WASHINGTON (AP) — The Republican-led House passed a bill Thursday that would rename the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America and direct federal agencies to update their documents and maps to incorporate the new name.
President Donald Trump already signed an executive order during his first day in office to rename the Gulf. House Republicans are looking to show their support, though it is unclear whether he Senate will go along. The bill passed by a vote of 211-206.
The body of water has shared borders between the United States and Mexico. Trump’s order only carries authority within the U.S. Mexico, as well as other countries and international bodies, do not have to recognize the name change.
Democrats said the vote demonstrated that Republicans are not focusing on the priorities of most Americans. New York Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, the House’s top Democrat, asked Democrats to vote against this “silly, small-minded and sycophantic piece of legislation.”
“It’s easy to mock this legislation because it’s so inane and embarrassing — and we have,” said Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon, D-Pa. “But it’s very existence and the fact that House Republicans have chosen to waste time and taxpayer dollars to bring it up for a vote, is worth considering.”
Republicans said the nomenclature of the Gulf extended back to a time before the U.S. existed and when Spanish influence over Central American and the Caribbean was at its zenith. But now, it is the U.S. that dominates economic activity in the Gulf.
“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,” said Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C.
The bill was sponsored by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., a Trump ally and an influential voice in the Republican conference who wore a red “Make American Great Again” hat during last year’s State of the Union address.
“The Gulf of America is one of the most important things we can do this Congress,” Greene said, adding that it promotes pride in the country.
The Gulf of Mexico has carried that name for more than 400 years. The Associated Press refers to it by its original name while acknowledging the new name Trump has chosen. The White House moved in February to block the AP from being among the small group of journalists to cover Trump in the Oval Office or aboard Air Force One, with sporadic ability to cover him at events in the East Room.
The AP sued three Trump administration officials over access to presidential events, citing freedom of speech in asking a federal judge to stop the blocking of its journalists.
A federal judge ordered the White House last month to restore The AP’s full access to cover presidential events, affirming on First Amendment grounds that the government cannot punish the news organization for the content of its speech.
The GOP leadership in the House promoted the legislation during a news conference earlier in the week.
“The American people are footing the bill to protect and secure the Gulf of America. It’s only right that it’s named appropriately,” said House Republican Conference Chair Lisa McClain of Michigan.
Several Democrats spoke out against the bill on the House floor.
Rep. George Latimer, D-N.Y., said that “instead of mind-bending tariffs, giveaways to billionaires, and renaming bodies of water, we should be voting on bills that lower costs for the average family.”
“No one is clamoring for a newly named body of water,” Latimer said. “They want lower grocery bills.”
