GULF OF AMERICA ACT

On 2025-05-08, Representative Dan Crenshaw (R-TX-2) delivered a floor speech titled "GULF OF AMERICA ACT" in the House.

GULF OF AMERICA ACT

Congressional Record, Volume 171 Issue 77 (Thursday, May 8, 2025) [Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 77 (Thursday, May 8, 2025)] [House] [Pages H1914-H1921] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [ www.gpo.gov ] GULF OF AMERICA ACT Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 377, I call up the bill (H.R. 276) to rename the Gulf of Mexico as the ``Gulf of America'', and ask for its immediate consideration in the House. The Clerk read the title of the bill. The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to House Resolution 377, the amendment in the nature of a substitute recommended by the Committee on Natural Resources, printed in the bill, is adopted and the bill, as amended, is considered read. The text of the bill, as amended, is as follows: H.R. 276 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. This Act may be cited as the ``Gulf of America Act''. SEC. 2. RENAMING OF GULF OF MEXICO AS ``GULF OF AMERICA''. (a) Renaming.--The Gulf of Mexico shall be known as the ``Gulf of America''. (b) References.--Any reference in a law, map, regulation, document, paper, or other record of the United States to the Gulf of Mexico shall be deemed to be a reference to the ``Gulf of America''. (c) Implementation.-- (1) In general.--The Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Chairman of the Board on Geographic Names, shall oversee the implementation of the renaming described in subsection (a) with respect to each Federal document and map. (2) Requirement.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this section, the head of each Federal agency shall update each document and map of the Federal agency in accordance with the renaming described in subsection (a). The SPEAKER pro tempore. The bill, as amended, shall be debatable for 1 hour, equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the Committee on Natural Resources or their respective designees. The gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Westerman) and the gentleman from California (Mr. Huffman) each will control 30 minutes. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Arkansas. General Leave Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 276. The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the gentleman from Arkansas? There was no objection. {time} 0915 Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 276, sponsored by Congresswoman Greene of Georgia. Throughout the history of the United States, the executive branch has renamed our public lands and waters. This legislation codifies a portion of President Trump's Executive Order No. 14172, which directed the Board on Geographic Names to rename the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America. President Trump signed this executive order on his first day in office. Enacting this legislation will help make President Trump's historic action permanent and ensure consistency in references to laws, maps, regulations, and records of the United States. The Gulf of America is critical to the United States because of its energy resources and ecological significance. This renaming symbolizes Republicans' commitment to putting America first, and honors the Gulf of America's important role in unleashing American energy and our Nation's return to greatness. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time. Mr. HUFFMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, when I call this a deeply unserious bill, I think I am probably being charitable. It is unserious, and it comes from a Republican majority that is either unable or unwilling to do the real work of Congress. In the first disastrous 100 days of President Trump's second term in office, we have seen him sow chaos and distraction in every direction. This deeply corrupt and unhinged leader has put his biggest campaign donor and the wealthiest man in the world in charge of slashing programs that millions of Americans depend on, from food assistance to nuclear safety to disaster response, all in the name of ``efficiency.'' They have indiscriminately fired thousands of Federal workers, like this is some dystopian reboot of ``The Apprentice,'' except in this episode, they are filling the government with unqualified sycophants, who are running around firing meteorologists, health experts, and emergency responders, people who keep our government running. Today, in the face of all of that, all of this chaos that our Republican colleagues don't want to talk about, at least we are hearing them engage in some debate over this unserious bill [[Page H1915]] about renaming the Gulf of Mexico, which I suppose is an improvement because for the past couple of weeks in the markup hearings on their disastrous budget reconciliation bill, they have been unwilling to debate at all. It has just been silence from Republicans as they move through one of the most reckless bills in American history, the same silence as they duck their constituents by canceling townhalls and avoiding media inquiries. Instead of debating that very important and destructive legislation, they are speaking up today about this deeply unserious bill to rename a body of water. We wish that our Republican colleagues would join us in asking the question that is on more and more Americans' minds: What the heck is going on? This administration is not draining the swamp. They are torching the country. The global economy is in chaos. We are teetering on the brink of recession. Administration officials are telling us we should perhaps prepare to ration dolls and toys this Christmas. Yet, they want to debate renaming the Gulf of Mexico. Congress, which more and more appears to just be a joke, is now advancing a bill that literally started off as a joke. That is right. The first person to publicly suggest the name change was not Donald Trump or the author of this bill. It was comedian Stephen Colbert on ``Comedy Central.'' It was a joke back when the Deepwater Horizon oil spill was happening. Eleven people died in that disaster. Entire ecosystems collapsed. The Louisiana coast was wrecked, along with industries and livelihoods that depend on that Gulf Coast ecosystem. It was all devastated, and Colbert used the fake name ``Gulf of America'' to satirize the absurdity of oil-soaked nationalism. Now, here we are, 15 years later, in a Congress that apparently thinks they have no real work to do, turning a late-night punch line into the legislative business of the United States House. I would love to say this is just a one-off, but it fits a disturbing trend. Again and again, this majority keeps replacing science with slogans, governance with grievance, and policymaking with cheap performance art. The truth is, this bill won't fix a single problem. It does absolutely nothing to help the Gulf Coast. It won't create a single job. It is not going to fix our climate crisis. It is just dumb. The only thing this bill will do is waste time and taxpayer dollars to stroke the ego of a guy who Sharpied a hurricane map on live TV. In committee, I offered an amendment that would actually advance the value of efficiency because if this is all about stroking the ego of one man, if it is all about cultish sycophancy, why do it in a piecemeal way with all these individual bills to put his face on Mount Rushmore and the $100 bill? We actually have legislation from folks across the aisle to do all these things: to rename Dulles Airport, to do national holidays. Why not go all the way? We know that is where this is all heading anyway since everything is in service of one man's fragile ego. Why not rename the entire planet ``planet Trump''? At least that would be efficient. We would hurry up and get to the inevitable outcome of where this Republican Congress is taking us. If you like this unserious bill, there is another deal for you because Eric and Don Jr. are selling Gulf of America hats on their website for 50 bucks a pop. One hat even says: ``Gulf of America, Yet Another Trump Development.'' The sales pitch for one includes ``as seen on President Donald J. Trump,'' and get your meme coin while you are at it. Remember, all of these grifts are for a limited time. They won't last much longer. The American people deserve much better. A recent FOX News poll--yes, FOX--showed that a big majority opposes the name change for the Gulf of Mexico: 67 percent. Americans know a joke when they see one, even if this Republican Congress doesn't. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time. The SPEAKER pro tempore. Members are reminded to refrain from engaging in personalities toward the President. Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Georgia (Ms. Greene), the lead sponsor of this legislation. Ms. GREENE of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I am honored to be here today in front of the American people as we debate the merits of the Gulf of America Act. This would rename the body of water formerly known as the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America. This is such an important thing to do for the American people. The American people deserve pride in their country, and they deserve pride in the waters that we own, that we protect with our military and our Coast Guard, and all the businesses that prosper along these waters, but Democrats today are outraged. They are outraged because they love the cartels more than any other people in the world, even more than the American people. They spent the past 4 years funding and voting for policies that ripped our borders open and allowed our country to be invaded by millions and millions of people, drugs and fentanyl that murdered over 300 Americans every single day, human trafficking, child sex trafficking, terrorists, and millions of people who w

Referenced legislation: HR276, HR276, HRES377