WASHINGTON – Members of Congress may not agree on tax cuts but when it comes to cutting watermelon, they’re all in agreement.

The House of Representatives passed a resolution designating July 2008 as National Watermelon Month. The resolution says Americans should embrace this “nutritious summer favorite.” It was sponsored by Rep. Adam Putnam, R-Fla.

Sound silly? Some say so. Putnam was chased down by a TMZ reporter who inquired, “Is there gonna be a national corn month? Or what other vegetables and fruits are you guys gonna do later on?”

For now, there’s been no immigration reform, no Social Security reform, no health care reform but we’ve got watermelon month, National Dog Bite Prevention Week, National Plumbing Industry Week and National Inflammatory Skin Disease Awareness Month.

Of  watermelon month, Putnam himself said, “I offered to hold that bill from the floor, so that we could take up important legislation.”  But the “important legislation” stayed off the floor.

When Congress considers these matters, there usually isn’t much debate. And they needn’t be passed by both houses of Congress to be deemed official commemorations. In fact, the Senate passed a similar bill last year, designating July of 2007 National Watermelon Month in their books (albeit the month of July was already halfway over when they passed it).  The House has now done its part (and several months ahead of time, to boot) to make July 2008 another National Watermelon Month.

But lest you think Congress is a bunch of do-nothings who can’t pass “important legislation”, you should know that this resolution actually does a whole lot for the watermelon industry. The industry has come up with an appetizing array of celebratory marketing opportunities.

“We’re rocking and rolling,” said a jubilant Bob Morrissey, executive director of the National Watermelon Association. Since the House passed the resolution, his organization has been in a flurry, organizing watermelon promotion events for the month of July. 

The NWA has already arranged some juicy July promotions with both Kroger and Wal-Mart. Two dozen watermelon promoters, including the National Watermelon Queen, will be at the Kroger 200 NASCAR race in Indianapolis this July, handing out thousands of cups of freshly cut watermelon. Wal-Mart agreed to host seed-spitting competitions, as well as watermelon weight-guessing contests in their Sacramento, CA locations.

And they’re in the hunt for more exposure. “There’s a huge real estate war when it comes to display space,” Morrissey said. “If you get any display space in a grocery store, you’re gonna get increased sales almost automatically.”

Morrissey says July is historically the biggest month for both watermelon supply and demand. But the supply usually far exceeds the demand; Morrissey says farmers see their lowest returns in July.

This Congressionally-sanctioned Watermelon Month brings a taste of optimism. “We’ll hopefully be able to reach our ultimate goal,” Morrissey said, “help the farmer do what we’re charged to do – get them a greater return on their investments.”

Morissey says the NWA will make a DVD of their July promotions. They’ll give this to Congress as sort of report card, saying “you did this for us, and this is what we did in response.”

But the watermelon industry isn’t the only group that’s benefited from commemorative resolutions in Congress.

This month is National Be Bear Aware and Wildlife Stewardship Month. The House of Representatives recently agreed to a National Funeral Director and Mortician Recognition Day. And stay tuned for August 2008 – National Heat Stroke Awareness Month.

You can laugh all you want, but Rep. Danny Davis, D-Ill., chairman of the House subcommittee that handles commemorative legislation, says, “what’s kinda fun and funny to one segment of the population might be very serious to another.”

Davis appreciates the awareness commemorations raise.  He admits there were diseases that even he had never heard of until others pushed commemorations for them.

But don’t look to be getting any days off from work. These commemorative days, weeks and months are totally unofficial.

And don’t think that Congress will pass just any commemoration. Davis said, “If you want to commemorate a president, you can’t say ‘Abraham Lincoln was an outstanding president, therefore Republicans are the ones who’d make the best presidents.’ That wouldn’t fly.”