The National Watermelon Association is responsible for all of the legislative affairs in Washington, D.C. on behalf of our association, and in many cases, the U.S. Watermelon Industry.  Amongst those efforts include Congress, the White House, various Administration Departments and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

From time to time, the NWA will ask its members (and others that may wish to contribute their time and effort) to write to Congress to support our priorities as established by the Executive Committee (NWA Board) and NWA staff.  You can send an email or locate other contact information for your Senators or Congressmen/women. For more information click here.

From time to time, the priorities will change for the NWA, with different needs and desires of our members.  The following is a list of the current priorities that we are addressing and representing the association:

IMMIGRATION & GUEST WORKERS

The protection of our borders (especially our southern border - Mexico) is a high priority for our country, and has received much publicity across our country for the past few months in particular.  As Congress, the Administration and the Department of Homeland Security debate this issue, it is imperative that each and every one of us express our views with our Congressional leaders (Senators and Congressmen/women) to maintain this viable and needed labor force.

It is projected that there are in excess of 11 million illegal (un-documented) workers primarily from Mexico working throughout our country.  It is further estimated that 1.5 million of those workers are directly involved in agriculture.  The other 9.5 million workers can be found in various industries such as hotels/motels, restaurants, landscaping, home building, trucking, and other vital U.S. industries.  As we can all surmise, a complete closing of our southern border without some type of a guest worker program (as the White House has suggested) would shut down numerous industries that are vital to the economy of the United States.

Please access the table in this section of the web site, and write or send an email to your Senator and Congressman/women, expressing your views and the need for this labor market to be available.  Time is of the essence.  Please send them your thoughts TODAY!

2007 FARM BILL

The growth of specialty crops, of which watermelon is part of, has grown into 50% of the farm-gate value of all crops (both program crops, and non-subsidized crops).  But, previous farm bills have favored program crops and their subsidies to an alarming rate, and created an imbalance in the farm bill.  Program crops (grain, corn, cotton, soybeans, etc.) currently make up 70% of the farm bill.  Specialty crops have been dismissed in many cases as a result, even with our farming costs in many cases escalating beyond those of some program crops.

The NWA has joined with over fifty (50) other specialty crop organizations from around the country to develop a joint consensus recommendation that some of our Congressional leaders are writing into legislation.  That legislation will be introduced into Congress (Both in the Senate and the House) later this year, and prior to the actual writing of the 2007 Farm Bill.  The Senate bill is being driven by Senator Larry Craig (ID) and Debbie Stabenow (MI).  The House bill is being driven by Congressman Richard Pombo (CA), Dennis Cardoza (CA) and Adam Putnam (FL), with numerous co-sponsors committed to join the bill once the written version is completed later this summer.  Click on this link, 2007 Farm Bill Steering Committee recommendations, to see the original draft provided to our Congressional sponsors.

The Senate and House continue to hold field hearings this year in various locations around the country, and also plan to hold hearings in Washington later this year and/or early 2007.  You can see the latest field hearings listing on the senate or house web sites.  If possible, you may want to attend a hearing to listen and see what is discussed.  It is an interesting session to see and begin to understand what numerous agricultural groups are asking for, expect or desire.

SMALL BUSINESS HEALTH CARE

Many of our association members are small businesses, and in effect, labor over the high cost of health care for their families, full-time employees, etc.  The President has challenged Congress to pass a major reform bill to allow national associations (such as the NWA) and small businesses throughout the country to be able to negotiate affordable health care (as major corporations and labor unions enjoy today).

The U.S House of Representatives passed the small business health care bill late 2005, and sent the bill to the Senate for their consideration.  Senator Michael Enzi, chair of the Senate Health Care Committee, put his committee’s version on the Senate floor this past spring for debate.  Unfortunately, the Republican-led Senate did not get any support from the Democratic side, and the bill fell five (5) votes short from continuing debate and eventual vote on the floor, forcing it back into committee.

Since that time, the NWA has partnered with a Washington group and over 120 other national organizations to pressure the Senate to bring the bill and debate back to the Senate floor.  You can see the latest news about this group’s efforts on the internet by accessing, http://www.sbhpsnow.com/page/sbhpshome.html.

Any emails or letters from you to the Senate will help to keep the pressure on our elected officials to do what is right for American Small Business, its families and employees, and allow associations such as ours the opportunity to negotiate and offer affordable health care plans to our members.

2004 SPECIALTY CROP COMPETITIVENESS ACT

The 2004 specialty crop competitiveness act as authorized by Congress will continue to provide USDA grant funds each year to specialty crop producers, organizations, etc. to “enhance the competitiveness of specialty crops”.  This is the grant that the NWA informed you about a few months ago.

The final rule for the $7 million in funding is being finalized by the USDA, and will be issued in the late summer/early fall to each State Department of Agriculture and all other interested parties (including the NWA and our chapters).  It is anticipated that by the time the USDA issues the final rule, and each State handles the grant procedures required, that the funding will not help most specialty crops until the 2007 season.

However, every one of our chapters should be preparing to pursue funding through this grant to plan & increase promotions for the 2007 season.  The best manner to begin is to make sure that you are in contact with each point person at your State(s)’ Department of Agriculture to express your chapter’s interest in the funding, and to make sure that you have the opportunity to provide a proposal when the opportunity window opens.  You can review the initial rule and a list of each state’s point person at http://www.ams.usda.gov/fv/scbgp.html.