March 4, 2020 - Issue: Vol. 166, No. 43 — Daily Edition116th Congress (2019 - 2020) - 2nd Session

[Page S1479]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  SENATE RESOLUTION 528--RECOGNIZING THE IMPORTANCE OF THE BLUEBERRY 
 INDUSTRY TO THE UNITED STATES AND DESIGNATING JULY 2020 AS ``NATIONAL 
                           BLUEBERRY MONTH''

  Ms. STABENOW submitted the following resolution; which was referred 
to the Committee on the Judiciary:

                              S. Res. 528

       Whereas the blueberry is a fruit native to North America 
     that was first used fresh and dried in food and medicines by 
     Native Americans, who introduced blueberries to early 
     colonists, which led to new uses and forms of blueberries, 
     including frozen, establishing traditions still observed in 
     2020;
       Whereas the pioneering work conducted in New Jersey in the 
     early 1900s by Elizabeth White and Dr. Frederick Coville, a 
     botanist at the Department of Agriculture, to domesticate 
     wild lowbush blueberries resulted in the development of the 
     hybrid for cultivated highbush blueberries;
       Whereas, because of those early efforts, highbush 
     blueberries are large, sweet, juicy berries that can be 
     commercially produced and shipped, allowing the highbush 
     blueberry industry to become an important agricultural 
     industry in the United States;
       Whereas highbush blueberries--
       (1) have a harvested area estimated at more than 97,000 
     acres; and
       (2) are produced in 48 States by more than 14,000 growers 
     and their families;
       Whereas highbush blueberry production in the United States 
     has continually increased, with particular growth during the 
     first 2 decades of the 21st century, reaching a harvest of 
     551,100,000 pounds in 2018;
       Whereas blueberries are--
       (1) low in fat; and
       (2) a source of fiber, vitamins, and minerals;
       Whereas blueberries are being studied to examine the role 
     that the berries may play in promoting good health in areas 
     such as cardiovascular health, brain health, exercise, 
     insulin response, and gut health; and
       Whereas highbush blueberries are harvested in the United 
     States from April through early September, with the peak of 
     the harvest occurring in July: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) designates July 2020 as ``National Blueberry Month'';
       (2) recognizes the contributions of blueberry growers in 
     the United States and their families; and
       (3) recognizes that purchasing blueberries grown in the 
     United States supports farmers, jobs, and the economy of the 
     United States.

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