A Republican-led House panel advanced legislation Monday that would make the Gulf of America name change permanent.
The House Rules Committee voted along party lines to refer the “Gulf of America Act,” introduced by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), to the full House floor for a vote, which is expected to take place later this week.
The act codifies President Trump’s executive order renaming the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America, and directs federal agencies to update their documents and maps accordingly to incorporate the new name.
“Despite the claims … that Republicans are wasting time, the truth is that we’re moving forward with legislation that defends American interests,” House Rules Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx (R-NC) said in her opening remarks at Monday’s hearing.
“In short, this legislation recognizes the strategic influence America has over this geography, not to mention the existing economic, cultural, and commercial might that we passively exert on the gulf,” Foxx added.
The congresswoman argued that Democratic lawmakers opposed to the name change can’t find “a single, concrete data point” indicating that calling the body of water the Gulf of America has been “detrimental to the American people.”
“Having the realities of the Gulf’s link to America reflected in government records makes sense,” Foxx continued. “We shouldn’t let certain allergic reactions to decisions made by the Trump Administration stand in the way of good public policy.”
“Instead, we should support this decision and codify it, demonstrating our Article I authority.”
Democratic lawmakers tried to attach several amendments to the bill in an effort to thwart the legislation, such as one that would have restricted oil and gas drilling permits in the Gulf, but none passed.
“Democrats are so overtaken with Trump Derangement Syndrome and obsessed with obstructing the President’s agenda that they will always put America Last,” a White House spokesperson told Fox News about the Democratic efforts to sabotage the bill. “As President Trump said, the Gulf of America has long been an integral asset to our nation.”
“All future generations should be able to recognize this beautiful body of water as a sign of American greatness.”
Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon (D-Pa.) argued during the hearing that Republican lawmakers are “tripping over themselves to find new and more embarrassing ways to suck up to the president and indulge his peculiar obsessions.”
“This bill to rename the Gulf of Mexico is a stupid, unserious waste of time and taxpayer dollars,” Scanlon said. “It’s an embarrassment to the nation that it was ever introduced, let alone that it’s being brought to the floor for a vote.”
In his first hours as the 47th president, Trump signed an executive order to rechristen the Gulf, which borders five states — Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida — and is one of the premier locations for offshore petroleum production.
“The Gulf will continue to play a pivotal role in shaping America’s future and the global economy, and in recognition of this flourishing economic resource and its critical importance to our Nation’s economy and its people, I am directing that it officially be renamed the Gulf of America,” Trump wrote in the Jan. 20 directive.
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