[Congressional Bills 110th Congress] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office] [H. Con. Res. 429 Introduced in House (IH)] 110th CONGRESS 2d Session H. CON. RES. 429 Recognizing the importance of the United States wine industry to the American economy. _______________________________________________________________________ IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES September 25, 2008 Mr. Conaway (for himself, Mr. Rodriguez, Mr. Bartlett of Maryland, Mr. Bilbray, Mr. Boustany, Mr. Brown of South Carolina, Mr. Burton of Indiana, Mr. Carter, Mr. Culberson, Mr. Doggett, Mr. Feeney, Mr. Gohmert, Ms. Granger, Mr. Gene Green of Texas, Mr. Hensarling, Ms. Jackson-Lee of Texas, Mr. Sam Johnson of Texas, Mr. Kuhl of New York, Mr. Lucas, Mr. McCarthy of California, Mr. Gary G. Miller of California, Mr. Nunes, Mr. Paul, Mr. Pomeroy, Mr. Sessions, Mr. Shuster, Mr. Terry, Mr. Tiahrt, Mr. Wilson of South Carolina, Mr. Barton of Texas, Mrs. Blackburn, Mr. Brady of Texas, Mr. Burgess, Mr. Calvert, Mr. Cuellar, Mr. Davis of Kentucky, Mr. Edwards of Texas, Mr. Gonzalez, Mr. Al Green of Texas, Mr. Hall of Texas, Mr. Hinojosa, Ms. Eddie Bernice Johnson of Texas, Mr. Keller of Florida, Mr. Lampson, Mr. Marchant, Mr. McCaul of Texas, Mr. Neugebauer, Mr. Ortiz, Mr. Poe, Mr. Reyes, Mr. Roskam, Mr. Shimkus, Mr. Smith of Texas, Mr. Thornberry, Mr. Walberg, and Mr. Young of Alaska) submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform _______________________________________________________________________ CONCURRENT RESOLUTION Recognizing the importance of the United States wine industry to the American economy. Whereas the United States is one of the largest wine producing countries in the world, with the United States wine, grape, and grape products industry representing more than 1 percent of the $13,800,000,000 American economy in 2007; Whereas the wine and winegrape industry of Texas has an economic impact of $1,000,000,000 on the economy of Texas; Whereas since 2000, the wine and winegrape industry of Texas has experienced tremendous growth, with nearly 90 percent of that growth resulting from an increase in the number and revenue of small wineries producing less than 5,000 gallons of wine each year; and Whereas in 2005, the wine and winegrape industry of Texas-- (1) included 113 wineries and 220 commercial growers of winegrapes on 2,900 acres; (2) produced over 626,000 cases of wine; (3) provided the equivalent of 8,000 full-time jobs and paid over $234,000,000 in wages to workers; (4) generated revenue from wineries that produced an economic impact of $91,500,000 on the economy of Texas; (5) generated over $10,000,000 in revenue from vineyards in Texas; (6) attracted over 868,000 tourists to Texas, who spent over $220,000,000; and (7) generated over $69,000,000 in Federal, State, and local taxes: Now, therefore, be it Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), That Congress-- (1) recognizes the importance of the United States wine, winegrape, and grape products industry to the American economy; and (2) directs the Secretary of the Senate to transmit a copy of this resolution to the Commissioner of the Texas Department of Agriculture and the Texas Wine and Grape Growers Association in Grapevine, Texas. <all>