MONTGOMERY, Ala. – The House approved changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America for the second year in a row Tuesday night.
House Bill 2, sponsored by Rep. David Standridge, R-Hayden, would require state and local entities to refer to the body of water to the south of the U.S. as the Gulf of America. It also mandates these entities to “make reasonable efforts” to update old materials to reflect the new name.
“The (new) name better reflects what this gulf, this body of water means to our country. We protect it, we use it more than any other country,” Standridge said on the floor on Tuesday night. “I think the name better reflects that. The state of Florida did it, Louisiana, I think the more states that do it makes it a lot more unlikely for another president to change it.”
The House passed the same bill last year, mirroring an executive order from President Donald Trump that also changed the highest American peak’s name from Mount Denali to Mount McKinley. That bill died in the Senate.
Supporters of the bill praised the change for its patriotism.
Rep. Chip Brown, R-Mobile, said people in his district are happy about the proposed change.
“They’re happy about this because it shows American exceptionalism, American greatness,” Brown said. “It gives our children something to be proud of, gives me something to be proud of.”
Democrats opposed the bill, disagreeing that the Legislature should spend its time renaming a body of water and calling it unnecessary. Others argued the Gulf of Mexico’s name has centuries of history that should be respected.
“I arise to say how ludicrous this is,” Rep. Thomas Jackson, D-Thomasville, said on the floor. “Like one of my colleagues said, the next president would probably change (the name) back.”
The bill passed by a vote of 74-30. It now heads to the Senate.