crisis, and exploits Indigenous people, American consumers should not have to worry if they are unintentionally contributing to this destruction.

I look forward to building support for my proposal to bring us closer to ending illegal deforestation for good.